OPERATIC RECITAL

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 833, 29 November 1929, Page 16

OPERATIC RECITAL

MADAME AINSLEY AND STUDENTS ENJOYABLE PROGRAMME A well chosen programme of operatic excerpts varied with modern songs provided pleasing entertainment at the Lewis Eady Hall when a recital was given by Madame Irene Ainsley and students. There was a good attendance and each item was warmly received. The second and fourth acts of Verdi’s “11 Trovatore” was presented by Madame Ainsley, Miss Marjorie Fair and Mr. Arthur Ripley, in the respective roles of Azucena, Leonora and Manrico, with the assistance of a chorus from Madame Ainsley’s class and a ballet arranged by Miss Daphne Knight. A well-staged and well-sung number was warmly received. A scene from Verdi’s “Aida” given by Miss Marjorie Fair as Aida and Madame Ainsley as Amenris, was also accorded good treatment. Excerpts from Bizet’s colourful opera “Carmen” were also given by Madame Ainsley and proved very enjoyable, as also were the beautiful “Che Faro” aria from Gluck’s “Orpheus and Eurydice” and the dramatic “Pagliacci” prologue, which were well sung by Mr. L. Gibson Blackie. Other soloists were Miss Beryl Adams, who was heard in a waltz song from Gounod’s “Romeo and Juliet” and “Villanelle” (Dell ’Acqua), Miss Marjorie Fair, “Morning” (Oley Speaks), Miss Mabel Thomson, “She Wandered Down the Mountain Side” and “I Dreamt That I Dwelt,” from Balfe’s “Bohemian Girl,” Mr. Ernest Pearson, “The Lute Player” (Allitzen) and “Friend” (Novello Davies), Miss Irene Frost, “Flower Song” from “Faust,” and “Where Corals Lie” (Elgar), and Miss Airini Rogers, “Arise O Sun” (Day) and “Grey Eyes” (Phillips). The accompanists were Mrs. C.* Prime and Miss Mary Hamilton.