Glancing Ahead—

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1056, 21 August 1930, Page 14

Glancing Ahead —

Knd of August—Backhaus Return Con-ci-ts. September 25 (about)—Auckland Choral Society. Jan Kubelik.—October. Sackhaus's Encores “The number of encores given by Mr. Wilhelm Backhaus at his recitals vary. Australian audiences are particularly exacting ill this respect; at some recitals in Sydney and Melbourne he has given as many as nine in one evening. New Zealand audiences are not so greedy, and the average is three or sometimes lour. In any case they are willingly given. The subject was raised by a newspaper reporter recently, and Mr. Backhaus said: “I look upon the recalls as something personal between myself and my audience, something of which there is no mention on the ticket. It is left to the audience personally to decide whether they would like to hear more, and it is left to me personally whether or not I shall give them more. The recalls form therefore a personal contact between myself and my audience—a contact which I very much appreciate.” Mr. Backhaus will be giving a final recital in Auckland at the end of the present month. Harlech Festival The Harlech Castle Musical Festival, which has been a feature of the musical life of Wales for over sixty years, was held’ a short time ago within the walls of the castle. Sixteen choirs, comprising 1,600 voices, sang at the evening session Handel's oratorio “Judas Maccabaeus,” under the conductorship of E. T. Davies, music director of, Bangor University, and supported by an orchestra of seventy. The massed choirs sang Welsh hymns at the morning and afternoon sessions, the audience of 5,000 frequently joining in the singing. An interesting item was a tone-poem entitled “Summer Night in the Austrian Tyrol,” played by a chamber orchestra under the conductorship of the composer, Miss Margaret More of Harlech. v * * NO LONGER JEALOUS The character of the opera singer seems to have changed. I remember (says a London writer) a good many years ago, Tetrazzini and Melba were staying in the same hotel. Their was no jealousy between them, but their respective maids hated each other like poison. One day, when they were both giving concerts on the same day, one at the Queen’s Hall and the other at the Albert Hall, it was with great difficulty that the maids were kept from flying at each other's throats. Now musical stars live together in a state of complete amity, without personal feuds. There is a colony of them in one West End hotel, which has just been joined by Toscanini (the great conductor who has taken London by storm). Bellezza, Rosa Ponselle, and Gigli are all there, and they are a devoted quartet, with neighbouring suites.