STAGE AND STUDIO.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 221, 24 September 1887, Page 7

STAGE AND STUDIO.

[By Euterpe.] ■

Prince Napoleon: has just finished a history of his greafc ancestor^" Napoleon' I.' and his Slanderers." An English opera has sung 1 "The Mikado"' in a mutilated form at Yokohama, under the title of " Three Littlo Maids from School." In defcrenco .f o consular interference the opening song, c'lfc 'If you want to know who we are, wo are gentlemen of Japa n , " was rendered * ' We are gentlemen of Siam," and there were many vother changes and omissions. The company v fcook a lot of money. Maurice Strakosch has discovered another Swedish nightingale in Md Sjgrid Avuoldson, who, in addition to a soprano Of rare sweet- j ness and volume, has remarkably good fea tures and fine stage presence. __ One gushißg critic says : " In the first freshness of youth with the prettiness of an English girl, the chic of a Parisionne, and the voice of a bird, it is not to be wondered that she has achioved the success of the London season, and has troops of admirers among the jeuiuasc dorce. She made her debut as Kosina in the * Barber,' and, with I)e Reszko as Basilio stoicl Ciampa as Bartolof, left nothing to be desired." It is said that Patti heard her ami remarked to a friend, " Behold my successor. " Leopold Jordan, author, pressman, and newsman, is about to leave Australia for America and England to produce an opera for which he has furnished the words and M, KoH'alski the music. A complimentary benefit ivas tendered him in Sydney as a send-off, at which Lord and Lady Carrington, Sir Henry Parkcs, and Sir Alfred Stephen were present. It is now definitely arranged that the life of Mr Darwin, by his sons, shall be pub- ! lished by Mr Murray in October. j Marshal McMahon has finished a history 'of his life. It will be printed privately for \ distribution among the family and hia personal friends only. Dean Vaughan, the Master of the Temple, is said to be busy compiling the memoirs of his brother-in-law, the late Dean of Westminster. "Cyb6le" and " Amphitrite," two pictures, companions, by M. P. Bnudry, were sold in Paris lately for 40,000 francs ; M. Boulanger's " Les Amouis Vendangeurs " for 4,000 francs ; and Corot's "Le Coup de Vent " for 5,100 francs ; Diaz's " Vaches A l'Abreuvoir"' for 8,700 francs; Oreuy/s " Jeune Fille en bruste " for 10,800 francs ; Lagilliere's " Portrait de Jeune Dame " for 16,700 francs; and Mignard's "Portrait d'nne Jeuno Princesse " for 5,550 francs. When shall we be able to compile similar local statistics. Our taste is m auctionsold oleographs. He was a pet Italian greyhound. And ; he watched when his mist: ess was out, and ttied to play the piano as he had seen her do, and the only song he could sing was— My bark is on the sea ; (do you C it) Though he didn't like the ocean, And of sailing o'er the main He hadn't got a notion. The Dunedinamateurshave been raking in the dollars with " lolanthe "' company. The run of luck continued for a whole week, and the houses on Friday and Saturday nights were tremendous Excised by this success, other Dunedin amateur combinations are said to be rehearsing "The Pirates of Penzance'" and "Les Cloches de Corneville " respectively. The Christchurch Amateur Opera Society, too, intend producing "Pinatore" at no distant date. The cast will be a strong one. What is our own Amateur Opera Club doing' Evidently fetill hibernating. Barnum, whatever he may economise in, refuses to cut down his printing and advertising. " I owe my success,"' he wisely remarks, "to printer's ink."' A Christchurch lady, Miss Alice Rowley, has composed a piece of music entited "Hinemoa," descriptive of the famous Maori legend. The music is dedicate 1 to Sir George Grey. It is said to be pleasingly written throughout, and the composer has been successful in infusing localcolour to the work. At the Melbourne Theatre Royal, the Simonsen Italian Opera Company commenced their second season on August 27 with Donizetti's opera " Belisario." The house was crammed, and presented a magnificent spectacle, the Governor and Lady Loch being amongst thoso present. At the Bijou Theatre, Melbourne, Miss Emilie Melville has made a successful debut in Boucicault's comedy " London A&surance." A Melbourne paper says that the character of Lady Gay Spanker has never been better played in Melbourne during the last thirty yeais than it is by Miss Melville. Mr Aubrey Boucicault, son of Dion Boucicault, recently made his appearance as a reciter at a concert at the Steinway Hall, London. Mr James MacMahon is running a short provincial season of English opera with gratifying success in Victoria. The Company, with Mr Charles Harding and Miss Gracie Plaisted as principals, comprises fifty members, including Miss Lambert, Miss Clements, Mr Edwin Kelly, Mr J. A. South; and in Sandhurst, Ballarat and Geelong the business has been large, and the Company favourably characterised by the press as the most complete and capable one that has ever visited these cities. Miss Carrie Swain opens at Abbotts Opera House on the 21st of February next. Her repertoire includes " The Miner's Daughter " and " Uncle Tom's Cabin," in which latter play she appears as Topsy. First Pastor— You have a paid choir, I believe? Second Ditto— Yes, and a very good one. First Pastor— l don't believe in them. It is wrong in principle and is an extravagance a church should not sanction. Second Ditto— That's what I thought, my dear brother ; but ib got so in my church that we were compelled to either pay the people to stay and listen to a volunteer choir or pay a choir to sing, so on the score of economy we concluded to hire a choir instead of a congregation. Mr Charles Berkley (lately associated with Mr McGowan in a rinking venture here) has obtained an engagement with Mr George Rignold, and is now playing with him in "Henry V." at Her Majesty's theatre, Sydney. The Kamo Choral Society are rehearsing Cowan's " Rose Maiden," which the Ponsonby Choral Society lately performed so successfully. They have also procured the "Jackdaw of Rheims"from London, and they intend to take it next. Our old friend, Gordon Gooch, is now conductor of the Geelong Philharmonic Society, and the second subscription concert of the season eventuated recently with great success. Mr Gooch contributed ', two songs to the programme, viz., " Sunt shine and Rain " and " The Raft," and was [duly encored. The duet "Flow gently, j Deva," was also sung by Messrs Gooch and Upton, the bass and tenor voices blending harmoniously, and an encore following as a matter of course. The "Advertiser" says : "The conductor of the society is highly deserving of commendation, for the state of perfection he has brought the vocalists and their next public appearance during Christmas week, when they will submit Handel's oratorio, ' The Messiah/ will be longed for by those who had the pleasure of hearing them last, evening."