ENTERTAINMENTS

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 283, 22 April 1911, Page 4

ENTERTAINMENTS

THE TRIUMPHANT OSSIPOFF. Eugene Ossipoff is uot only a superb artist, but a conlirmed optimist. He sang last night to the few appreciative souls who gathered to hear him in the Theatre Royal with as much joy, us great an abandon and utter unselflsness u» if he were singing to the cognoscenti of Moscow or the critical ten thousand ot Berlin. If the people had been multiplied by ten, the audience would hay* been an insufficient tribute to an artist whose qualities are unique. At the last note of each song the audience was genuinely stirred. "Claqucrs" were unnecessary. The hearts of the people moved their hands and feet M. Ossipoff's special treatment of any song in his repertoire is his outstanding characteristic. Although he may prefer the sonorous, dramatic and spectacular, he is equally alluring in the dainty, the plaintiff, and the gay. Although one does not understand the language of M. OssipofTs own country folk songs, one understands Ossipoff in these melodious and beautiful numbers. Already lie has made his remarkable version of the "To* reador Song," from "Carmen," ring throughout New Zealand. New Plymouth is whistling it imperfectly on every corner. The Dominion is trying to learn to sing it like Ossipoff. Las't night remarkable interest centred in "Will o' the Wisp," mainly, one supposes, because no one ever sang it so daringly, and with such vivid illustration as Ossipoff. Because the people love to hear him sing, ■and Ossipoff sings because he loves his art and the people, he poured out an astounding number of encores, to their order, every item a gem, and many illustrating the full power of his remarkable voice. Any basso might envy the organ-like purity and volume of his lower register. Few tenors can hope to attain the perfection of his upper. There is a remarkable facility about his vocalisation that is sometimes almost uncanny. Miss Renec Lees sang with him Rubenstein's dainty "Wanderers' Night Song." Miss Lees is instinctively a musician. She sings with animation and feeling. As an accompanist she pJays with a very true appreciation of the music, the singer, his method, and his expression. She is, in short, a model for accompanists, exhibiting no "fireworks," and having no conceits or mannerisms. Miss Lilian Edwards' voice and method "grow on one," particularly the voice. In those numbers that, for want of a better word, might be called "gymnastic" items, she exhibits technical excellence of a high order. There is power, too. She gives the "Ave Maria" (Gounod) with emotion, and one feels that it will be in her method and treatment of items that she will yet excel In lighter numbers she is heard to great advantage. "The Waking of Spring" is delightfully done. All her work was warmly received. Mr. Charles Norman, the oboe player, is not the least brilliant of a quartette of exceptional musical people. Nothing in instrumental music could be more expressively played than "The Spring Song," as lie gave it, or one of the "Songs Without Words" of Mendelssohn. He played the obligato to Schumann's "Ave Maria" with a depth of understanding that ai once defined his status as a musician. By the way, M. Ossipoff told, with tremendous force, the vocal story of "The Two Grenadiers" (Del Riego). When, standing at "attention," the great baritone burst forth into the vivifying strains of "The Marseillaise" hymn, which is introduced by the composer to illustrate his story, the effect was electric. It is regretted that the audience could not go home and sing it by deputy to the people who did not hear Ossipoff. He comes again on May 2. All the people who have heard him will want to hear him again, and one hopes that his fame will spread far enough to draw a "house" worthy of him. '