VOCAL RECITAL.

Taranaki Daily News, 22 October 1920, Page 5

VOCAL RECITAL.

MISS VAN STAVEREN'S ART. A NOTABLE PROGRAMME. The vocal recital/given last evening in the Empire Theatre $y Miss Adelaide van-Staveren wsa in the memory of. all.;who were pri|»)eged to hear it, as an. event' in- MewMlymoutli of the highest musical of a voice of exoeptionafjarige and* boundless volume, the soloist is ahso endowed with a rare pcftver of expression: every phase of human emotion from passionate declamation to meat tender pleading, and at times devotional majesty, holding the audience in a wonderful spell. From the audience's viewpoint the closing number of Part II waa the climax. Beyond words dramatic, fiery, and passionate, the "Witches' Interlude" was rendered with an emotion overwhelming in its character. We can never remember ever hearing anything to equal such force and' passion," The extraordinary vocalization on the words "Terrible is Thy wrath" was utterly stupendous. As she sang, the whole battle scene was vividly poi-travod- the swarming host, and tile little 'band of w " rlors ; aml t"en the end: the closing .' Terrible is Thy wrath" was overwhelming. This alone was a musical triumph. The recital opened with a majestic rendering 0 f Beethoven's Creation's Hymn, fiimg with great majesty, and its devotional fervor was a- fitting opening. This was followed by the well-known 'Flower Song" from Gounod's "Faust," perhaps taken more deliberately than one remembers, but it la good io have such points corrected, and certainly the tempo gave larger possibilities for expression. Her next number was Beethoven's "In Quteta Tomba Oscnra." Here she exceeded in\pathos and feeling. Rarely has such a rendering been heard m New Plymouth. In brilliant contrast followed Verdi's "Stride la Vampa," in which the gifted artist showed passionate emotion that was up to this point unexcelled. Naturally an encore was asked for and willingly given To the audience Caesar Cu'i as a soli" writer i s entirely novel, but the humor and lilt of the Irish ballade she selected was thoroughly enjoyable and a pleasing relief after the passionate character of the previous number. After a short interval followed that stupendous air trom "'King Saul.' The interval that followed was quite necessary if any audience was to follow the artist in the remaining portion of the programme. It seejmed «« if every phase of emotion had been portrayed until the well-known "Three Fishers" was sung, and then one renlised something of the desolation of a woman's life when the sea give H up its dead. -Then Goodbye ,to the Bar" had a note of farewell that was ' singular and most noteworthy. 'Of all ° her ballade* the most convincing rendering was Sidney Homer's "Requiem," in voire a simple melody full of triumph This was a wonderful song, beautifully sung the next showed the artist in another mood as she infused into Gounod's O, Divine Redeemer," a wealth of prayerful pleading. Another encore be'"g granted, she sang with all possible womanliness Tosti's "Could I," and if

ever longing was portrayed by a voice that was the song and the occasion. Miss van Staveren gave her audience an insight into the expressive nature of the Russian language in Birosky Korakov'a "Russian Lullaby." Perhaps this was the only occasion when her audience were not so completely in sympathy with her as in other numbers; out the style was so novel, and the atmosphere so unexpected, that perhaps the lapse may be excused.

Hie recital finished with a passionate declamation of Verdi's air "Odon I'atalo." There was no trace of fatigue and the climax was worked up with boundless power; though the. recital had exhausted every phase of emotion, besides being a great physical as well as vocal eflort, there was right to the end Jio apparent effort, no trace of tire or labor.

Lefore the opening vocal number Mr. •M-. -I. Dixon played a movement from V-i'ieg s Sonata op. 1, with considerable insight and clear execution. Re also played Medtner's Caprice op. 23. In his accompaniments Mr. Dixon ably supported the vocalist, and while possibly at times he was a little over-powerful ins task was well done and was a good exposition of accompaniment pkyin"