MALE CHOIR SOCIETY.

Taranaki Daily News, 8 December 1921, Page 5

MALE CHOIR SOCIETY.

LAST NIGHT’S CONCERT. The Empire Theatre was fairly well filled last night, on the occasion of the thirteenth concert given by the New Plymouth Male Choir Society. It is to be regretted that such a deserving society is not better supported by the public. Possibly the date is somewhat late in the season for concerts, but the fact remains that a society which devotes itself to the cultivation of a class of music which otherwise would never be heard should have the support of all music-lovers. Each of the two parts of the programme was opened by an orchestral number, the first being the somewhat hackneyed “Cloches de St. Malo” by Rimmer. It was well played, the light and shades and changes of tempo being clearly marked. The first violins, however, were somewhat weak. The overture to the second part of the programme, “The Maid of the Mountains,” was not so well played as the first overture. The music, too, was inferior, whilst the violins were also weak. The society gave the majority of the items on the programme. The conductor and his company are to be congratulated upon the marked improvement manifest in their performances. All the numbers were, on the whole, distinctly good. The chief weakness apparent was the singing of the first tenors, a certain .amount of lifelessness being noticeable. The first part song, Sullivan’s “O Hush Thee, My Babie”, was well sung, the attaek being good and the lights and shades nicely observed. In the forte passages, however, the first tenors seemed to be straining. The second part song, “Old Man Moses”, was rendered in such a manner as to bring out too little of the humor in the words. The basses were a little ragged at times, while the tone of the chorus also lacked soundness and sonorousness here and there, where such was necessary in order to bring out the force of the words. The somewhat conspicuous word “often” was pronounced “of-ten” by many of the singers. Correct pronunciation, as well as cfear enunciation, is absolutely necessary in singing. As an encore the second and third stanzas were repeated. The next item by the choir was Del Riego’s “O Dry Those Tears”. The vocal parts and the pianoforte accompaniment have an organ-like character which demands, not only a sustained style of singing, but also a perfect balance of the parts. The former of these qualities was apparent, while the latter was not so good as in the two previous items. As an encore the choir gave “The Gongs Are Beating”. The style of this composition is in sharp contrast to that of the previous number, and was somewhat marred by the hurrying of the inner parts. The first vocal number in the second part of the programme was Boulanger’s “Cyrus in Babylon”. The great length and heavy quality of the music make great demands on the power of the choir, and it must be said that no flagging was evident. The composition itself is somewhat monotonous, and, in places, distinctly weak and colorless. The next item by the choir, “Tom, the Piper’s Son”, was the best rendered chorus of the evening. The singing was crisp and bright, while the lights and shades and changes of tempo were given in a convincing manner, which, naturally, brought out the humor of the words. Before singing the final chorus, “The Red Sun is Sinking”, the choir repeated by request “O Hush Thee, My Babie”, and sang it in better style than in the first part of the programme. The last item was less satisfying. While well sung, there was a certain lack of sweetness in the performance. No doubt the close, damp evening materially interfered with the singers, and this must be taken into account in criticising their work.

The visiting artist, Miss Nancie Gibbs, delighted the audience by her tuneful violin playing. She played three solos, each of them being encored, while two of them evoked double encores. Her playing is beautifully smooth, and her execution dean and certain, her left hand being superior to her right. She excels in soft and subdued passages, but lacks fire and brilliance where the music demands these qualities from the performer. This was evident from the more passionate passages in each of the solos. At times her phrasing lacked decision. The first solo, a “Reverie” by Vieuxtemps, was characteristic of the Belgian school of violiu-playing founded by De Beriot and carried on by Vieuxtemps and Alarci. The music is brilliant, but the player’s tone was hardly round enough for the cantabile passages, being too even throughout. As an encore Miss Gibbs piayed a “Reverie” by- Stock, which so pleased the audience that an encore was rightly demanded. This was the wellknown Dvorak’s “Humoresque”. Hardly any two players interpret this composition alike, and Miss Gibbs appeared to tire towards the end. Miss Gibbs’ second solo, a Scene de Ballet” by De Beriot, was well played and well received. Her encore piece was the well-known Bach-Gounod “Ave Maria”. This composition is certainly a “tour de force” on the part of Gounod, but it is doubtful ‘whether it is quite a success musically. To take and adapt a finished work by one of the two supreme geniuses in music is risky, and no amount of good playing quite condones the offence, if such it be. In her playing the soloist certainly secured that * bel canto’ upon which Svengali so rightly insisted. Even the most broken and stormy music must be “sung” by the instrument. The jast violin solo was Papini’s “Tarantelle , a composition of the same spirit as the two previous solos. In response to an imperative recall Miss Gibbs played Kreisler’s charming “Liebesfreude”. This she took too fast, and consequently the most delicate nuances of the composition were blurred or smothered. The cantabile passages were played with beautiful smooth- • ness. A second recall produced a Cavatina by “Henry”, a tuneful but not otherwise striking composition. It. was played with charming elegance. The accompaniments to all the violin solos were excellently played by Mr. George Holloway, whose only fault was a tendency to play too loudly in any but piano passages. In the forte passages the violin part was at times m danger of being overpowered. Mr. North contributed two solos, Elgar’s Pipes of Pan”, and two bracketed nuinl^ie Day” by Leoncavallo, and To-morrow”, by Keel. As an encore to the former he sang the Epitaph on Stevenson written by himself, and to the latter “My Desert Flower”. Mr. North always sings well, but was in hardly as good voice as usual. Yet it was a distinct pleasure to listen to him. All the accompaniments, except those to the violin solos, were played with sympathy and correctness by Mr. Harold Morey. y