THINGS TO COME A Run Through The Programmes

New Zealand Listener, Volume 1, Issue 24, 8 December 1939, Page 6

THINGS TO COME

A Run

Through The Programmes

N the Australian outback, a miner strikes a stone with which he is not familiar. He breaks it, after many attempts. It proves to be the clue leading to the discovery of a strange underground city. Thrills and adventure follow to make up the new serial from 2YD, " Out of the Silence," a dramatisation of a novel by Erle Cox, Australian author. The second instalment is scheduled from 2YD at 9 p.m. on Wednesday, December 13. Top Notes Who among us has not watched some soprano, worked up to a pitch of ecstasy, fling open wide her arms and break the dead silence of the missing shouts for encore with: "Come! Come! I love you oh-only, Come hero mine!" "My Hero," of course, comes from "The Chocolate Soldier," a musical comedy by Oscar Straus (the branch of the clan with

one "s" at the end of the name). This attractive stage show is based on George Bernard Shaw’s well-known play "Arms and the Man," once rather wittily described in its musical-comedy version as having become "Legs and the Woman." A selection from "The Chocolate Soldier" will be heard from 3YA on Saturday, December 16, at 8 p.m. New String Orchestra At 8 p.m. on Wednesday, December 13, from the Exhibition studio, the National Broadcasting Service String Orchestra, conducted by the well-known English violinist, Maurice Clare, will give its first broadcast.

The scheme for the formation of the orchestra was originated by the Director of Broadcasting, Professor James Shelley, and it is felt that the orchestra, besides giving much entertainment, will create a wide interest > good music in this country. It is the nucleus’ for bigger musical organisation in the future. Mr. Clare travelled all over New Zealand to get the best musicians available, and the orchestra, consisting of twelve, has been rehearsing since December 1. Mr. Clare, besides conducting, will sometimes play with the orchestra, and Vincent Aspey, of Auckland, is the deputy-leader. The programme for Wednesday is an excellent one, and launches an orchestra which should prove a great asset to music and radio in this country. Nightmare In the cafes of the French port of Bordeaux, anything is likely to happen. Thieves and adventurers rub shoulders with respectable business men; the garrotter and the speculator mingle with the crowds of shop assistants and clerks. Bordeaux is the colourful setting for "The Fall," a short story by Stacy Aumonier, adapted for radio by Felix Felton. "The Fall" is really a dream. You, too, have had a dream, probably, in which you felt yourself falling from a high tower, or a bridge; anyway, you ended up heaving convulsively on the bedroom floor. But if you listen in to this play, a blend of mystery, thriHs, and bizarre reality, you will find what such a dream did to a man named the Jackal. The time for the presentation: 8 p.m. on Monday, December 11. The station: 1YA, Auckland. The Brownings It is said that somebody once wrote to Robert Browning asking him the meaning of a certain passage in one of his poems, and Browning replied that he was sorry he could not explain the passage, but doubtless the Secretary of the Browning Society would oblige. This is one of many jokes about the Browning cult of years ago. One wonders 2 what has happened to the Browning Do any exist to-day? Browning’s fame, like ". that of most or all Victorians, has suffered something of an eclipse. His optimism does not commend itself to the pallid young despairers of to-day, but the rock on which it rests (we know this is a mixture of metaphors) has not really been shifted. Professor T. D. Adams is to read from Browning on

Friday, December 15, at 4YA, Dunedin. Earlier in the week O. L. Simmance will also give a reading from Elizabeth Barrett Browning, from 3YA. A#ailure to Success Nothing succeeds like success, we know, but sometimes failure can turn to success. This was the case with the brilliant comic opera by Rossini, "The Barber of Seville," which, from abject failure at its first presentation, became on its second, and on all following performances, a triumph. Listeners will be told the story of how this happened from 2YA, Wellington, at 3 pm. on Sunday, December 10. The opera was written in thirteen days. When Donizetti was told this, he replied, "Yes, but Rossini was always a lazy fellow!" The opera itself (abridged), will be presented at 9.25 p.m. on the Sunday night from the same station. Early Germans For his Annals, Tacitus is unpopular with young students of Latin, since his abbreviated prose is hard to understand, but for his Germania he is as well liked as the author of a "set book" can be. With ethnologists he is almost a popular author because Germania is a useful guide to the wanderings and customs of the early German tribes. He described, for instance, how they dug into the earth for their homes, and covered the roofs with manure for warmth. That was a few hundred years ago, and can’t be used for propaganda, but Tacitus is still an authority and still of interest. In A.D. 77 he married the daughter of Agricola, conqueror of Britain, and was in fine style to write Agricola, although they do say it was not the best of biographies. Professor Pocock will talk about Tacitus from 3YA at 9.25 p.m. on Thursday, December 14. In Case It would perhaps strain the pun-stunned nerves of our readers if we mentioned that we noticed this week, not without some relish, that the A.C.E. has arranged a talk on Jams and Jellies (2YA, Friday, December 15, 3 pm.). The same applies of course to Holiday-Time Meals (4YA, Wednesday, December 13, 3.15 p.m.) although chutney would possibly be more acceptable if the Home Science Tutorial Section of the University of Otago would tolerate any condiment. In any case, accidents may happen. Thorough as usual, the A.C.E, provides

against this contingency with a talk on what to do, when they do, from 4YA at 3.15 p.m. on Friday, December 15. I Spy! You are obviously wondering what the representation of two parlourmaids doing a spot of investigation is all about, so we'll tell you. It’s really propaganda; not, of course, of the Goebbels, or even King-Hall type, but still propaganda. In fact it’s a way of saying

that an item called "Look and Listen" is to be presented from the Exhibition studio by 2YA at 8 p.m. on Saturday, December 16. Billed by the NBS programme department as "a merry mixture of Songs, Skits, and Sketches," we take the absence of wild superlatives as a good omen and think that you will enjoy this variety show. Alternatives Since someone has pointed out the coincidence connecting an item scheduled by 2YD at the same time as the Item of The Week from other stations in New Zealand, we find it necessary to point out that in each of the four main centres NBS auxiliary stations will be on the air each Sunday night at 8.45 p.m. with general programmes alternative to the Prime Minister’s weekly talk. The 2YD item did not, of course, lead to as much confusion as the wits would suggest. In Wellington, 2YC is also on general items at that time. Other stations not hooked up will be 1ZM and 1YX (Auckland), 3YL (Christchurch), and 4YO (Dunedin),