RICH FARE FOR CHRISTCHURCH

New Zealand Listener, Volume 2, Issue 48, 24 May 1940, Page 30

RICH FARE FOR CHRISTCHURCH

Music Festival In Southern City

UNEDIN’S share of the Centennial Music Festival having just been presented, Christchurch is ‘tthe next city to hear the celebrity artists from overseas and the orchestral and choral work under the baton of Andersen Tyrer. A glance at the 3YA programmes for this week indicates what rich fare is being given: and here are

some notes on the more important compositions: This Saturday, May 25, Sir Edward Elgar’s Cantata, "King Olaf,’ will be heard. The central idea of the work is that Bards have gathered together to tell the great saga, and from time to time the characters themselves step out of the fabric and carry on the narrative. The text is partly by Longfellow, partly

by H. A. Ackworth; it concerns Olaf, 11th Century King of Norway, who was a Christian and who wished to convert his people. Olaf was killed, when he was thirty-five, in battle. In the programmes for Tuesday, May 28, the principal work will be Tchaikovski’s "Symphonie Pathetique" (No. 6 in B Minor), played by the Centennial Festival Symphony Orchestra. The overture will be Beethoven’s "Egmont," conceived by the composer through his great admiration of Goethe’s poetry and the figure of Egmont himself. On the same

evening, Raymond Beatty will present "Songs of the Sea,’ by Stanford, to Newbolt’s well-known poetry. Brahms’s "Alto Rhapsody," with Goethe’s text, will be sung by Gladys Ripley and Male Voice Choir. Oscar Natzke will sing two items: "Possenti Numi,’ Sarastro’s dignified invocation from Mozart’s "The Magic Flute," and the ever-popular "Song of the Volga Boatman." The final item is an orchestral arrangement of Liszt's second "Hungarian Rhapsody." As for ths main work, the symphony, it is considered by many to be the crowning achievement of Tchaikovski’s full life in music, One of the most loved of tragic operas, Gounod’s "Faust," will be broadcast as an actual stage presentation, on Wednesday, May 29. It tells in song that ancient story of the man who to gain worldly power and happiness, sold his soul to the devil. Some people say that Bizet died of a broken heart after the initial failure of his opera, "Carmen." True, he died shortly after it was produced, but time has vindicated the work, and the melodies which were once met by disapproval are now universally enjoyed. A concert version of "Carmen" will be presented on Thursday evening, May 30, by the Royal Christchurch Musical Society. The other work on the same evening will be Dr. Charles Wood’s "Eden Spirits," a Cantata. This Irish composer’s work will be sung by the Christchurch Liederkranzchen, conducted by Alfred Worsley. The most interesting item on the pro‘gramme for Friday night, May 31, is Andersen Tyrer’s Symphonic Poem, "Dr. Faustus," in. which Professor James Shelley will be the orator. The overture will be from Wagner’s "Die Meistersinger." This was the one comic opera the German master wrote. Franck’s "Symphonic Variations for Piano and Orchestra" will also be presented on this evening, the solo pianist being Frederick Page. Later in the same programme Mr. Page will play the "Fantasia and Fugue in G Minor," by Bach, transcribed for orchestra by Andersen Tyrer. Arias with orchestra will be sung by Isobel Baillie, and Oscar Natzke and the Orpheus Choir will present Madrigals. Those whose taste lies in oratorio rather than in opera, will be well catered for on Saturday evening, June 1, when Mendelssohn’s "Elijah," with Isobel Baillie, Gladys Ripley, Heddle Nash and Raymond Beatty as soloists, will be heard under Andersen Tyrer’s direction. Variety is the keynote of the final programme for Sunday evening, June 2, when Isobel Baillie, Gladys Ripley, Heddle Nash and Oscar Natzke will all present brackets of arias and art songs. The orchestra will be heard in Weber’s "Oberon Overture," that delightful work in which all kinds of graphic ideas are mingled; in the famous "Enigma Variations for Orchestra," by Sir Edward Elgar, each variation being a musical portrait of one of the composer’s friends; and, to round off, in "Pomp and Cir- | cumstance" March No. 1 by Elgar.