Around The Nationals

New Zealand Listener, Volume 4, Issue 100, 23 May 1941, Page 24

Around The Nationals

| | HIRTY-FIVE years ago in London the first performance of Liza Lehmann’s The Vicat of Wakefield, to a libretto by Laurence Housman, was greeted with enthusiasm, but this enthusiasm was not shared by the librettist. Housman was indignant at what he called the "ridiculous treatment" of "is verse, and expressed his feelings so strongly throughout the performance that the management had eventually to ask him to leave the theatre-which he did amid catcalls. W. S. Gilbert pronounced the music of Liza Lehmann’s The Vicar of Wakefield so good as to be "libretto proof," a judgment which you can confirm when you hear songs from The Vicar of Wakefield sung by W. Roy Hill from 2YA on Monday, May 26. Mr. Hill will also sing songs from two other British operas, The Veiled Prophet, by Stanford, and Hugh the Drover, by Vaughan Williams. HAT must be the most concise job in condensation yet attempted in any of the Winter Course Series of this year faces L. B. Quartermain on Monday evening next-he is going to try and tell the story of the exploration of the Americas in quarter-of-an-hour from 2YA! When one considers the work of the early French explorers of Canada, of the Pilgrim Fathers, and the opening up of the Middle West, one is appalled at the vast field to be covered-yet that still leaves untouched the whole of the South American continent. Mr. Quartermain’s coverage of the Western Hemisphere in this manner may be reminiscent of the old cartographers who, alas, had to leave large spaces blank-although in his case he really does know what he is leaving out. However, don’t let this quick survey of a large field put you off — it should whet your appetite for more. co %* * os RE is no evidence that the in- *" nate abilities of man have improved in the last 30,000 years, though of course his habits and knowledge have done so to an incredible extent." Such is the considered opinion of a waellknown biologist, Professor J. B. S. Haldane. It will be interesting to compare the opinions of an educationist, when Professor Fitt speaks from 1YA next Thursday on the subject of "Is Man Changing?" As man’s knowledge has advanced, and his ability to control his environment has increased, man’s habits have changed to meet his new economic and social problems. These form the subject of a discussion by Professor A. H. Tocker and Dr. George Jobberns from 3YA next Wednesday. One particular habit which arises from some of the problems, but has not been universally adopted as yet, is "Consumer Co-opera-tion." On Tuesday, May 27, Dr. G. C. Billing will be saying something about this from 4YA. These Winter Course Talks, each fitting in with its own particular series from its own particular centre, thus form a miniature course of its own which should be well worth listening to.