Around The Nationals

New Zealand Listener, Volume 6, Issue 147, 17 April 1942, Page 20

Around The Nationals

Tee "first performances" will given in a studio recital from 1YA on Wednesday’ evening, April 22, featuring Eileen Ralph as solo pianist, with members of — the Studio Orchestra under the conductorship of Thomas Matthews. The compositions which will be broadcast are three Choral Preludes by Bach, arranged for strings by Eugene Ormandy, Copland’s "Quiet City" for trumpet, oboe and strings and the "Rapsodia Sinfonica" of Turina, in which the piano solo will be taken by Eileen Ralph. Photostats of the score of the latter work, secured by Mr. Matthews through the courtesy of the publishers, will be used in this broadcast. Heretofore, the "Repsodia Sinfonica" has been heard by most listeners only in the form of a piano solo by Eileen Joyce. * e * You may not yet have met Mr. A Penny over the air, but in everyday life you probably meet him almost daily. He is elderly and precise, the entirely unadventurous humdrum business gentleman, so cautious that he will not go out without his goloshes nor buy 214d worth of cheese without tasting it first. But his clockwork day is interrupted by melodramatic adventures that are as sensational as they are incongtuous. If, as Dr. Johnson once said, incongruity is the basis of humour, there is here a solid foundation for half-en-hour’s fun. The scripts of The Adventures of Mr. Penny were written for the BBC by Moiseiwitsch, nephew of the’ pianist. Each Sunday evening at 9.2, a new episode is presented from 2YD. Ld oe a RODERIGO DIAZ DE BIVAR-LE CID, occupies the same place in . Spanish legend and history as does King Arthur in British, Charlemagne in French, and Theoderic in German romance, Le Cid fought against and defeated the Moors in the 11th Century, and round his name have collected innumerable stories of his exploits. Massenet’s opera Le Cid has for its plot the story of a Spanish lady who could never make up her mind, and in the end someone else does it for her. The ballet music from Le Cid will be heard from 1YA on Monday, April 20, at 9.25 p.m. "pose * ’ April 23, at 758 pm., the Triumphal March from " Caractacus" will be heard from 4YA. The libretto of this cantata by Elgar (first heard at the Leeds festival with Andrew Black singing the title role) was written by H. A. Ackworth. The story tells of the British leader’s fruitless struggle against the Roman invasion. The various scenes include the British camp on the Malvern hills, a Druidic gathering with the attendent rites and mysteries, the overthrow of the Britons, and lastly, Rome, with" Caractacus led captive through the streets. The peroration at the end prophesies the era that is to come when Briton will lead the world as the champion of freedom,