ANOTHER TWIST TO VIC OLIVER

New Zealand Listener, Volume 14, Issue 356, 18 April 1946, Page 21

ANOTHER TWIST TO VIC OLIVER

Comedian Conducts Symphony Orchestra |

IC OLIVER, the famous comedian, and former son-in-law of Mr. Churchill, satisfied an old ambition a few weeks ago-he conducted an orchestra of 100 players in the Albert Hall, London, and according to the News Chronicle he held an audience of 8,000 spellbound. It was not the first time he had held a baton-he was conducting small orchestras in Austria many years ago. And although he said he was not forsaking comedy, he didn’t want it to be thought of as a stunt. "For a chance to conduct an orchestra like the London Philharmonic I would gladly sacrifice four-fifths of what I earn as a music-hall comedian," he said. "I never intended to be a comic; after all I started as a musician." Vic Oliver was born in Vienna and educated at the University of Vienna. He went to America after the last war and began his career as a pianist in a New York beer-garden. His first appearance as a comedian was in vaude-

ll all e ville in Indianapolis in 1926. In the *thirties he went to England and played in C. B. Cochran productions, and he has been the star of many productions at the London Hippodrome. Vic of All Trades The News Chronicle described him as "Viennese ex-baron, cavalryman in the 1914-18 war, concert-pianist in America, comedian with the violin, player in firstclass tennis, scratch golfer, Shakespearean actor, farmer, racehorse owner and trainer." The first announcements of the concert promised "introductory comments by Vic Oliver," but there were no comments. The programme was as follows: "Mastersingers" Overture ...........:.ccsc08 Wagner ie PR TMGONND «TOMI ci. cc nag sntcsbskeasp roeeainn Bizet Intermezzo ("Cavalleria Rusticana’"’) .... . Dances by Dvorak, Grieg, Strauss, Brahms, German, Chopin, Saint-Saens "Unfinished"" Symphony .................... Schubert Air ("Samson and Delilah’’) ........ Saint-Saens MOIS TING 8 oosic ss chic Secacchceccccccnties Tchaikovski And this is what the News Chronicle’s regular music critic, Scott Goddard, said about it next morning: Quite Efficient "As a conductor, Oliver has a clean, sober beat, a little inclined to be martial and lifeless, but nevertheless quite efficient. Also, he used few temperamental mannerisms. Only in a Strauss polka did he insert a hint of showmanship. He secured capable performances in a set of seven dances, the intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana and the second Arlésienne suite by Bizet. The very capability that had served these pieces well did harm to Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony. There was too little poetry and too much loud emphasis." Oliver made it plain that he was not giving up his comedy for this kind of thing. "That would be foolish, The British public has made me a comedian," he said. "But I would like to give this sort of music to the million, I have always believed in the opinion of the masses rather than that of the chosen few. I believe they like this better than swing-which I don’t understand anyway. I’ve had so many letters asking why I didn’t give people this kind of thing that I decided I would."