Peter Dawson Back Again

New Zealand Listener, Volume 15, Issue 368, 12 July 1946, Page 11

Peter Dawson Back Again

ing along Lambton Quay the other day saw a short, dapper man in homberg hat and dark overcoat approaching. "Aren’t you Peter Dawson?" he asked. And so Peter Dawson renewed acquaintance with Harold Whittle. Peter Dawson, as he would say himself, "wears pretty well," and not many people, having once seen his photograph in the newspapers, would fail to recognise the veteran Australian bass-baritone. The Listener found him at 2YA, busy with station manager and program organiser, arranging dates for his studio recitals through the NBS network. We have often been asked how many records he has made, so we passed on the query, and learned that he has made 2,500 titles. Sales of his records have passed the 12,000,000 mark-mainly, he says, because many of his recordings were made before radio was so universal, and when almost everyone had a gramophone, He has been recording since 1904, and has held an unbroken contract for 41 years with one company. For New Zealanders, the most interesting news arising out of Peter Dawson’s visit this time is in the hope he expressed that after his forthcoming tour of Britain and the United States he would be able to settle down in this country — somewhere in the North Island, he thinks, would suit him best. At the moment he has a contract with Harold Fielding, a new English impresario, for a series of concerts throughout the British Isles next year, and he plans to leave from Australia in February. Returning by way of the United States, he \ WELLINGTON pianist walk-

will sing on the radio there, by arrangement with Sir Louis Sterling, of New York. We asked if he had heard of Caesar Petrillo, the "boss" of the American musicians’ union, and of the strict control exerted by him over music and musicians. "As a matter of fact, I haven't," he said, "but any difficulties of that kind will be ironed out. If I have to join the union to sing, I'll become a member for the time being." Dates for listening to Peter Dawson will be: 2YA, Tuesday, July 9, 8.25 p.m., relay of part of a concert at the Town Hall; 3YA, Tuesday, July 16, relay of part of a concert at the Civic Theatre; 4YA, Thursday, July 25, from the Concert Chamber; and Tuesday, July 30, studio recital; 3YA, Friday, August 2, a studio recital; 2YA, Friday, August 9, a studio recital; 1YA, Saturday, August 17, relay of part of a concert from the Town Hall; and Thursday, September 5, a studio recital,