The Royal Concert at Dunedin

New Zealand Listener, Volume 30, Issue 760, 12 February 1954, Page 6

The Royal Concert at Dunedin

The Service which had reported the Queen’s. every move throughout the country was to entertain her and the Duke of Edinburgh before they left. It was fitting that this should be so, and doubly important, therefore, that radio give of its, best. For ifs Royal Concert the NZBS obtained the use of New. Zealand’s finest auditorium, the Dunedin Town Hall. In it was assembled the National Orchestra, under its distinguished conductor, Warwick Braithwaite, and a girls’ choir of 114 voices from Dunedin’s secondary schools. The items to be performed were carefully chosen as those known to please or likely to please New. Zealand’s Sovereign. But before the performance went the planning. Those concerned with the concert’s broadcast throughout the country were rehearsed in their parts. An official Sequence of Events was drawn up, with rehearsals being held in the Town Hall to smooth out tricky points of timing. The exact stage area required was mapped out and extensions made. Orchestra and choir experimented to find the best placing. A comprehensive scheme of decorations was arranged in conjunction with the Decorations Committee of the Dunedin City Council. Artists’ drawings for the souvenir programme were commissioned, exam- ined, amended, and finally approved. And, of course, some 3000 tickets were "[T NZBS was to act as host,

sold and a Guide to Procedure issued to each ticket-holder. All the organisation began to show its effect a few minutes after 7 o'clock on the night of the concert. Patrons began to arrive as requested-early, Door-keepers and ushers, security officials, and the uniformed Plunket nurses who acted as programme-sellers, were in position. The final wave of concertgoers arrived at 7.45, and was swiftly seated. At 8.0 p.m. Dr. V. E. Galway began a pre-concert organ recital, the last recital of his long career as Dunedin’s City Organist. The music was ‘impressive, and clearly suited the mood of those present. It began with Dr. Vernon Griffiths’s Procession for a Festival, was followed by Handel’s Overture to a Ceremonial Occasion, and concluded with Clarke’s Trumpet Voluntary. As the applause died the trim, navy-clad figures of the choir girls began to emerge from the _ side-gallery entrances, and the National Orchestra's members, in dignified black, began to take up their places. Backstage, P. G. Parker, of the NZBS Concert Section, stood beside a radic set carrying the commentary on the scene outside the Law Courts Hotel pending the Queen’s departure for the concert. Cues had been arranged so that as the Royal couple entered their car the leader of the orchestra, Vincent Aspey, took the stage, and as the car ‘drew up at the Town Hall the conductor, Warwick Braithwaite, mounted the "podium. At the front of the house the Prime Minister, who had arrived a few minutes before the Royal Party, introduced Her Majesty and His Roya] Highness to the Director of Broadcasting, William Yates, and Mrs. Yates, and to the NZBS Concert Manager, J. L. -Hartstonge, and Mrs. Hartstonge. The concert proper began with Elgar’s Nursery Suite, a work composed to mark the occasion of the birth of Princess Margaret. It was followed by the prayer and finale from Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, with the massed girls’ choir and _ soloists Dora Drake "soprano) and Lex MacDonald (baritone). This and a later itemProkofieff’s Cinderella’s Waltz-particu-larly delighted Her Majesty. Later, in the foyer, she thanked Mr. Braithwaite for including them in the programme, and recalled her pleasure in attendances at Sadler’s Wells and Covent Garden during the ballet seasons. Mr. Braithwaite himself she remembered as conductor at the Covent Garden ballet. "I met her first,’ says Mr. Braithwaite, "when the Queen Mother brought. the two Princesses down for a performance. She actually remembered. the occasion quite well." Another pleasant surprise for Her Majesty was her first hearing of Gordon Jacob’s Festal March, one of three works commissioned by the BBC to celebrate the birth of Prince Charles in November, 1948. After a brief interval, the concert continued with Liszt’s Concerto No. 1 in E Flat, with Richard Farrell at the piano. "I suggested this piece for the, Royal Concert," says Mr. Farrrell. "The occasion seemed to call for something short and brilliant, and Liszt filled the bill." A New Zealander, Mr. Farrell is no stranger to Dunedin or its famous hall, but the concerto was his first performance for Royalty. Critics afterwards agreed that he matched the brilliance of both the work and the occasion. Following this, the massed choir gave its final performance of the evening, the part-songs "The Snow" and "Charming

Chloe," ~ by Elgar and Thompson respectively, and the concert concluded with Elgar’s "Cockaigne" Overture, with Dr. Galway at the organ, It was an exciting finish, in" a~ blaze’ of colourful. sound which left the audience in the mood for a spirited rendering of New Zealand’s National: song. Afterwards, Her Majesty and -the Duke of Edinburgh spent five minutes in the foyer being introduced to Dora Drake, Lex MacDonald, Richard Farrell, six representatives from > the girls’ choir, the chorusmaster, George. Wilkinson, Dr. Galway, Vincent Aspey.and, the conductor, Warwick Braithwaite. According tothe latter, the audience was a good one, "behaving with respect for Her Majesty as well as showing great interest in .the various items. They were relaxed and easy. The orchestra too was quite calm and did a good’ professional job of. work, giving of their. best." Before leaving, ‘to ‘be engulfed. by the wildly enthusiastic crowds outside, Her , Majesty turned again. to . the NZBS representatives. to thank them for a_programme. she had greatly enjoyed. Broadcasting’s own Royal occasion had been a success.