PERSONALITIES of the week

Radio Record, Volume VIII, Issue 31, 8 February 1935, Page 8

PERSONALITIES

of the week

BACH’S £13 SALARY. [wo centuries ago John Sebastian Bach conducted the historic church choir of St. Thomas, Leipzig, for which he wrote a new cantata for performance every Sunday. ‘These cantatas ran into hundreds in due time, and the small body of 18th century singers little knew the part they were playing in the foundations of music as we understand them to-day. For this work Bach drew the munificent stipend of £18 a year. He womehow managed to rear a family of twenty children on this ludicrously small income, plus what he made out of teaching. With a long and honourable history, the choir of to-day worthily upholds its splendid traditions under the present conductor, Dr. Karl Straube, who for the past 33 years has ruled its destinies. Dr. Straube is an organist-vir-tuoso of the first rank. He holds many distinguished musical posts in the musical city of Leipzig, and is a foremost Bach authority.

THE "REV." LEVITZKI. R. CHRISTIAN REISNER, of the Grace Methodist Hpiscopal Church, New York, evidently agrees with the belic£ of Charles Wesley, who once said: ‘The devil ought not to have all the

best tunes," So Ra invited Mischa Levitzki to play a short recital The chureh ran with applause, and, responding to Dr. Reisner’s appeal for funds the plates yielded over one .thonsand. pounds. "And your -play- | ing had more to do with it than anything I was able to say,’ he told the pianist afterwards. "It

was a direct response to the message which you gave them. They knew it was something bigger and greater than ‘a display of technique-that you were there to unfold to them the ideas which the composers had concealed within the notes as they had arranged them. It was the preaching of the gospel of music and beauty and power." VERSATILE HARRY. PARRY DHARTH, whose death robbed the concert platform of a most popuJar and versatile singer, was born in London in 1876, and’ was educated at St. Mark’s College and. the Royal College of Music. His debut at the age of eighteen was at Marlborough Hall. For fourteen years he was principal bass soloist in the choir of Westminster ‘Abbey. He was for three years with the Beecham Opera Company, anda further three years he played and sang fin. musical comedy in the companies of ithe late George Wdwardes and Robert Courtneidge, Dearth was a favouri soloist .at. the Royal Choral Society’s concerts, and at all the principal concerts and festivals in the United Kingdom. The late Harry Dearth toured: New Zealand years ago. RADIO’S GODFATHER. POSTERITY will. .regard Sir Oliver Lodge as one of the men who, along with Hertz, Marconi and Fleming, laid the foundations for the greatest and most beneficial invention since the printing press. When he showed the prac-’ tical uses to which wireless telegraphy could be put he pointed the way to the greatest contribution to human culture the world had ever known. Like Archbishops Averill and Redwood, Sir Oliver hailed from Staffordshire. The tiny vilJage of Penkhull claims him as its most illustrious native, and 1851, the year of

his birth, was a memorable one for the little settlement. Then was born the man who was to have .to his credit a list. of inventions of almost superhuman achievement. Astronomy, radio and relativity have all claimed( his attention. 1 COURAGEOUS DORA. PoORA LABETTH, one of the foremast English sopranos of to-day, once had the-courage to rebuke a careless audience when she stopped in her song and told them that she would not go on until they ceased walking about and distracting her with. their noise. Hvyery performing artist should’.be® grateful to her for her spirited action, for the unmannerliness and ignorance of some audiences is enough to irritate the per- ' former almost beyond endurance. They need such a lesson in decent behaviour far more frequently. Why. should an artist strive to be heard above the sound cf footsteps, scraping chairs and other jarring sounds? Besides, there. are always some people present who pay their money to listen to the music, and it is as unfair to these as to the artist on Oh stage. GLASGOW’S PRIDE. N 1906 Sir Hugh Roberton founded: a musical organisation which has become the pride of Glasgow-and, indeed, of all Scotland-known as the Glasgow Orpheus Choir. It has become one of the most famous choral bodies in the British Isles, and all the credit for its fame that can -possibly attach to a conductor, apart from his forces, is due to Roberton. very year the. choir visits London, and these visits , have become distinct musical events. Almost always on these occasions they go to No. 10 Downing Street, and have. also béen to "Chequers" by invitation of the Prime Minister, The choir’s domestic . affairs are’ dealt with in the official organ, a little paper called "The Lute," and.on the humorous side the choir’s conductor frequently contributes most readable sketches. LEOPOLD GODOWSKI EOPOLD Godowsky has proved his artistic mettle in so many and such varied fields that it is not necessary at this late day to dwell upon his exploits as a pianist, adapter and pedagogue. He never has been content to Wander in routiried paths, and gifted as he is with creative instinct, has shaped his pianistic equipment so as to encompass a style absolutely unique, at the same time qualifying himself as a genius in adaptation by his transcriptions and arrangements ‘of works from the classified repertory. Of late years Godowsky has been doing much travelling in foreign fields, and also has composed much original mat ter. Hig outlook has widened, ated extensive culture has broadene , my

GRETA OF VIENNA (GRETA KELLER, actress and singer, was born in Vienna, and her childhood’s ambition was to become an operasinger, When small she used to bawl operatic arias so loudly all day that when she grew up she was left with the small singing voice she now has. Her next ambition was to be a ballet dancer, and she pirouetted round the Keller home and almost broke her legs. Her grandfather, who disapproved of dancing, threatened to break them for her in earnest if she ever attempted to join the ballet. This threat apparently did not blight her inward life-stranger still, it was uttered in Freud’s home town. Her last ambition was to become an actress. First an actress and then successively singer,

international cabaret broadcaster, film . actress and record best seller, Greta has definitely arrived. "LITTLE MELBA" TELLA POWER, or "Little Melba," as she was affectionately called at * the beginning of her career possesses a coloratura soprano of exceptional quality and extraordinary range. In one of her numbers, "Charming Bird" (Charmant Oiseau) from "Pearl.of Brazil," she sustains a G in alt, a feat which she thinks nothing of executing five times « day when touring picture-bouse circuits in America. She is an Australian and a protege of the late Dame Nellie Melba, in whose opera company she sang as understudy

to Tote dal Monte. This "Australian Song Bird" toured New Zealand some years ago and is now delighting her country folk in her radio recitals from Station 3L0, Melbonrne.