A Less Placid Artist Might Have PUNCHED HIS NOSE

Radio Record, 17 July 1936, Page 17

A Less Placid Artist Might Have

PUNCHED HIS NOSE

But SYDNEY DE VRIES Just Thought It Was Funny (Specially written for the "Radio Record".)

fied" you with ..,. Well, here’s the story: Sydney de. Vries (if you haven’t heard him broadcast by now then that’s your loss) was asked by a fellow passenger on his | way over to New Zealand last week whether he knew a couple of Dutch artists "in your line of work" in South. Africa. The names mentioned were unusual Dutch ones,’ but were unknown to’ Sydney de Vries. "Well," replied the questioner, "I thought you’d have known them. They’re the greatest pair of trick cyclists I-ever saw!" Perhaps it’s as well for the passenger that this broadeasting singer has a sense of humour. A more temperamental artist might have "punched the presence of the passengaire." In fact, he seems to enjoy life thoroughly, and this part of the world appears to be supplying him with a fair share of personal anecdote to pass on to his bio- |: you were an operatic baritone and somebody "classi-

grapher. While he was in Sydney, under contract: to ‘the "Australian Broadcasting Commission, he was lent several Dutch newspapers by the consul for Holland. Crossing the harbour on the ferry, he was perusing the columns when a stranger’s voice spoke over his shoulder, "That looks Dutch to me." "Tt looks Dutch to me, too," replied Sydney de Vries. "Then what the hell are you reading it for?" In between flashes of humour, however, Sydney de Vries (pronounced Vreese, by the way) talked to me quite solemnly about things like broadcasting in Holland, what singers ought to do to become operatic personalities, and mentioned: a few relevant portions of his own story. ; And the last shall be -first, In the six weeks he is spending in: New Zealand he is s@Cheduled-. for 18

broadcasts, four concerts, the "Hinemoa" Cantata (performed brilliantly last Saturday in the Wellington Town Hall) and "Elijah." So you can imagine that he has alto-. gether sung a song or two since he. left school! In 19 months in Australia alone, immediately before coming to New Zealand, he was heard in 38 operatic broadcasts, 28 stage performances, seven concerts, two oratorios and 103 recitals. ; Having spent the greater portion of his career onthe Continent, Mr. de Vries found it necessary: to be somewhat of-a linguist, a necessity most impressed upon him when he ‘took up operatic work, for. his contention is that no operatic singer can: give of his best if he just happens to know the words of the airs he sings. Knowing the language completely gives the singer an opportunity of really understanding the opera-and particularly why one word is used’‘instead of a synonym. ‘The subtler meaning thus gleaned from the wording of the opera gave the performer better chance of perfect interpretation. So Sydney de ‘Vries comes to New Zealand a fluent speaker in five languages-Mnglish,. Dutch, French, German and Italian. In Holland- operas are sung in- the tongue in which. they are written.

OMB of the best- known conductors under whom the baritone has. sung are Dr. Richard Strauss, Furtwangler, Mengelberg, Kleiber: and. Abravanel. He has sung at the Aeague of Nations Festival in Geneva in "Tannhauser" and "Tristan and Isolde," and two years ago was engaged for a first performance for the International Society for Contemporary Music. Several first performances in Germany, too, in recent years have seen Sydney de Vries on the stage, ‘and the first translation of Verdi’s "Nambucco" into German was another opera in which the: Dutch-singer appeared. He has studied‘ in Italy and at the Guildhall Schodl of ‘Music, has sung at Drury Lane, the Empire, Queen’s Hall, Wigmore Hall, and a host of other well-known theatres. "Any singer who wishes .to. make a’ living nowadays, particularly in opera, must have a large repertoire," said Mr. de Vries. "One of the first questions a producer asks of a prospective member of an operatic cast is, ‘Has he sung it before? . Singers now must build up their repertoire before ‘they for engagements. I place the minimum at 90 standard. oneras. Mv own repertoire

now nunibers 85 operas. Another necessary thing is to have a wide knowledge of languages, for it is hopeless to think that you can make even a living in one city nowadays. Only in this way, too, ean the singer express the smal] inflections of phrasing and idiom which the composer has used for some purpose." O.singer who didn’t handle his voice perfectly now could last in opera, continued Mr. de Vries. It was not the performances which counted in this respect, but the rehearsals. He had seen over and. over again a performer engaged with a beautiful voice,:but by the _ time .the actual performance had arrived the voice was lost. Part of the reason for this was the neglect of lieder singing during .study, "There is much too little lieder sung in some countries," he said. "Young

people are singing big arias before they knew how to sing lieder.’ All the best opera singers of Germany are great lieder singers. I know there are lots of people who come to broadcast who know arias, but no lieder or ballads. BalJads are the rough-and-tumble, but very.necessary part of the singer’s early equipment. Lieder is the refinement of music. People who neglect lieder are apt to go well astray in opera, placing quantity before quality." Another point mentioned was the relation of broadcasting to singing.: "It is rather a dangerous thing to make an artist a good broadcaster. That isn’t a career. There’s something wrong when you hear people say a performer is a good broadcastér but no good on the concert platform. I have been described as an operatic baritone, but there is really no such thing. You may have a lyric tenor or a dramatic soprano, and so on. But such a term as ‘operatic baritone’ automatically suggests a failing in one direction or another." ._H{OLLAND, at’ first hearing, may .sound’ like a listeners’ paradise,-for there are. no licence fees to pay. But it is considered "not the thing" to purchase a radio set yet fail to join one of the big-radio (Cont, on page 57.)

Might Have Punched .. His-Nose,’.

(Continued from page 17.) societies, This .costs° about 3/- a month, and although there is no compulsion, about it, the Dutch must have a deep sense of..honour, for it is extremely rare to. find a. listener who doesn’t belong .to the. Labour, the Catholic, the Avro or the Protestant Society. These four groups have their time on the air allotted by the Government in proportion to their memberships,. The Government-owned stations, are hired out. te the. sacieties: with staff, and the. ‘Government doesn’t interfere in any’ way: except in censoring politics from the air. There. is half an hour a day allowed for advertising, time for which is hired out by the Government. There is a firm like Reuter’s which provides news : for broadcast always at the same times each day, no matter which society has the station at the time, Probably the only "broadcasting vil-. lage" in the world is quickly developing at:a-quiet little spot 14 miles from Amsterdam, where Avro have fheir studios. Houses have been built for such people as the-members of. the permanent orchestra--of whom there are 48 alone, and free motor-buses to Am- sterdam: are run half-hourly for the convenience of the broadcasting settlers. Other societies are also installing their artists in the village, for the societies get on very well together. Duteh children, strangely enough, do not learn their own language at school. They-are taught German and French, and .pick up their mother tongue as they go along. Nine-tenths of the people of Holland nowadays," ‘therefore, are really tri-lingual. But many such" sidelights on life in Holland are being‘ capably described .by Mrs. Sydney de Vries in her broadcast talks in New Zealand, the first of which was given last Thursday night from 2YA. Seems to be a-case of the husband doing all the singing and the wife most of the talking, what?