PERSONALITIES ..ON THE AIR..

Radio Record, Volume XII, Issue 35, 10 February 1939, Unnumbered Page

PERSONALITIES ..ON THE AIR..

S if in answer to the prayers of George du Maurier and Herbert Tree, when in search of the ideal ‘‘Trilby’’ before its first production in Manchester, Dorothea Baird, a divine girl, would seem to have fallen from heaven. Great height, a perfect head, a perfect foot, joyous youth and health, brown hair, blue eyes, the figure of a Venus of Milo, and last, but above all, an actress-all these were looked for and found in Dorothea Baird. This girl of eighteen had ouly a year’s experience of acting, but that had been of the best kindViola, Beatrice and Hermione in Ben Greet’s Shakespearean productions. When author and manager broke in on her,

they found her lying on a Sola, surrounded by books, and engaged in studying Desdemona. By the end of the same week Dorothea Baird was rehearsing, and her Trilby and Tree’s weird, spectral, Satanic Svengali gueceeded beyond their wildest dreams in Manchester, later taking London and the world by storm. From 2YA on Monday, February 13, Episode 4 of "Trilby, the Artist’s Model, and Svengali, Master Hypnotist" will be presented.

PLASTIC HUMAN EMOTION

Leopold Stokowski is one of the greatest living masters of that most’ . gigantic,

most sensitive and most difficult of all musical instruments-the symphony orchestra-with its hundred or more individual wills. The mind of the great orchestral conductor is much like that of the simultane-

ous blindfold chess-player, who must not only keep the functions of many separate pieces in mind, but also their bearings upon one another; and the symphony orchestra conductor has this added difficulty, that he does not deal with inert mathematical certainties but with the plastic material of human emotion and the evanescent human sense of beauty. Stokowski is a Londoner, who became conductor of the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra in 1912. Leopold Stokowski and the Philadetphia Orchestra will be _heard from 1YA on Sunday, February 12, and from 4YA on the same Sunday afternoon.

OFT-QUOTED POET OF 23 B.C.

The crowning achievement of Horace, the best known and most quoted of all the

Roman poets, is to be tound in his immortal odes. Three books of these were published in 23 B.C., and the fourth about ten years later. These masterpieces were written by him on his famous Sabine farm, situated in the hills near Tivoli. This farm, with a single-stor-ied house of about twelve fooms on

a spur of the Sabine hills, was given to Horace by his generous patron Maecenas about 34 B.C., and was referred to by the poet again and again in his verse. Patient excavation has in recent years revealed much of the original structure as it must have been in the poet’s time, and fragments of the original frescoes remain. At 1YA on Friday, February 17, Professor C. G. Cooper will give readings from Horace, Poet and Man of the World.

A PENNY READING MEMORY

Over seventy years ago Charles Coborn used to attend "nenny read-

ings." At one of these a very goodlooking, gentlemanly man in a frock-coat recited in a pleasant, distinguished voice selections from the "Ingoldsby Legends." This paragon was the notorious Henry Wainwright, who later murdered his mistress. After shooting her he made the mistake of burying fis victim in chloride of lime (a preservative) which he thought was quicklime, This ignorance of elementary chemistry led to his conviction. Charles Coborn has ever been the variety artists’ champion against slippery agents and arbitrary managers. It is mainly due to him that music-hall performers have their present strong organisa-

tion and a healthy benevolent fund. Charles Coborn is an example of the variety artist at his best. 3YA listeners w hear Charles Coborn presiding over "An Old Time Sing-Song" in the music, mirth and melody session on Monday, February 13.

CHARLIE MeCARTHY’S "COUSIN"

Ventriloquism is exploited in the backward illiterate districts of China by nec-

romancers who nourish on tne meagre savings of widows who want to hear the voices of their dead husbands. The consultant — uses for his purpose a little statuette made of beechwood which has been exposed to the dew for forty-nine days and is thus im pregnated with the spirit of the dead. The words that issue from the mouth of the little image are believed to be those of the deceased (or rather of his spirit), but the whole thing is a cruel fake. Modern entertainers use their gifts to amuse and not to swindle poor widows, and some of their puppets are famous, like Charlie McCarthy. The latter has many distinguished "cousins," one of whom is McGinty. 4YA fisteners will hear MeGinty’s views on marriage in the music, mirth and melody session on Thursday, February 16. MeGinty confides his ideas to his boss, A. C. Astor, the Royal Command ventriloquist.

WALTER'S NEW CAREER

The seizure of Austria by Germany caused an upheaval in the ranks of the

musicians. Bruno Walter, for example, found any continuance in Vienna impossible and he simply had to wipe the slate clean and commence 2 new career. But Bruno Walter is a man with the vitality and courage to do that, for all his two-and-sixty years. According to a pronouncement published in the "Journal Officiel;’ he has beeome a French citizen. The last five years of Bruno Walter’s life have been for him one long succession of dramatic episodes. He was fated to become a storm centre, but he has emerged with a clean sheet and the admiration and esteem of his colleagues. At 4YA on Thursday, February 16, Bruno Walter will conduct a Symphonic Concert by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.

YIRTUOSO AT SIXTEEN

As a concert pianist, Wilhelm Backhaus _ has been touring the world at inter-

vals Since 1900, When as a lad of Sixteen, fresh from the hands of Eugen d’Albert, he was recognised as an artist of the foremost order. He is one of the few who reach that goal of perfect artistry, which go many strive for, and strive for vainly. He is well known in New Zealand where his recitals have always proved an inspiration to concert-goers who love that king of all entertainers-the virtuoso pianist. Backhaus’s playing was once described as being characterised by a brilliant, sound technique, with a subtle and delicate sense of tone-colour and a feeling for the musical phrase like that of the poetic phrase in words. SYA listeners will hear Wilhelm Backhaus on Sunday afternoon, February 12. He provides the afternon feature "Variations on an’ Original Theme" by Brahms.