John McCormack tenor
Although John McCormack stopped performing opera back in 1913, it still seems slightly surprising that this programme contained no hint of that career. The only operatic item, by Caldara, was one of those Arie antiche, eighteenth century arias then widely used as technical exercises and concert openers. The opera itself was then forgotten, and even now awaits its turn in the succession of recent revivals of similar works by Handel, Vivaldi, Hasse, Porpora, Vinci and others.
In 1930 it was still unusual for a singer to occupy the whole programme, and here a young lady recitalist made a second visit to the city. Vitya Vronsky was clearly a virtuoso with an impressive technique.
Additinal Scottish tour dates and venues to be confirmed.
First Lionel Powell International Celebrity Subscription Concert
John McCormack tenor
Vitya Vronsky solo piano
Edwin Schneider accompanist
Old German Entlaubet ist der Walde.
Caldara Alma del cor La Costanza.
Bach/Busoni Chaconne.
Bantock A Widow Bird sate Mourning.
Parry There.
Foote Memnon.
Harty A Cradle Song.
nk Annie a-wooing (encore).
Seaver Just for To-day (encore).
Liszt Valse Oubliée.
Stanford (arr) Song of the Fairy-King.
Wood (arr) I’d Roam the World Over with You.
Hardebeck (arr) Fair Una.
Torrance Machree (encore).
Liszt-Busoni Paraphrases on Mozart’s Don Giovanni.
Prokofiev Prelude (encore).
Scarlatti Sonata (encore).
O’Brien The Fairy Tree.
Schneider Far Apart.
Donaudy Luoghi sereni e cari.
Loughborough A Night Idyll.
Alicia Scott Annie Laurie (encore).
Dundee Courier & Advertiser: Wednesday, October 29, 1930
John M’Cormack’s Dundee Visit - Programme with Wide Appeal
'The musical season in Dundee will open to-morrow evening with the appearance of John M’Cormack, the great tenor, at the first Celebrity Concert in Caird Hall.
'M’Cormack, whose fame as a lyric artist is world-wide, will certainly give the “Celebrity” series a great send-off.
'To-morrow evening he will sing a very interesting group of Irish folk songs. They are :- “Song of the Fairy King” (arr. Stanford), “I’d roam the world over with you” (arr. Wood), and “Una Ban” - Fair Una (arr. Hardebeck).
'M’Cormack will sing four groups in all. His programme opens with “Entlaubet ist der Walde” (old German, 1536) and “Alma del cor,” an air from La Costanza by Caldara.
'Modern British composers will be represented in the second group, which includes “A Widow Bird Sate Mourning,” by Granville Bantock; “There,” by Sir Hubert Parry; “Memnon,” by Arthur Foote; and Sir Hamilton Harty’s “A Cradle Song.”
'In his final group M’Cormack will sing “The Fairy Tree,” by Vincent O’Brien, an Irish composer who is credited with having “discovered” M’Cormack in 1902. He will sing for the first time “Far Apart,” which is by Edwin Schneider, his accompanist at to-morrow’s concert.
'The singer’s programme will conclude with “Luoghi sereni e cari” (Donaudy) and “A Night Idyll” (Raymond Loughborough).
'Vitya Vronsky, the young lady pianist whose brilliant performance excited admiration on her last visit to Dundee, will also appear to-morrow evening. She will play three programme numbers - Chaconne (Bach-Busoni), Liszt’s “Valse Oubliee,” and “Paraphrases of Mozart’s Don Juan” (Liszt-Busoni).'
Dundee Courier & Advertiser: Friday, October 31, 1930
John M’Cormack at Caird Hall - Masterly Interpretation of Folk Songs
'A large selection of songs, amounting to a score or so in number, were sung by Mr John M’Cormack, the famous tenor, on his visit to Dundee last night.
'His inspiring response to the applause of a very large audience gave general delight at the first Celebrity concert of the season in Caird Hall.
'Irish folk-songs - exquisitely sung by the great singer, who is very much of an Irishman although now an American citizen - figured prominently in the programme.
'M’Cormack gave a brilliant illustration of what a great artiste can accomplish in this particular field of vocal music. But although his voice exhibited its well-known charm in the middle register, the higher notes rather lacked resonance, and here and there an uncertainty of intonation was apparent.
'His renderings were pregnant with the musicianly intelligence for which he is famed, and nowhere was that quality more apparent than in his singing of songs of his native land. In this particular art he is surely inimitable.
'Each of the four groups of songs which he gave held a special interest. in all of them his skilful use of light and shade was very marked, while the flawless quality of his enunciation is something to marvel at.
'Not for nothing has M’Cormack been described as the world’s greatest lyric tenor. He has brought the art of lyrical singing to a very high pitch indeed. Each song he invests with a pointed appeal, and one is apt to overlook the perfection of his vocal technique in admiration for his graceful production.
'Very interesting were his first two items, “Entlaubet ist der Walde” (Old German 1536), and an air, “Alma del Core,” from La Costanza (Caldara), with their different forms of lyrical grace.
'Modern composers like Granville Bantock and Sir Hamilton Harty figured in his next group. The Bantock piece, “A Widow Bird Sate Mourning,” received a rendering which set off the composer’s style to great advantage. It was in this song perhaps more than any other last night in which M’Cormack demonstrated his interpretative power. His voice production here was a triumph in itself.
'No less interesting was Sir Hubert Parry’s “There,” a song with a broad musical conception on the subject of the life beyond. Other songs in this group were “Memnon,” by Arthur Foote, and “A Cradle Song” (Hamilton Harty). In response to appreciation, M’Cormack sang two encores, which offered an effective concert, when M’Cormack sang “Annie A-Wooing,” and “Just For To-day” (Seaver).
'Next came the group of Irish folk-songs, which were rightly popular. They were - “Song of the Fairy King” (arr. Stanford); “I’d Roam the World Over With You” (arr. Wood); and “Una Ban - Fair Una” (arr. Hardebeck). Each had an individual charm as sung by M’Cormack. The story was unfolded with a picturesqueness all achieved by perfected technique and an unfailing use of the right inflection of voice for each picture. Among his encores to this group were “Machree,” which is the work of Ernest Torrance, the Scottish film star.
'His last four songs were notable for the success of a new song by Mr Edwin Schneider, M’Cormack’s accompanist. The rendering last night of “Far Apart,” as the song is called, was its first public performance, and it was very well received. It is a composition in the style of the modern ballad, with a sound melodic character. M’Cormack gave it a great send-off.
'His singing reached a noteworthy height of expressive power in “The Fairy Tree,” by Vincent O’Brien, the Irish composer and his concluding programme numbers were “Luoghi sereni e cari” (Donaudy) and “A Night Idyll” (Raymond Loughborough). For many of the audience the tit-bit of the evening came at the end of the concert, when M’Cormack sang “Annie Laurie” - an immensely popular gesture. Mr Edwin Schneider’s accompaniments were deft and in perfect accord with the singer.
'Miss Vitya Vronsky consolidated the impression which she made last year of being a very brilliant young pianist. Her pianistic powers have become even more highly developed since she appeared in Dundee last, and she is now a virtuoso of high rank. This she showed by her playing of Chaconne (Bach-Busoni), which bristles with technical difficulties. The variations were brilliantly played.
'On her second appearance Miss Vronsky played Liszt’s “Valse Oubliee” with charming delicacy. Her great test came with the paraphrasing of Mozart’s Don Juan (Liszt-Busoni), a veritable battle-horse for the virtuoso. She rode it gallantly. The Mozartian melody scintillated with the jewels contrived by the great technicians of the pianoforte, and the performance was one of startling merit.
'Miss Vronsky responded with two encores, which were a prelude by Prokofiev and a composition of Scarlatti.'
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