Please wait. Contacting image service... loading

Article text

rosiGffiIM)TEk
''?-: TBy rv'elooe.] -V; (
Jan KubeUk and hisiwife, the- Countess
Czaky. are expected to arrive in Sydney on
Monday. Th^approaiihins visit to Ade
laide, in June.; of the /eminent 'violinist.
makes the story of* his careerj as told by
himself, of great interest to all 'who are
awaiting the arrival of the \ Bohemian
Benius. : Here are spine extracts:— 'Into
my life thus far has been. crowded, I think.,
far more than falls to the average man in
his first 27 years. Most of this experience,
much of 'it strange ond' wonderful from
the standpoint of the boys among whom
my childhood was spent, has come to me
in the past nine' years, or since my graUun
tion from the Prague Conservatory. At
that time Ivwas penniless and unknown;
since then I have played before thousands
of people in every part; of Europe and
America; have 'been honoured by crowned
heads, and mive become the husband of
the most- beautiful: woman in 'the world,
the father of four daughters— the first two
of them twins— and the master of Bychc-r
Castle. ? ? . ! ? ??' ?' ??'? '. ?' ?'? :--'';v''-v.
—His- First Violin.^- . . ;
'It is like a dream to me. ?., When -I!
remember the modest -little cottage, in
which I was bom at JCchle, near Prague,
and the small market garden in which my
father1 worked early and late to provide' a
living for his family, and the struggle he
made to educate his children properb*. and
whet I think of the rude violin made by
my father out of cigar boxe3, and upon
which' he gave me my first and most valued
music lessons; and then -look upon the mag
nificence surrounding me, and hear the
plaudits when I play. I wonder if I am not
in a trance that will pass and leave me
straddling with vain ambition on the Michle
doorstep. ' ? . . '
'Music early rJeeame a passion wiUi roc:
In truth, I cannot recall the time when it
was not so. At first I went to an ordin
ary school. I did not love my other les
sons as I did music, but my teachers- wore
satisfied, and I took prizes. For the les
sons I always got first place, but for good
conduct— no, I was not first. Whatevcr.I
was studying, the vwhn always helped
me. It Was in 1892 that 1 entered the
Prague Conservatory, and I left there sn
1898. when I was 18 years old. I .ound
my six years rather monAtanous. _ During
the last year my father was very ill, and
he died just before the public gave mo tha
reward for which he bad struggled. On
my first tour, which began soon after
wards, I was nearly, killed in a railway
collision. ? LiJlufiiiai
.' —The Double Event.— ?
'Althoupfc I have been induced to say
much about myself, my favourite topic oi
(Conversation is* my wife, whom I first met
at a concert at Debreczin, in Hungary.
Then lier father, wia niow\ arequentlii
Visits me, asked me to visit him.- with
results too happy for me to describe. : In
the newspapers I have at different . 'times
read that I Have married aa elderly .ciun
tess, plain of face and. gauche of mien.: The
ih-utli is that, my, wife is a very beautiful
Hungarian cirl, considerably; younger tbaii
myself, jand I am . no patriarch. .m She ,is
fond of telling a story of 'once 'having con
sulted Planchette as to her future husbaiid,
and the little palette indicated,. that she
would marry a king. She ''assures me that
she believes 'in the correctness of this pro
phecy. I can, however, instance .a; jee-r^
successful attempt to foretell the. future;
In 1902, when I was crossing 'from Ireland
to England,. Mrs. McCord,.one of the Darty,
read my future. I had not then met my
present wifet -but sms prophesied thab I
would be married withia a year, and that
the first instalment of my family would be
a double event. The twins are 'as happy a
realization as is their mother. wHose nanie,
Marianne, has been divided between them,
one being Mary and the other (Anne. Of
rtrarse. we have friends who always see the
babies' hands curved to hold thiebow or
firmer the viob'n: but I' think, eeriously
myself, that the Bohemian love of music is
born in them, land wiheri I play I can see
their baby faces grow grave in appreciation,
and I feel it- is 'then they' thrnk'm6st of
mt. There is a .saying among my -people
that where tbe father ip a fool' the phildreh
are clever, and my little irirls neem very
clever to we. I must si.y. 0tir home is iit
Bychbr Castle.. near Kolin, in Bohemia, and
when I recall it I ponder on Fate's vaga
ries. Within the pleasure grounds are., gar-
dens ten /times as large.as the little vege
table patch at Mkhle, ffoin which my
father won. the maintenance.^ .for ;his | wife
land family.' My flower and vegetable beds
of to-day yield me no revenue, but for^ their
maintenance demand a yearly \sura. which5
my dear, dead father would have deemed a
satisfying income.' '.--. ?? .' .,
— Boyal Webb Male Choir
There are several interesting features con
cerning the Royal Welsh Male Choir, which
is expected to reach Australia in three or
four months. 'Tlie members consist entirely
of miners. When the choir was fdrmed;in
1885 it was a companv of miners— practi-
cal, unprofessional workmen. Since its in
ception whenever the Royal Welsh has
been obliged to balance or increase its
numbers it has held to its fine old-crusted
.custom of enlisting from the ranks of the
miners themselves, arid in the same, see-.
tion of \ tlie community as gave birth -to.
the famous organization. Despite the ap
parent restriction, the Royal -Welsh, suffer
nothing by the system of selection from
the hardy, huge-lunged miners. The rep*
tation of Wales and Cornwall -as- a' lurid of
singers lias-Ions' preceded the 'Royal Welsh
Male dwir to the antipodes. 2Tow we shall
hear for ourselves. ' .?.-'?.'
'.'.?? . I ?
—M3rK Hambbmg's Coming.— ; '
It is known, of course, that' Mark Ham
bourg is proceeding to Australia via Ame- ,
rica. He ^expects to land in Sydney in
July, and the course of his tour through
out Australasia should see bam in Adelaide ;
again, ' and out of it, , in ample time for
Adelaide's loyal, but diminutive, musical
public, to have recovered from the absorp
tion ofi a Kubelik season, and to have pre
pared, for a welcome home to Madame Ada
Crojsley-Muecke. Hambaurg, by the way, ,
gave his last concert— for a time-^in Tybn
don.last iweek. He attracted a wildly en- ?'
thusiastic concourse' to the great Albert
Hall. ? . '.?-.,.-'.. .;. ^ :.- ;.-??. ? .'???'.:; .'?,.- : ,
—Music and Mirth.— '?'''
The Merrv-makers will not be doing
things by 'halves. TBey are musicians inuch '
of the time, but funny folk' all the while.
They are distinctly a theatrical party, and
their (professional home-^-in Melbourne at
leasts-will be the. theatre; ITiey are to
open at the Princess to-night. First, they
will iplay up. to., their musical . reputations'
by the 'help of concert standard, quartet,
and ? solo work. - ISen they will don the
metaphorical cap aad/beL's. and -burlesque,
melodrama tize, ana otherwise 'humorously
imitate other people's attempts- to -be# seri-
ous. ;?: One : member of the narty is said 'to
je, ^^ exceptionally clever in' his twinlike imi
tations of, unknown , .people' andv,extinct'j
?animalsl:';;/: '..??,-'? ;;.;;1 ;; ?';- ' -_ ??-.?'?..? '\ ,::, '?'?
—Each Society Concert^— ? / ,' i
The members of 'the; Adelaide .Bach So-!
ciety will give their choral and orchestral
concert in the Adelaide Town Hall 'on
Tuesday evening of June 16. The engage'-
nien shovld register the high-water mark,(
in the society's tide of success. .The pro- j
gramme at least suggests that it will.;
'Hiawatha's Wedding Feast' and 'The;
Deat'i of Minnehaha' have been given on,
separate occasions. Each time the society's
portrayals of the brilliant Coleridge
Taylors compositions have aroused remark
able expressions of pleasure. For their
concert next month Dr. Davies's singers j
have rehearsed to produce. again these( two
best works of the negro composer. They
are to be assisted by a full orchestra of
leading musicians, whose 'star' number
will be Handel's 'Concerto in B flat.' The
famous organ part will be taken by Mr.
George Gardner, Mus. Bac, and Mr. .Eu
gene Alderman will lead the orchestra.
Soloists arc:— Soprano, Mrs. J. A. Gibson
(Miss Daisy Watkins); tenor, Mr.. Harold
Savase: baritone, Mr. Murray Barlow;-,
violin, Mr. Alderman: ^organ, Mr. Gardner.
—Glee Club and Opera.— .
For the first subscription concert of the
season, to be held in the Victoria :Hall on
Tuesday night, June 2, the Adelaide t.lee
Club' has arranged ? an ':? attractive pro
gramme. The concert is to -take the ^orm
of an operatic evening: Miss Martha Biug
gemaari will assist with -soloa'.. lhe i club
will sing ' 'Hail, bright abode' . ( Tann
bauser'' ? 'Soldiers' chorus' (' b aust ) ;
IHarirawrs swinging' ('Faust');. A vin
tage son?' (from Mendelssohn 8 Lorely );
.the 'Angelus.J- from 'Maritana ' (Wal
lace): arid with Misjs Bruggemann The
miserere scene' from Verdi g ^rovatore
Miss -Bruggemann'e solos will be the
'Jewel song' from 'Faust, and one other.
Other operatic numbers will be suppnqd by
club-members. -., . ''..-? ' 'r*- .
—Organ Recitals at the Semaphore.—.
To extend through tte winter months,
the people of St. Bede's Church, Sema
phore have arranged that «ieir organist
hlr. Horace Weber) shall; give i series ot
organ recitals. V The firsi^vin take p1u«
on Tuesday evening, and will be the Jifth.
-of its kind in which Ur.-Weber has pre
sided at the instrument. The organ is well,
suited for recital work. It consists of 18
h-peakirig stops, one tremulant, kix eompo
siUon pedals, arid. various, couplers, lhe
creat claribel and the, ped. open diapason
.?ire finelv voiced:' and are a. credit to the
builder (Mr. J. E. Dddd). Included m Mr.
Weber's first proeramme will be seyeral
new writinas, Canzona in D (vvnceiaonj,
'Madrigal in D flat1' (Lemare), and!. Bach's
great 'Prelude and, fusue in A minot'. .
The funds raised from' the first recital will
be devoted to the placing of -a muctneeded
cornopean, in' tbe * organ. ,.'- . : -v';' . : '?,:??.
??-';'??'? '..';? --Clever' Little GirTsi-f-v/',- '..-. ''^]
Two cleyer little girls. Carla and Sylvia
?Groetze, will give '- a pianoforte arid viojlin
Tecitalin:the Town Hall on -Monday even
ing. They are pupils of Mss, Arigelita
JDavfe, AlusV Bad.; anil it is confidently
stated by those who have heard 'the chil
dren— Carla is 11 and 'Sylvia ..13— that tfieyi
are exceptionally talented. . They are gifted
with an advanced power of interpretation,
a startlinglv robust execution, and a natu
ral sympathy upon each instrument, while
the youncercirl plays both tlie violin, and
pi'ariq. \ Their proerariime will include,' for
two instruments, Beethoven's 'Sonata, op.
24:' . the pianoforte soli, 'Polonaise'
(Chopin No. 1 of op. 40): 'Sonata pathe
tiaue' (Beetnoven) ; and Mendelssohn's
'Andante and forido \'capriccipsb;' the
Violin selections 'Le carnival di Venice''
arid vWieniawskiV ; 'Second ? mazurka
Kuvawiak;' and the piano duet Jnntasia
from Verdi's '?Ernani.' Miss Martha
Brugftemann ' is .to sing a couple of Grieg
songs, 'and one. or .two , compositions
of Miss Davi. '.?Mr'.. Leslie Coultas ha«
chosen 'two' fine baritone numbers, and Mr.
C. H. Gpetze (fatWer of the juvenile reci
talists) will play piccolo and flute soli. '
t , .—Interesting Melba Chnt.—
?'?; MacUine Melta is back in Londm again,
and, inevitably, she has been busy :wJth,
thev reporters. Here_ are gonie veiy
interesting! extracts, chiefly chrcniclinij cur
Melba's retrospect of her 'home'' holidays
— 'T am back in London after a delightful
ivfeit-to'iny own country. I went thore
for a holiday, a real rest, and I had one.
' And. L had another object, but this ia not
1 a matter of public interest. I went to
Bee my father, who celebrated his eightieth
birthdayion the Sunday beifore I left hha
md we went to church together.^ I tried
throughout my stay to consider that I was
in ordinary private' individual, but I re
ceived' so many flattering invitations ? toj
sing tliat it was impossible to refuse them,
md the result was tint I appeared _ at 15
concerts. But the greatest erent in my;
life fwas when 1 was serenaded in Mel
bourne by a choir of 1,500 women. This
ivas something to remember, and an honoug
the spontaneity of which I fully appreciate
md can never forget. Just imagine .1500
woriien' singing together, and producing. a
voral effect so charming, so harmonio.us,
so impossible to describe! , It touched my,
heartstrings, and right proud 'was I at that:
moment lo be an Australian woman. . I'
iroused ; some consternation by. suggestins
Sunday concerts. '. I contend that the Work
ing classes, the genuine, honest toilers, whr-
nre labouring throughout the week, should
have an opportunity of listening to really;
gewd music on their day of rest. What -
could be more elevating, more refining?
The. suggestion created discussion, and
though the matter was not settled when:
I left I have hopes that when I, return
Lo Australia I shall find high- class concerts
provided in. all the principal towns and
t-'ties on Sundays. When do 1 return?
Well, ihis will be in two years' time, when
I. trust 'I shall be : able to - take out to
Australia a fully eqnipped ~. grand opera
ebmoany,. to give my kinsfolk performances s. -
nearly as good as those presented at Covent
Garden.' So 'far' AuBtralians have never
liad the . opportunity of enjoying a iirst
clr6s.grapd ouqia. During my_ etav I was
greatly surprised at ihe amazing- prcjrresa
made in ' Australia in the art of music.
And I heard reallyfine Auslraliah angers,
many of whom-' are destined 'to become
famous. A. few of them I intend; to help
so far OR: I -am. able,, two of whom are
already in Paris, studying under the great.
Marchesi.' ??-.?.?'-.?:? ? ? .. ?.;?
': .; ? \ — Wlio is DickV^ialker?—
London's grand opera' season opened in: .
Covent Garden on the last night of April,
tad Londoners are -to see and .'hear,', aa\l.
coinpa're ' for tberiiselves '.the inval- charnw
of Tetraznnl ' and ' Melba. The Italian lada
of Budden (musical) birth has' recroased the ;
Atlantic, from her ' real triumphs ' ia -?
Ainerica'i and has held sway at Covent Gar«
dpn, for, the past few -weeks.; 'Melba takea
tlie floor, however, dn'lier forty-jthird birth^
day-rTuesday nest— and ' then ' Tetrazzini
mast sparkle elsewhere,; with occasional re
turns' to London's chief- operatic stage.
I'ririno;'' the seasbri Melba is to sing-noi
only in many of her favourite roles, but
also in a newl^ cast veision Of Verdi's '
'Otello,' in which of^ course she ^will T-J'
Desdeniona's interpreter to the Otello of
/cnatello, whose return also -will be eagerly
awaited. While disciissinE the Covent XJar
den campaign- have' you heard of tbe
lainst classic work? An English provincial
paper discovered thnt anton;? the operas to
be friven was one bearing, the title 'Dick
Walker.' This mysterious i wbrlc was a
'puzzler.' -Kb. one ieemed to have heard
of it.; Cnn it be an ingenious or iincon
scipus anglicizing of 'Die Waikure?'
Vadhirie iClara ;Butt's last message l»
Australians (through her managers,- Messrs.
Tait): — 'Mongolia, Fremantle— Gbodby.
Australia. -We sbill never fcrgefc your
Irijidncss, viand;. we hope to -renew, tha
friendship; some day.1', -?? ;..'.?. ..
$