12
February ■16, 1922
balanced and artistic accompaniments. A large audience was in attendance.
WINNIPEG JOTTINGS
Winnipeg, Man., January 24, 1922.—One of the most important features of Winnipeg’s musical life is the series of popular concerts arranged by the Music Bureau of the Board of Trade. These are held every Saturday night during the winter. Some excellent programs are presented, chiefly by local talent, and the attendance is most encouraging. January 21 formed a record. With the thermometer at thirty degrees below zero, and the hall in the Board of Trade Building suffering from a well deserved reputation for being cold, there were over 2,000 persons present. Had the weather been kinder, there would undoubtedly have been standing room only. The program on this occasion was prepared by the Men’s Musical Club, which is responsible for the entertainment once a month. The main attractions were a choir of 200 voices under the direction of Hugh C. M. Ross, F.R.G.O., and a Russian soprano, recently arrived from Odessa, who made her first appearance in Winnipeg. Lillit Gorsey was the sensation of the evening with her dramatic fire and intensity. Her voice is of good range, well controlled, and possesses both power and sweetness. Her temperament, her power of expression, and depth of feeling carry everything before them. Her rendition of “Vissi d’Arte” was very moving; Shallitt’s “Eili, Eili” was poignant and impressive; an aria in happier vein, from “Snegourotchka,” showed her command of various moods. Grieg’s “Thanks for Thy Hand” was given an emotional and dramatic treatment. Miss Gorsey’s reason for coming to Winnipeg is the fact that her brother lives here and conditions in Russia were intolerable for her. She had great difficulty in escaping, and arrived in Winnipeg only after a series of romantic adventures. She was formerly professor of piano at the Conservatory of Odessa, was prima donna of the Odessa Municipal Grand Opera, and was one of the artists “mobilized” by the Soviet to give concerts under its direction. Her student record was quite brilliant, as sfie held scholarships in the Odessa Conservatory for voice, pianoforte and composition, and in addition studied in Milan under the best opera teachers. She is also a gold medalist of the conservatory, and is the only person ever awarded a medal by the unanimous decision of the council, numbering fifty professors. Her operatic experience includes leading-roles in “Aida,” “Dame de Pique,” “La Tosca,” “Manon” and “Madame Butterfly.” The choir did excellent work, the singing being a triumph for Mr. Ross’ generalship. Very beautiful effects were obtained in unaccompanied part songs, where beauty of tone, accuracy of pitch, and imitative harmonies or rhythms contributed to artistic performances.
I. T.
Leginska in “Best Worth While” Concert
Ethel Leginska appeared recently as guest artist, playing her own composition, “From a Life,” with the New York Chamber Music Society at Aeolian Hall. “The concert may be set down as one of the best worth while of the season,” Pitts Sanborn wrote in the Globe after her performance, and W. J. Henderson, the eminent music editor of the Herald, reviewed her latest work to be given as follows: “The fantasia is in three movements, played without a break, the first slow and energetic, the second slow and lugubrious, and the third lively, even reckless. The thematic ideas in this composition are worthy of the ingenious woman who some time ago made music of the gargoyles of Notre Dame, and the developments betrayed the experience of one who had traveled far and heard much. She had trod the steppes of Russia, wandered in the regions frequented by Stravinsky, sat on the shores of the Golden Horn and listened to the melancholy wail of the Turkish boatman’s pipe and then gone up into Hungary in time to take a whirl in the finale of a Czardas. There were distinct mood pictures in the composition, and some very original instrumentation.”
Land in Pittsburgh February 14
Harold Land, baritone, sang songs by Handel, Pala-dilhe, Flegier, Gounod, Quilter, Homer, Margetson, Graham Peel, McGill, and a new composition by Edward Harris of Pittsburgh—“At the Mid Hour of Night”—at Carnegie Hall, Pittsburgh, February 14. Mr. Harris, who is a pro-teg¿ of Mrs. D. M. Clemson (Christine Miller), has just composed another new song, “Retrospectus,” which he has dedicated to Mr. Land.
Two Appearances for Yost
Gaylord Yost, violinist, was presented by the Pittsburgh Musical Institute in a second recital at Carnegie Hall on February 10. His program was: Sonata in D major, Corelli; fugue, Tartini-Kreisler; gavotte and praeludium, Bach-Kreisler; concerto burlesque, Gaylord Yost; “Evening,” Gaylord Yost; “Mosquito Dance,” Henriques, and polonaise, D major, Wieniawski.
Louise Vermont at Town Hall
On Tuesday afternoon, February 21, at the Town Hall, Louise Vermont, contralto, will give a recital. Her program will consist of Schubert and Brahms compositions. Coenraad V. Bos will preside at the piano.
Simmons Appears in “Combined Arts”
William Simmons, the baritone, was one of the artists who took part in “Combined Arts,” the one-act playlet which was presented by the Dixie Club of New York at the Waldorf-Astoria on the evening of January 19.
M V S 1CAL COU HI EH
playing scales and exercises, when other children were playing games ?
At sixteen, the young girl had mastered counterpoint, composition and piano technic so well that she was gold-medalist among the graduates of Milano Conservatory. First prize for literature she also received upon her graduation from Licèo Alessandro, where her general education was obtained.
When asked if she had developed her voice “without employing professors on vocal culture,״ it is of interest to note Galli-Curci’s reply :
“My foundation was very good, you see,” the great singer half apologized. “I had graduated in the theory of music, and was a thorough technician on the piano. I had composed some original music, and really I could not afford to employ any high-priced professors. So I tried to teach myself, to bring out my voice by those means which had been successful with the best singers. All this information was available to one who had my musical foundation.
“Each day a time was set apart for vocal study. I allowed nothing to interfere; that hour was sacred to me, just as though the appointment had been with a stranger.”
Listening to her explanation, one felt confident that the young student’s determination to explore her own resources, to make herself the object of a rigid regime of self-discipline, of constructive experiment and discovery, was the course that led her eventually to success.
“I felt sure I should be able to sing if I persevered,” Galli-Curci went on. “I had good health—and good health is absolutely necessary for the singer. Many organs of the body are concerned in tone production. Most of these organs must be relaxed and pliable much of the time, to insure perfect breath control. Walking is a valuable exercise for the singer.”
Discussing the matter of necessary exercise, Galli-Curci said:
“I have found a simple exercise which I practice night and morning. It increases the flexibility of the diaphragm, the ribs, and those muscles most concerned in tone production. I clasp the hands, the left hand within the right, directly in front of the waist line. Then I raise the clasped hands over the head and bend the body first to the right and then to the left, stretching the arms as far up and to the right or left as is possible, in order to stretch the muscles over the ribs to their fullest extent. You would be surprised how this increases the flexibility of the body, and the control over diaphragm and the other muscles used in singing.”
The singer went on to say that to achieve the best results in singing, perfect harmony must exist in all parts of the body: diaphragm, lungs, larynx, throat, nose and lips must work together and not against one another. There must be no tenseness.
“Most important of all is the larynx. So many singers do not know how to manage the larynx. They use it, yes; but they do not understand its mechanism, and cannot therefore make it do their will. That is why they produce harsh or uneven notes. Perfect harmony, perfect co-ordination must exist, if the singer expects to master her voice,” the little woman further declared.
In another part of the article the writer says:
Just here as she pursued her narrative, I thought to ask: “Madame Galli-Curci, why is it that Italy has so many wonderful singers? Do you think the climate has anything to do with it?”
“Oh, perhaps. But above all, the Italians love music. You see it even here, when they stand in the rain for hours to buy tickets for the opera.
“In Italy little opera houses are dotted all over the country— even in the villages. Every ambitious singer has the opportunity to hear good music. And it is not so difficult to find a place in the chorus, or to take a small part in opera, where one can find the training in acting and in singing that will develop the powers and give the singer practice.
“Here, it is different. There are just a few opera houses, and the singer finds it extremely difficult to gain experience.”
“What do you think of the harsh, nasal voice of the American woman ?” I ventured to ask.
Madame was surprised, nay, pained. “I do not find the American voice harsh. The Americans have very beautiful singing voices. The time will come when this country will be a great musical center. It is true, this is a new country. It lacks the atmosphere of the Old World. But that will develop, just as enterprise has developed commerce in this great country. First comes the wealth, and then culture. The desire for the best things of life creates the atmosphere. Then comes the fulfillment.
“America has done much in painting and in sculpture. It will db big things in music, too.”
Florence Otis Gives Recital
Florence Otis, soprano, was in fine vocal form at the recital given in the green room of the Hotel McAlpin, January 31. In a program beginning with the old English “My Lovely Celia” and songs by Dvorak, Sinding and Stange, she next gave an unusually brilliant interpretation of David’s “Charmant Oiseau” from “La Perle du Bresil.” The group following brought four songs dedicated to the fair singer: Terry’s “The Answer,” Warford’s “Dream-Song,” Cox’s “Where Roses Blow,” and Scott’s “The Wind’s in the South,” all of these sung with beautiful tone and keen interpretative sense. With Rimsky-Korsakoff’s “The Rose and the Nightingale,” Sibella’s “La Girometta,” Scott’s “The Blackbird’s Song” and Silberta’s “O Little Songs,” she gave further evidence of her artistic capabilities. “La Primavera,” which closed the program, was rav-ishingly given, after which she added two encores.
Claude Warford at the piano provided his usual well
Galli-Curci Interviewed Again
In the February number of the National Pictorial Monthly there appears an interesting account of Galli-Curci’s career, written by Jean Rowell. In relating the early days of her singing life, the singer is quoted as saying:
“My father lost his money when I was sixteen and it was necessary for me to work in order to help support my family. My brothers were too young to give any real assistance—they were still in school.”
Asked if she did not find it a hardship to work for her living after having received all the advantages of the daughters of the rich, it was with a rush of denial that Madame answered:
“Oh, no, no! I am of a very independent character. I always loved to work, and I always wanted to do something to earn my living.” She was proud, yet—not too proud to work, but proud of her ability to earn money for the support of her loved ones.
“I received less than one dollar for each piano lesson I gave,” she laughed; “and my shoes—it was shocking the way they wore out as I walked about the city to the homes of my pupils!”
But, this is anticipating. Amelita Galli-Curci was not born, as the story-books say, “of poor but honest parents.” Indeed, the lap of luxury cradled her until she was a well-grown girl. Her Italian banker father and beautiful Spanish mother gave her many advantages, and she profited by association with the musical and literary celebrities of Milan, her native city.
Early in life she had learned the habits of work and concentration, for she was only four when Mascagni, composer of the great “Cavalleria Rusticana,” heard her play the piano and predicted a brilliant musical career. Later, he heard her singing for her own pleasure.
“Amelita, my dear child, you have a voice,” he told her. “Teach yourself to sing.” The inspiration of the great musician’s words remained with the young girl, and she remembered when the time came some years later to make use of her vocal gifts.
Just then, however, she was ambitious to become a brilliant pianist. Exceptional, was it not, that a girl whose parents possessed such wealth and social distinction, was willing to spend hours daily
Photo by H. Zamsky
RUTH LLOYD KINNEY
Contralto
SPRING ENGAGEMENTS
Washington
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Engaged for a week in each city Management :
NEW YORK CONCERT LEAGUE, 1664 Broadway,	New York, N. Y.
I	■
With Every Repetition
SOPHIE BRASLAU
Wins New Host of Admirers for
LILY STRICKLAND’S MA LI’L BATTEAU
and
DREAMIN’ TIME
From Four “BAYOU SONGS”	*
Published in 2 keys
Fischer Edition, No. 4944 High Voice (4 Songs) .	.	״.$1.25
No. 4992 Low Voice (4 Songs) .............	1.25
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ERNESTINE SCHUNIANNHEINK
Exclusive Management HAENSEL & JONES, Aeolian Hall, New York	stein way piano	ARTHUR LOESSER, Accompanist and Soloist