45
MUSICAL COURIER
April 20, 1922
WHAT THE JURY THINKS
[The music critics of the New York dailies constitute the jury in the appended extracts from criticisms which have appeared in our local newspapers. Many concerts and operas are given in the metropolis, and the following day the critics agree or disagree on the merits or demerits of the performer. However, on most occasions the writers do not agree, and this department is run for the purpose of reproducing some of the flat contradictions, showing that, after all, the review constitutes but the personal opinion of the critic who covers the performance.—Editor’s Note.]
Ernesto Berumen, Pianist, March 30
Morning Telegraph	Evening World
He offered the “Pan” suite by Pan did quite everything in Betty Boutelle, .	.	. which the course of it (“Pan” suite)
proved an exquisite, fantastic excepting make music, music story. .	.	. It is real
music-poetry and credit must be given the composer as well as the artist for a lovely thing beautifully played.
Emma Roberts, Mezzo Contralto, March 31
Times	American
A true musical intelligence	Her interpretations do not dis-
and sympathetic understanding. close great intellectual penetra-. . . She has the art of express- tion and imagination, ing a variety of moods and emotions.
Helen Teschner-Tas, Violinist, March 31
American	World
She draws a beautiful tone Her tone is not always sooth-from the valuable instrument. ing.
Nina Koshetz, Soprano, April 2
World	Tribune
. . . “Trepak” and “Death	She was unwise in attempting
the Commander,” neither of “Death the Commander.” which could have been done with more thrilling dramatic power.
Soprano, April 5
Evening Journal The greater part of it (her program) was quite beyond her interpretative abilities. She has a voice of much power, faultily produced for the most part, and generally cold and expressionless.
Phoebe Crosby,
Tribune
A fresh and sonorous voice, often conspicuously dramatic in timbre. ... As an interpreter Miss Crosby was intelligent, sympathetic and sincere.
American
Miss Crosby possesses a voice that is pleasing and flexible and one that responds readily to the intelligence of the singer.
Farrar in “Tosca,” April 10
American
Miss Farrar was not in particularly good voice. Moreover, her portrayal considered as a whole was dramatically less tense and poignant than it used to be.
־ Herald
She was in good voice. . . . She was never better in the part than she was last evening. She gave the audience her best, and . . . made the presentation of Puccini’s opera memorable.
Elly Ney, Pianist, April 11
Sun ־	Evening Journal
When she is at the piano she She was often too much con-is an intensely sincere and feel- cerned with externals, with mere ing musician.	effect.
Reception for Schumann Heink
Another in the series of those delightful social events which have taken place this season in the charming studios of Frank La Forge and Ernesto Berumen, occurred on Wednesday afternoon, April 12, when a reception was given with Mme. Schumann Heink as the guest of honor. The spacious rooms were filled with admirers of the great diva. Among them were many who are prominent in the musical world, including Edwin Hughes, Edwin Schneider, Mr. and ■Mrs. Walter Golde, Yvonne de Treville, John Majeski, A. Walter ■Kramer, Harold Morris, Mrs. Charles M. Schwab, Rose and Ottilie Sutro, Mr. and Mrs. James G. MacDer-mid, Marie Damrosch Wiechmann, Mrs. Simon Frankel, Harriet Ware, Harriette Brower, Mrs. E. de Coppet, Juliette de Coppet, Ethyl Hayden, Mme. Schoen-Rene, Mr. and Mrs. Fitzhugh Haensel, Grace Denton, Grace Wagner, Harold Flammer, etc.
the federated clubs. The female voices will sing “Nature and Love,” by Tschaikowsky, and the mixed choir will sing “Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast,” by Coleridge-Taylor. Grand Forks choirs to take part in this choral concert will be the Bjarne Chorus, the Acacia Masonic Chorus, the Norwegian Lutheran Choir, the University Men’s Glee Club and Women’s Glee Club and the University Oratorio Society. Dr. Henry J. Humpstone is conductor of the Acacia Chorus; he has had wide experience in such work and has developed an excellent singing society. The Bjarne Chorus is conducted by Mr. W. P. Rognlie; this organization has sung often in festivals in the northwest, particularly in connection with Norwegian organizations. Mr. Rognlie was one of the men chosen to go to Norway with the Men’s Chorus during the summer just before the war. Mrs. David Stoeve has charge of the Norwegian Lutheran Choir; Mrs. Stoeve has proved herself an efficient conductor, not only by the results of her work with this choir, but as conductor of the State Choir which meets with the Annual Convention of . its church. The University Glee clubs and Oratorio Society are conducted by Fred. A. Beidleman, who has come to the University of North Dakota this year to do this work. It is expected that on this final night of the concert there will be at least three hundred voices in the choir.	E. W.
KALAMAZOO’S SPRING FESTIVAL
ATTRACTS WIDE ATTENTION
Annual Series of Concerts to Be Held in State Armory May 15, 16 and 17
Kalamazoo, Mich., April 10.—May 15, 16 and 17 have been announced as the dates for Kalamazoo’s annual May Festival, to be held in the State armory, under the auspices of the Kalamazoo Choral Union. From its inception, about fifteen years ago, with a nucleus of a small body of singers, this organization has enj oyed a steady growth, until the total of the choru^ of trained singers numbers approximately four hundred voices. There are no dues or fees for the members of the chorus, who constitute the active body of the Choral Union, the entire cost of maintaining the organization (including the fees of the artists, the cost of printed matter, circulars, advertising, rent of auditorium, etc.) being paid from the income received through the sale of season and single seat concert tickets.
The officers of the Choral Union for the present season are Fred M. Hodge, president; Mrs. Alfred E. Curtenius, vice president; C. V. Buttelman, treasurer, and Bertha Shean Davis, secretary. Their work has been supported by an able board of directors, including some of the city’s most prominent musicians and patrons of music. The directors are Edward B. Desenberg, A. Earl Kettle, Mrs. J. H. Wright, Rev. J. W. Dunning, and Albert Waldo.
The two choruses which regularly participate in the annual May Festival have been rehearsing tirelessly, the Kalamazoo Choral Union under the direction of Harper C. Maybee, and the Children’s Chorus under the direction of Leoti Combs, of the Western State Normal College faculty, and Leslie Hanson, supervisor of music in the city schools. H. Glenn Henderson has given the Choral Union valuable assistance as accompanist.
On the evening of May IS the first concert of the Festival will be in the hands of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Frederick Stock, assisted by Metropolitan artists.
The Children’s Chorus will appear with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on the afternoon of May 16, and will present this year “The Singing Leaves.” Mr. Stock will direct orchestra and chorus. The third concert will be presented by the Choral Union, directed by Harper C. Maybee, whose training of this organization has each year produced excellent results. Berlioz’ “La Damnation de Faust” is the work to be presented, and a very enjoyable performance is expected. The artists secured for the leading roles are Frances Peralta (soprano), Royal Dadmun and Mario Chamlee.	M. J. R.
Dobkin Engaged for Maine Festival
Dmitry Dobkin, Russian tenor, has been engaged by William R. Chapman to appear as one of the soloists at the Maine Festival during the first week of October.
KNOW YOUR VOICE
Harold Hurlbut
Voice Specialist
Latest Disciple of JEAN DE RESZKE
(Endorsed by Edmond Clement)
Well known artists and teachers are availing themselves of the opportunity Mr. Hurlbut offers, "to gain a truly scientific knowledge of the use of the voice. He does not use these names for publicity purposes, basing, any claim he may have to the confidence of the public, on the vocal science taught him by Monsieur de Reszke, the “marvelous method” (to quote Edmond Clement) which the great master recently perfected.
STUDIO 31, METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE	New York
Studio phone, Bryant 1274—Residence phone, River. 4650 MYRTLE HALE TREADWELL, Assistant	Momingside 5271
BOSTON
(Continued from page 31)
mann Heink delighted both connoisseurs and lay public with her art, which, especially in the German music, is quite unaffected by advancing years. She was warmly welcomed by a capacity audience and responded with many extra pieces.
Lillian Prudden Wins Favor.
Lillian Prudden, soprano, gave a recital last Tuesday evening in Jordan Hall. Miss Prudden handicapped herself unnecessarily with a difficult program which included arias from operas by Gluck, Rameau and Charpentier and songs of Gretchaninoff, Saint-Saerts, Tschaikowsky, Arensky, Ganz, Treharne, Chabrier, Henschel, Smith, Hadley and Chadwick. Nevertheless, she confirmed the favorable impression made at her last appearance in this city. Miss Prudden’s voice is of agreeable quality and she uses it with no little skill. Her powers as an interpreter are somewhat limited by her present concern regarding technical means— a deficiency which frequent appearance in public will do much to correct.
Siloti Brilliant Soloist with Symphony.
A highly pleasurable concert was that yielded by the program of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Friday afternoon and Saturday evening, April 7 and 8, in Symphony Hall. It opened with the much discussed fifty symphony of Sibelius, played for the first time “at these concerts.” Again the Finnish genius has demonstrated that he does not depend on a good memory for his effects—that he is indeed the most original of living composers. His music is ever melancholy and sombre, but never whining. An impassioned seeker of truth through beauty, Sibelius’ new symphony reflects his manifestly great strength of character, his inspiring sincerity, his heroic resignation. It is masterfully written with that economy of means which has long distinguished the music of this man. Mr. Monteux gave the work a careful reading, as if it baffled him; but the orchestra played brilliantly and the performance was warmly applauded.
Alexander Siloti, as soloist, played Liszt’s imaginative and grimly dramatic paraphrase for piano and orchestra of the “Dies Irae,” “The Dance of Death”—inspired by Orcagna’s Fresco at Pisa—and, with the excellent co-operation of Richard Burgin, concertmaster, and Georges Laurent, first flute, Bach’s fifty Brandenburg concerto for piano, violin and flute. Mr. Siloti played throughout with a command of touch and tone, with a degree of authority and style which set him high among contemporary pianists. He was recalled many times.
The concert was brought to a close with Hue’s colorful but undistinguished symphonic suite from his ballet, “Ti-tania,” heard for the first (and probably last) time in Boston.
Ponselle Sings with Ampico.
Rosa Ponselle, soprano, gave a recital Sunday evening, April 9, in Symphony Hall. In two of her numbers—the hackneyed “Vissi d’arte” from “Tosca” and Spross’ “Will o’ the Wisp,” Miss Ponselle was accompanied by the Ampico in a manner that was uncannily adequate—indeed, brilliant. With the able assistance of Stuart Ross, pianist and accompanist, Miss Ponselle also sang an air from Verdi’s “Ernani,” and pieces by Schumann, Reger, Paisiello, Fourdrain, Tschaikowsky, Ganz and MacFadyen.
Miss Ponselle’s voice is an exceptional organ, and her enunciation is happily clear. She has improved as an interpreter since her last appearance in this city. A fair sized audience greeted her with enthusiasm.
Conservatory Notes.
Sigma Alpha Iota, the national musical sorority which held its annual convention in Boston recently, gave an interesting and elaborate musicale Friday evening, April 7, in the Sinfonia rooms at the New England Conservatory of Music. Those on the program represented chapters at various universities and music schools, as follows: Sylvia Silverthorne, Topeka, Kans.; Bernice Brennan, Decatur, 111.; Aagot Birge, Lincoln, Neb.; Helen Greim, Evanston, 111.; Vera Wagner, Detroit, Mich.; Mildred Elner, Fargo, N. D.; Amy Hattersley, Cincinnati, Ohio.
In honor of the visiting delegates the Conservatory Orchestra, Wallace Goodrich conductor, gave a program in Jordan Hall Friday morning, at which, following the presentation of the Weber overture to “Der Freischutz,” soloists of the Conservatory student body were heard with the orchestra in the following numbers : first movement of the pianoforte concerto in C minor (Saint-Saëns), Virginia C. Ruffin; aria from “Aida” (Verdi), Martha N. Atwell; first movement of the pianoforte concerto in D minor (Rubinstein), Eleanor Proctor Furminger.
The Sigma Alpha Iota program for Saturday included breakfast at the Hotel Hemenway, a business meeting at the Conservatory, luncheon at the Students’ Union, an automobile trip to Lexington and Concord in the afternoon, followed by tea at the home of Mrs. F. Addison Porter, Brookline, and a banquet in the evening at the Copley Plaza.	J. C.
Grand Forks (N. D.) Festival Plans
Grand Forks, N. D., April 10, 1922,—Announcement has just been made of plans for the State May Music Festival. Mrs. J. A. Jardine of Fargo is president of the State Federation, and her enthusiasm and energy have been largely responsible for inaugurating this festival. On the evening of May 1, Edward Johnson of the Chicago. Opera Association, is to give a song recital. On the afternoon of May 2 a urogram is to be given by North Dakota artists. This will include Dean Knule Froysaa (violinist) of the Teachers’ College at Valley City, and such organists as G. C. Rmg-genberg, head of Music Department, Jamestown College; Mrs Nearling, of Jamestown; Nils Boson, supervisor of music, Fargo; Clara Pollock, of Fargo, and Mrs. L. C. Harrington, of Grand Forks. The second afternoon will bring Mr. Ros and Mr. Rosen, winners in the piano and violin events respectively at the national contest held last June by National Federation of Music Clubs. The follow-in״ afternoon Mildred Metcalf, assisted by Mr. Ruud, orchestra director in Central High School, Grand Forks, will present a program from the schools of Grand Forks.
■ On Wednesday evening the climax of the festival will be reached in a choral concert by the combined choirs of all