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MU SIC AI, COURIER
May 11, 19 22
liant interpretation of Carmen, everybody was waiting to see how her “Habanera” and “Escena de la Cartas” would work on the concert platform without the assistance and story thread which naturally must follow these parts. The result was a triumph which only Sylva could achieve, and the critical audience insisted upon an encore before the great singer was allowed to leave the stage.
OPINIONS OF THE PRESS
Translations of the notices from the Spanish papers will appear here later.
Alcock “Thrills” Providence Audience
Appended are press excerpts covering concert appearances of Merle Alcock with the St. Louis Apollo Club, the Trenton Male Chorus, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Providence:
The rich quality of her deep־ contralto was revealed in the Verdi aria, and her skill in expressive singing in the aria from *‘The Messiah.”
Mrs. Alcock is one of the singers who not only gives unfamiliar numbers with charm, but also realizes that an art just as great is required if one is to present a familiar song in such a way as to give it a new meaning. On every occasion when she has sung in St. Louis she has pleased her audiences—even the discriminating portion by singing some old-time heart melody. Thus it was last night, when as encore she gave “My Darling Nellie Gray.” Familiar as this was, it moved the listeners more than anything else on the program, either solo or choral.—St. Louis Star, April 19.
Her encore, “Nelly Gray,” sent the audience into raptures of enthusiasm.—St. Louis Daily Globe-Democrat, April 19.
It is a group of attributes rather than any one particular phase of artistry that is responsible for the charm and appeal of Mrs. Alcock’s singing. Her voice is deep and serene, with a wistfulness only seldom encountered. In addition is an ability to interpret the (Continued on page 60)
ISIDORE BRAGGIOTTI
THE FLORENTINE VOCAL AUTHORITY
In response to an insistent demand, Mr. Braggiotti has decided to remain in this country for the present and will continue to divide his time between his New York and Boston studios.
----------------Address---------------
NEW YORK	BOSTON
675 Madison Avenue	78 Upland Road
corner 61st street	Brookline, Mass.
the society celebrated its centennial. Since that time he has been a familiar figure at Symphony Hall, having sung there more than twenty-five times, or an average of more than once each season. That he continues to find favor is
WILLARD FLINT,
well known singer and vocal coach.
shown by the following comments of the press after his latest appearance:
Willard Flint has a record of many successful performances; his solos draw much applause.—Christian Science Monitor.
“Why Do the Nations Rage;” sung fervently and skillfully as Mr. Flint sang it last evening. . . . His voice and ability are too well known here to require further commendation.—-Boston Transcript.
Sylva Captivates Havana
When Marguerite Sylva sang in Havana on April 4 not only was her audience extremely enthusiastic, but also the local press was profuse in its praises of her. Here is what an English paper, the Havana Morning Post, had to say:
The recital given by Mme. Marguerite Sylva last evening at the Capitolio Theater proved to be an unprecedented success. With a versatile program which nothing short of genius could ever hope to cover successfully, Mme. Sylva took Havana by storm. Her rendering of “Nana” in Spanish brought insistent cries for a repeat, and the crowded amphitheater was not satisfied until she again repeated the popular air.
But it was Mme. Sylva’s last piece of artistry that was the real cause of her triumph. Famous throughout the world for her bril-
C	WHAT THE PRESS SAYS
New York Herald.—“Her voice is one of un• T	usual beauty and volume. She sang with
**	much warmth.״
L New York Tribune.—“As an interpreter she T displayed intelligence and authority. Her ° voice is beautiful and her diction fine.״
MacNevih
Management, Derrel L. Gross, Room 115, Carnegie Hall, New York
E
V E L
Y IV
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas James Kelly
Closing Fifth Season with Cincinnati Conservatory of Music as Teachers of Artistic Singing. ::	::
,Personal address:
18 The Cuermont, Walnut Hills,
Cincinnati
Potter Awarded Unusual Praise by Critics
Commendation of a truly extraordinary nature was heaped on Harrison Potter, the admirable young pianist, after his recent recital in Boston. Thus, Philip Hale, the veteran critic of the Boston Herald, wrote:
Mr. Potter in his modest way, gave more pleasure by his playing than many pianists with resounding names and flaming reputations, who attack viciously a naturally inoffensive, uncomplaining instrument. Mr. Potter respects the limitations of the piano; he knows how to coax and caress it so that in gratitude it sings for him. He has an agreeable touch, a nice perception of values, musical taste. His technic is adequate for what he undertakes. A pianist is often known at once by his treatment of little compositions. After Mr. Potter had played Bach’s “Sarabande” one was persuaded that it would not be imprudent to hear him interpret the pieces that were to follow. Mr. Potter, by his delicacy and fine feeling, his brilliance when brilliance was required—not metallic or wall-shaking brilliance —gave no cause to the hearer for regret.
The reviewer for the Boston Transcript was equally enthusiastic, writing:
Mr. Potter gave his first recital here last March, but unfortunately the good reports of that performance failed to lure to his concert last evening many who should have heard him; for both in the music he plays and in his playing of it, Mr. Potter is a pianist for the discriminating. His manner on the־ concert platform is disarming; for the unwary it may be deceiving. Seated before the instrument he does not in expectant attitude invoke the Muse; he neither poses nor postures; he makes no flourishes nor gestures of abandon. But despite^ the absence of these traditional displays, he is exceptionally satisfying, uncommonly convincing as pianist .	.
The sonata of Beethoven, so frequently a stumbling block to interpreters, was beautifully set forth; the structure was respected, no
HARRISON POTTER, pianist
touch of musical scholarship overlooked; yet throughout the first and third movements, the music had the warm glow that is its rightful portion, and the performance of the scherzo was delightfully rhythmic. From the cloying harmonies of Palmgren’s “May_ Night” Mr. Potter did not drain the last drop of sweetneess, but in his hands the piece was, as it should be, at once fluid and floating. The richer music of Jongen received from him appropriately ample treatment. There was abundant suggestion in the “Crepuscule au Lac Ogwen” and a glaring brilliance in the “Soleil a Midi.” Young pianists of Mr. Potter’s calibre are all too rare, and his townsfolk should not be too long in the discovery of his merit.
“Come Again, Frieda Hempel!”
Frieda Hempel gave her Jenny Lind Concert in Albany on April 19, and probably created as great a furore as the Swedish Nightingale did at her only concert in the Capital seventy years ago. Jenny Lind sang in the Third Presbyterian Church, now occupied by the Clinton Square Theater. Frieda Hempel sang in the huge Armory. The immense audience expressed its delight at every possible opportunity and refused to go home until “The Blue Danube Waltz” and “The Night Wind” by Farley had been added to a program of many previous encores. In reviewing the concert, the Albany Journal says, in part:
The Hempel concert was a decided success and one of the most enjoyable musical entertainments ever given in Albany. Miss Hempel filled the eye completely, for she was a vision of grace and daintiness and her quaint, old-time costume was simply delightful— in fact, she was a picture of rare loveliness. Her singing left nothing to be desired. Such beauty of tone, such superb vocal control and such artistic intrepretation of her numbers!
The audience was captivated with her rendition of “Casta Diva,” and the fair cantatrice graciously responded with a lovely rendition of “The Last Rose of Summer.”. . . It is many a long year since such exquisite singing has been heard in Albany and each number was of great artistic excellence. . . . Miss Hempel captivated her audience with her singing of “The Carnival of Venice.”
Come again, Miss Frieda Hempel! and you will be sure of a rousing welcome!”
The Knickerbocker Press comments:
“Mademoiselle Jenny Lind’s Concert” it was, according to the program last night at the State Armory, but that was merely the frame of it, suggestion of other times and other singers. The evening was distinctly Mme. Frieda Hempel’s; an evening of unique pleasure with the routine of the modern concert delightfully varied by this conjuring of the grand manner, the crinoline and the songs of another time. It was a happy idea to keep fresh the thought of a great singer, to dramatize a concert as it were, and a cause for gratitude that an artist of the calibre of Frieda Hempel can do this thing with no sense of irreverence. . . .
Miss Hempel played her own accompaniment to “the Echo Song,” and brought the big applause of the night.
The gold and blue banner “Welcome, Sweet Warbler” was a souvenir of Jenny Lind days׳, but it applies well to Frieda Hempel. Ben Franklin closed his concert season most brilliantly.
Willard Flint Adds Another Oratorio Success
Willard Flint, who has been known for many years as one of the leading oratorio singers of the Easfi recently added one more to a very long list of successes in a performance of the “Messiah” at Symphony Hall, Boston.
Mr. Flint has the distinction of having sung at the first performance of the “Messiah” given in Symphony Hall by the Handel and Haydn Society (which was also Mr. Flint’s first appearance in that part) and again in 1915, when