29
MUSICAL COURIER
April 5, 1923

Excerpts From a Few of Her Critics:
New York Comments, First Recited by Mme. Cahier February 5, 1923
W. J. Henderson in The Herald: “ ... on a far higher level of artistic enjoyment than the average song recital; program full of interest; fine voice; Beethoven admirably sung; ‘Erlkönig’ splendid.”
Evening World: “ . . . voice used with fine skill—interpretation that of a musician.”
Evening Post: “ . . . voice a rich deep contralto; smooth and full from top to bottom; decided dramatic gift.”
Globe: “ . . . sang with an assurance which comes from understanding, technical skill and experience; nothing excelled in charm her treatment of French songs.”
Tribune: “ . . . displays a voice of rich and lustrous quality.”
Evening Mail: “America again proved she could produce a great artist-voice of amazing power and range possessing a uniformly beautiful texture. Middle and upper registers brilliant; lower tones a thrilling resonance which sets the whole neighborhood to vibrating—artistry—and emotional ability.”
“ . . . a woman of magnetism, of keen intellectual grasp of her material.”
Sun:
World: “ . . . and a colorful contralto voice. ‘Erlkönig’ reached real height of dramatic style; sweeping in scope and harrowing in effect.”
Sun: “Program of stringent, subtle demands; needed a notable artist to fulfill. She sang gorgeously.”
American: “Her presentation of an interesting program was noteworthy for opulent utterance, distinction of style and sentiment well controlled.”
CLEVELAND—Plain Dealer: “ . . . she returns a great singer, endowed with a voice of surpassing opulence, splendidly telling timbre and a wonderful command of dramatic utterance. The poignancy, the passion, the intensity of her singing was simply overwhelming. It was an exciting experience and the audience accorded her a genuinely impressive ovation.”— James H. Rogers.
Commercial: “She is a great singer because so few singers have that power to move hearers emotionally. The verdict of Europe is right.”
Press: “She disclosed a voice of opulent sonority and dramatic intensity. She rendered the compositions mentioned magnificently and fully deserved the ovation tendered her.”— Wilson G. Smith.
The News: “Nobody save perhaps Schumann-Heink has offered these numbers to us with anything like such beautiful tone and such authority—singing of the sort we always want and so seldom get.”—Archie Bell.
CINCINNATI—Enquirer: “Mme. Cahier is more than a singer. She is a thorough musician who is possessed of a splendid voice which is so obedient to her wishes that she can use it to express any emotion which she desires. She is an artist for artists. Only a singer of her mental and musical equipment could sing the Bloch & Mahler cycle where Mme. Cahier’s reassuring and splendid command of her resources Was a delight.”—Augustus O. Palme.
DETROIT—Evening Times: “ . . . evinced a dash and fire and vocal flexibility that completely won her hearers.”
Detroit News: “ . . . voice is strong, melodious and expressive. Her artistic conception of Tschaikowsky’s Aria was a notable piece of work and deserves remembering.”
WASHINGTON—Evening Post: “Mme. Cahier displayed a vocal organ of great power and wide range, and sang with skillful method.”
New York Press Comments of Mme. Cahier in Mahler’s Great Work, “THE SONG OF THE EARTH”
New York City, February 25, 1923:
Evening Mail: “MADAME CAHIER BRINGS PERFECTION TO CONCERT—If it is possible to find a definition of perfection it is in Mme. Charles Cahier and her art. No finer personality is before the public on any kind of stage. No finer mistress of song mood and picture could be named and few there are whose voice can be mentioned in the same breath with hers.”
Sun: “ . . . her rich contralto voice brought out every varying bit of color in both words and music. Her style was as finished as the ancient art of the poems, and she produced the most profound impression of the afternoon, seizing and transmitting as she did the heavily perfumed, almost drugged beauty of the work.”
Richard Aldrich in The Times: “The vocal parts were admirably sung. Mme. Cahier’s diction was excellent. The music often presents great difficulties by its awkward unvocal character, and much skill was implied in the success which both artists made.”
Pitts Sanborn in The Globe: “Mme. Cahier, who has made a specialty of this work, sang the contralto solos with complete mastery.”
World: “ . . . she has a moving colorful contralto.”
Max Smith in American: “Thanks to Mme. Cahier, also to Jac. Urlus, the vocal parts were admirably handled.”
Katharine Spaeth in The Evening Mail: “ . . . she sang the contralto lyrics with liquid phrasing and deep tones.”
Society of the Friends of Music in New York City Brahms Concert, Dec. 31st, 1922
Richard Aldrich in The Times: “Her singing was artistic and intelligent; her voice rich in quality; her musical interpretation deeply felt and discerning.”
Tribune: “ . . . produced a contralto that had depth, richness and a respectable range, qualities contributing to an expressive performance.”
Max Smith in American: “ . . . sang with interpretive discrimination and warmth of feeling.”
Deems Taylor in the World: “ . . . voice has color and expressiveness and warmth of feeling.”
At the Beethoven Concert—Cahier, Thibaud, Casals and Bauer
Richard Aldrich in the Times: “ . . . a rich, powerful voice, intelligence to capture the fervent eloquence of the songs, a diction of unusual clarity, phrasing that graphically exposed the musical outline, were in her musical equipment. Her singing had many beauties, really great qualities and a heartfelt sincerity.”
W. J. Henderson in The Herald: “Her singing was profoundly moving. It was a noble flight of lyric interpretation, and it said much for the woman as well as the artist.”
Pitts Sanborn in the Globe: “This fervent cycle was given a simple, sincere and intensely dramatic interpretation which moved the audience to enthusiastic applause.”
Max Smith in American: “ . . . An opulent voiced mezzo, gave luscious utterance to Schumann’s cycle.”
Katharine Spaeth in The Evening Mail: “ . . . but to Mme. Cahier came the greatest enthusiasm of the evening. She was superb. Her interpretations were those of a great artist.”