MUSICAL COURIER
31
April 12, 1923
certo, ■a work seldom heard, and seldom heard because there are many dull spots in it.
The Saturday afternoon concert, April 7, began with the Mottl arrangement of three dances from Gretry’s Cephale et Procris. They afforded splendid opportunities for display to the solo desk men, especially among the woodwinds, opportunities that were taken advantage of with that virtuosity which has always distinguished the Boston orchestra. Next came the Apres Midi d’Un Faun. Mr. Monteux has read it here with much more poetry at previous concerts, but the sheer beauty of Debussy and orchestration and Boston Symphony tone put it over, so that the audience insisted until the orchestra stood to share the applause.
After that came Resphigi’s Ballad of the Gnomides, a jolly bit of program music all about two wild women who wed the same gnome, then drag him out and throw him over a cliff into the sea, thereafter joining the other gnomes in a measure expressive of pleasure—very noisy pleasure. Res-phigi is a master of orchestration. The frenzy of the final dance is frenzieder than almost anything else one recalls in orchestral literature; the lyric middle section is quiet and expressive; and there is quite an original funeral march. But the work is at least three minutes too long and, with the (Continued on page 42)
Judy Show—from Kaleidoscope (Goossens) ; Alborada del Grazioso (Ravel); Ballade, G minor, opus 23, Nocturne, C minor, opus 48, Etude, A minor, opus 25, No. 11 (Chopin).
The Journal said:	“The pianist, who has some of the
best traits of her teacher in her equipment, pleased a friendly audience with her playing of an excellently chosen program.” The World: "She has a fine technic, a good tone, a gentle, carressing touch, and an ample supply of temperament.” The Mail: “A good feeling for color contrasts, a light touch, considerable finger technic and an excellent rhythm sense are desirable things in an aspiring young pianist.”
BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
The Boston Symphony Orchestra began its last Thursday evening concert of the season at Carnegie Hall, April 5, with the Unfinished Symphony of Schubert. Mr. Monteux, ׳as is his habit with this work, played the two movements in practically the same tempo. The young Debussy’s Prin-temps, rather lost sight of nowadays in the popularity of the Faun, sounded fresh, sweet, delightful, and was exquisitely played. To end with, there was that noisy, rowdy circus-piece called the Rienzi overture. The soloist of the evening was Pablo Casals, who played the Schumann con-
VALENTINA CRESPI
ITALIAN VIOLINIST
Acclaimed by Press
• l^!SS ^reSP* proved herself an artist with the bow, and her selections were all received with pleasure by her hearers. One could hardly name any one selection as better than the others, Every one received hearty applause and the lady gracefully responded to the heartiness ot the reception given her.—The Daily Review, Monmouth, 111., Feb. 13, 1923.
An unusually fine program was presented last evening by Valentina Crespi. Miss Crespi’s appearance had been eagerly looked forward to and her playing amply realized those expectations. Miss Crespi showed her brilliant technic and passionate temperament of the southern countries.
c u The. wMutliuI• t0n,e qu?llty. o£ the v,olinist was clearly evidenced in the Ave Maria by Schubert-Wilhelmj, when the deep, luscious notes of her Guarnerius violin fairly stirred the audience to its depths.—Jacksonville Daily Journal, Dec. 12, 1922.
Miss Crespi is already known as one of the leading lady violinists in the country, and her rendition of some of the heavier pieces displayed wonderful technic.—Monmouth Daily Atlas.
Miss Crespi won her audience from the start and held it throughout the recital. Her very pleasing personality coupled with her mastery of art, will keep her long in the memories of those who enjoyed her concert. She was ably accompanied by Miss Susie Kirk, a talented pianist.
Miss Crespi is a finished artist. She played with exquisite quality and there was a clarity ot tone which was fascinating. Her phrasing was accurate and she displayed various moods in her playing, showing her versatility. Every number was played beautifully and the entire 23r0g1923 W3S pronounced one of the best ever heard « ^e club.—Sf. Joseph Gazette, Jan.
From the first Miss Crespi had her hearers with her, for the program which she gave was rendered with a clarity of understanding that made it comprehensible to everyone. She has depth of musical intuition and fine technic. Her harmonics and double stop are'admirable, her phrasing delightful and her tone pure and clear. Her accompanist, Susie Kirk, showed herself possessed of marked ability. Her tone was excellent, and she was always in full sympathy with the soloist.—St. Joseph News-Press, Jan. 23, 1923.	y
Va',Tti';a1.?,resi,i׳Lfa,ilous ltalian violinist, more than fulfilled her advance notices and thoroughly delighted the largest crowd that has attended this season’s concerts. This young talian girl is new in America, but it is evident that her wonderful playing will soon cause her to become as well known here as she is in her own country, where she is recognized as one of the leading women players of the present day.—The Daily Report, Dover, Ohio, Feb. 2D, 1923.
She employs a vigorous technic—almost masculine. Her tones are broad, and she carried AW PPb 21h‘°19231VeS *he ‘mpression of great solida״ty in her playing .-Defiance Crescent-
Over 2,000 music lovers of Peoria were given a real treat by the appearance of Valentina Crespi, violinist, Saturday evening of last week.
In the estimation of local critics Miss Crespi displayed a combination of strength, breadth ot tone finesse in the interpretation of each composer’s idea, faultless technic and delicacy, changing instantly from one style to another.	’
Having established an enviable reputation in Europe, where she has played before thou-sands of people in Paris, London and Rome, she is rapidly gaining fame in this country because of her unquestionable genius. She is young, but in spite of this fact she plays with a virility TI.’1.U״J Swdln■ i°f •a master• hhe has been compared on authority to Elman, Kreisler and Journal Dec ]11^1922 ** W3S adm‘rab y suPPorted at tha piano by Miss Susie Kirk .-Peoria
Valentina Crespi, the brilliant young Italian violinist, has come and gone and Peoria is justly proud of the fact that another real artist has honored this city with her presence and ah׳Iity Miss Crespi s program was enthusiastically received, which was evidenced by the demanded encores to which she responded most generously.
. •k numbfr was in fitsel£ a veritable masterpiece as executed by the violinist and con-k w. pr״duce a, Pa(fect ״"it. Although a very young artist, who has not been heard in b?״iVe/tK:Un• i recent.ly> ,I has been said by authority that her work demonstrated the master mmd of Kreisler combined with the finer qualities and delivery of less virile virtuosity.
A great deal of credit is due Miss Kirk, whose sympathetic accompanying was the subject of much favorable comment among the music critics after each program
Peoria today has awakened to the fact that a really wonderful artist in Valentina Crespi has been in our city.—Peoria Star, Dec. 11, 1922.	crespi
Miss Crespi will tour Europe the coming fall, being available for a few dates during the spring of 1924.
HARRY AND ARTHUR CULBERTSON 4832 Dorchester Ave.,	Aeolian Hall,
Chicago	New York
is a fugue which canons all the way through. A chorale and chorus by Bach and a Purcell work, completed the list of sacred numbers. A Manx traditional melody, a Belgian folk song, arranged by Deems Taylor for women’s voices; a madrigal by Philip James, Deep River (an effective resetting of the Negro spiritual by Humphrey Mitchell), and the Dance of the Sword, by Hugh Priestley Smith, together with forementioned numbers, made up the secular half of the program.
Mr. Stoessel is to be congratulated for following the tendency of the past few seasons to revive the fine art of a capella singing and also for having put the energy and patience into it that showed in the results. The use of a piano to give the pitch and outline the first phrase was the only irritating part of the performance. Why not the organ which gave convenient support at other intervals?
Two groups of flute solos were deftly executed by George Barrere. A transcription of Debussy’s Little Shepherd, from his Children’s Corner, and one of the most familiar Chopin nocturnes (which lay in the lower, woody, more unfamiliar part of the flute range) proved most effective. The audience appreciated this pleasurable novelty, and Mr. Barrere added several numbers. He was accompanied by Miss Shaw.
SOLOMON GOLUB
On Wednesday evening, in the Wurlitzer Auditorium, Solomon Golub, tenor, poet and composer of Jewish songs, gave a recital made up in its entirety of his own compositions. The program consisted of four distinctive groups, each including various numbers under headings that classified them. The first, Phases of My People’s Life, was subtitled by such selections as A Friday Eve, on the Emigrant Ship, The Lonely Miller, and Beets for Passover. The second, called Youth and Longing, contained The Veiling of the Bride, At the River, A Letter, Longing, and others involving similar themes. Following the intermission the group, Mother and Childhood, was introduced, under which appeared A Cradle Song, Free from School, Sleep in Sweet Repose, and The Song of the Bread. The recital concluded with Album Leaves, a conglomeration of melodies consisting of The Palace at Night, The Sun Will Set, Be Still My Soul, and Rest Your Head.
Perhaps the program note on Solomon Golub will give a more impressionable insight into the nature of his work. It said:	“The program in which Mr. Golub is appearing con-
sists not of folk songs but of modern Yiddish lyrics set to music—lyrics which bring out, aesthetically, the various phases of Jewish as well as of universal life—universal, because not everything that is being sung in Yiddish is necessarily confined to Jewish folk lore. The jroetical selections included in Mr. Golub’s program contain the work of the last three decades. We find here a variety of poetry, the strictly pedantic, the classical, the ultra-modern, the impressionistic, the popular, the mystical and the symbolic.”
Mr. Golub was assisted by Igor Akhramoff, cellist, who also played a group of solo selections. W. Heifetz was at the piano.
THURSDAY, APRIL 5
SAINT CECILIA CLUB: JOHN BARCLAY SOLOIST
Victor Harris closed a most successful season with the St. Cecilia Club at the Waldorf-Astoria on the evening of April 5. It was a memorable concert in many ways. The chorus Was. assisted by a full orchestra, which accompanied all of the choral numbers, and the program included a work in large form, The Highwayman, a cantata by Deems Taylor for baritone solo, chorus and orchestra, the assisting artist being John Barclay, who also sang a group of folk songs and several encores in response to the warm applause that greeted his clever and appropriate interpretations. The balance of the program consisted of the small numbers in varying moods for the interpretation of which the club has become noted. They were: Invocation to St. Cecilia, Victor Harris; Song of India, Rimsky-Korsakoff; Don’t Come In, Sir, Please, Cyril Scott; Lamp in the West, Horatio Parker; A Lover and His Lass, Thomas Morley; Sleep Song, Henry Hadley; Recessional, Arthur Foote; Land-Sighting, Grieg.
Mr. Harris has unfailing taste in the making of programs, as the above list and the memory of many another delightful evening with this club amply proves, and he has no less unfailing taste in the preparation and interpretation of the music chosen for rendition. The St. Cecilia Club possesses truly transcendental powers of technic which, combined with the wide range and uniform beauty of tone from lowest note to highest, from loudest fortissimo to softest pianissimo, provides its offerings with never-ending charm. Added to this, or perhaps one should say, making the best possible use of these qualities, Mr. Harris turns his musicianship to a great individual care of detail, without allowing the technical side to overshadow the emotional. The richness of tone, the delicate gradation of force and variety of vocal color which he imparts to the music is evidence of extraordinary imagination and mastery, and the brilliance and sparkle when needed, contrasting with the dark, veiled pathos of certain sustained passages is a proof of mature artistic discrimination, musical intelligence and poetic feeling that places Mr. Harris among the limited few who stand at the head of our city’s music. At this latest concert he proved, not for the first time, his ability to take charge of an orchestra, and succeeded in the no mean task of blending its tone with that of the chorus admirably. There was a very large audience, and applause was generously bestowed.
LUCILLE OLIVER
On April 5, in the evening, Lucille Oliver, pianist, was heard in her first recital of the present season at Aeolian Hall before a good sized audience that manifested much interest in her. Miss Oliver, a pupil of Leginska, has been heard here _ previously when she made a favorable ■impression. She is indeed talented, possessing a fine technic, fleetness of fingers, commendable sense of color contrasts and a rhythm that is also good. Generally her playing was interesting and won the approval of her listeners. Her program follows: Prelude and Fugue, C minor and Italian Concerto (Bach) ; Cradle Song and Dance of the Little Clown (Leginska) ; Variations on a Hill Tune—First performance in New York (Anthony Bernard) ; March of the Wooden Soldiers, The Hurdy-Gurdy Man, The Punch and