June 14, 1923 12 MUSICAL COURIER THE TAXES WE PAY, SAYS CECIL ARDEN, SHOULD ALSO ENTITLE US TO SOUL CULTURE “Municipalities Take Care of Our Bodies, Look to Sanitation, to Education So Far as Mental Development Is Concerned, But Leave the Soul to Starve”—Denies We Are Jazz-Crazed—Advocates Musical Center must be very pleased with his triumph.” El Heraldo de Cuba declared: “There triumphed with Lucrezia Bori, the baritone Richard Bonelli, an artist of very fine faculties, very pleasant voice of great range and volume, admirably placed in all its notes, agile and fresh. He was much liked and very justly applauded.” He evoked even greater enthusiasm at his appearance in Faust. “Bonelli made a perfect Valentino. His voice appeared to us even more beautiful than last time when we heard him in La Traviata, being fresh, mellow and powerful. In his aria of the third act and in the beautiful trio of the fourth, Bonelli showed himself not only master of an extraordinary organ, but also an artist who convinces and conquers immediately the enthusiasm of the public. As we have already said about him with reference to Traviata, he has the rare gift of personal magnetism— RICHARD BONELLI a quality beyond appreciation in a singer.” This was again the verdict of La Discusión. This opinion was supported by El Mundo: “With his beautiful and fresh baritone voice, he sang the Dio Possente and the duet of the swords, scoring a great success; and in the death scene repeated his triumph, and obtained real ovations,” and by El Diario de la Marina, which declared him “a baritone with splendid voice and perfect schooling of singing . . . scoring an extraordinary triumph.” El Diario de la Marina also referred to Bonelli as the “possessor of one of the most beautiful baritone voices heard by us in the last ten years.” The same paper in reviewing his appearance in II Trova-tore called him “a baritone with splendid voice and exquisite taste . . . gorgeous qualities and of excellent school . . . . obtained a thunderous triumph.” Perfield Teacher of Atlanta, Ga., Presents Program An evening of music by piano pupils and the choir of the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer of Atlanta, Ga., under the direction of Martha E. Smith, a Perfield exponent, attracted much interest on May 11. The entire program, which was memorized, follows: Organ solo—The Lost Chord (Sullivan), violin and piano—Moment Musical (Schubert), Albert Cochran and Marie Cochran, accompanist; The Robins (Virgil), Louise David; Sleepy Time (Mattingly), French Gavotte and Child’s Hymn, Eugenia Knight; At the Spring (Gurlitt), Rutledge Tufts; Fluttering Leaves (Koelling), Catherine West; Barcarolle (Greenwald), Caroline Hardin; Little Minuet (Beethoven), Folk Song (arr. by Wilson), Butterfly Dance (Lege), Marie Cochran; Bagatelle (Beethoven), The Shepherd’s Tale (Nevin), Thomas Hudgins; Jerusalem (Parker), Fred L. Tanner (pupil of Mrs. A. M. Burt) and choir; Valse Bluette (Drigo), Mary McCullough; May Breezes (Leslie), Leon Walker; Prelude in G sharp minor (Rachmaninoff), Creighton Meixell; Cornet Solo—The Better Land (Cowen), » A. C. Meixell and Creighton Meixell. accompanist; Sextet from Lucia, for left hand alone (Leschetizky), Emilie Parmalee; Moonlight Sonata (Beethoven), Mary McCord; Sanctus Spiritus (Faure), Gertrude Dismer and choir; Triumphal March from Aida (Verdi), Emilie Parmalee; Liebestraume (Liszt), Creighton Meixell ; Farewell (Nevin), Women’s Chorus; Peer Gynt Suite—Troll Dance, Death of Ase, Anitra’s Dance, Morning (Grieg), Emilie Parmalee and Creighton Meixell; King All Glorious (Barnby), Mrs. Fred L. Tanner and choir with Martha E. Smith at the organ. Harold Henry Pupil’s Successful Debut in Munich Wayne Spalding, the young American pupil of Harold Henry, made a highly successful professional debut in Munich on May 13, when he gave a piano recital in the Museum Saal. Technically young Spalding’s playing meets the most exacting demands but in addition to virtuosity he displayed musical feeling, beauty of tone and a poise that might arouse the envy of a veteran performer. His exacting program included the Brahms waltzes ; Beethoven’s sonata, op. 57 ; Chopin’s fantasy impromptu, Black Key Etude, A flat waltz and C sharp minor scherzo, and a miscellaneous group that ended with the Campanella by Liszt. As encores he played the Debussy prelude (most stunningly) and an etude of Chopin. Mr. Spalding’s playing aroused a great deal of enthusiasm and reflected great credit on his distinguished teacher, who came to Munich to attend the recital, before going to Italy. E. ciate action with sound. It endows music with meaning. There is no orchestra in the country superior to the orchestra at the Capitol Theater, in this the first American city. All true lovers of music feel they owe a deep debt to Mr. Rothafel, presiding genius of the Capitol, who has compelled, by the very excellence and humanity of his music, audiences to sit still, to listen in silence and in rapt appreciation to selections by his orchestra artists. Singers Regarded as “Freaks.” “Again, opera singers have long been regarded as a variety of freak. Not long ago a charming club woman from up-State paid me the compliment of engaging me for an important entertainment given by her organization. When she told fellow members she had selected a singer from the Metropolitan company they did not hestitate to inform her they felt she had made a grave mistake. ‘Those opera singers yell so much,‘ was the way the women expressed their reaction toward their leader’s selection. “Geraldine Farrar—and there is no finer example of an American artist extant than Miss Farrar—did more to chase away this freak bugaboo than any other single or collective element in opera. Her sally into the movies convinced the public a singer is a human being, a regular person, willing and eager to give whatever message he or she may have to deliver to the people regardless of the box office. “An American artist who succeeds deserves a dozen times more credit than a foreign artist,” declares Cecil the Unaffected, with a sigh. “Why is it our own peqple will not stand behind us? They seem to think unless a voice has a foreign label it is inferior. We carry the burden, times without number and are happy to do it. Why? Because if we have the flair, the real voice it is only a question of time until we shall compel recognition—until the truth will come into its own. As Farrar has so often said, ‘You cannot buy the musical public.’ ” Born and Bred in New York Miss Arden is a New York product born and bred. She made her debut on the American stage at the ripe old age of three years. Her musical training, in its preparatory stage, lasted four years, under direction of the famous Italian maestro in America, Signor Buzzi-Peccia. Her first public appearance was in the Metropolitan Opera (orupany, it being a conviction of her teacher that a pupil should n'6f sing until he or she is fully equipped for the arduous task ahead. “My favorite role?” Cecil Arden’s smile has something on the May skies. “Carmen. I chose Carmen because it embodies everything, pathos, dramatics, humor. There is not a superfluous bar nor a superfluous note in the entire score. My ambition is to sing Carmen as well as—better than it has ever been sung before.” Our wish is that you will realize your ambition, Miss America. And when your dream comes true, we hope to be right out front insisting on the twelfth curtain call. Bonelli in Special Concert with Bori Richard Bonelli has returned from Cuba with as many enthusiastic tributes from the Havana press to his credit as his every appearance in the United States brought him throughout his long tour with the San Carlo Opera Company. He sang often during the Gallo season in Havana, winning a genuine ovation on each occasion, and created such a following that he received an invitation by popular request to remain after the close of the operatic engagement for a special concert in joint recital with Lucrezia Bori, beloved of Havana music lovers. Appearing on a bill with operatic stars whose names are world famous and have long been familiar to Havana, the name of the young American baritone naturally created no particular' stir previous to his initial appearance, but the morning after his debut, the newspapers were unanimous in their praise, for the gifts of the young artist were instantly recognized and he was at once accepted by the discriminating Latin public. “Another surprise was Bonelli, the baritone, who filled the public with enthusiasm on account of his very beautiful voice, of great range, with a beautiful bass qality in the lower notes and a ring almost like a tenor in his high tones, which were pure and easy, as well as his impersonation and his pleasant personality as an artist. In his aria, Di Provenza il mar, as well as in the duo with Violetta in the same act, he heard boisterous and well merited applause,” wrote La Discussion. Of the same performance, El Diario de la Manana said: “To obtain a big success in this role (Germont in La Traviata) which has been sung here by Riccardo Stracciari, is very difficult. The notable baritone Cecil Arden, contralto of the Metropolitan, in a recent interview with Jane Dixon of the New York Evening Telegram, is quoted as saying: “Love of the Art is growing daily in this country and everyone should hear, enjoy and be benefited by good music.” The young singer says a lot of perfectly true things, some of which are herewith reproduced: We are music mad! America has been accused of being remiss in the matter of music. “Not so,” says Cecil Arden, New York’s radiant and colorful contribution to the bright galaxy of song stars that go to make up the Metropolitan O’pera Company. And when we mention the “Met” we mean the very crux of the world in so far as vocal artistry is concerned. In no other city is there such a constellation of high priced, high powered missioners of melody as in the slightly antiquated buff-bricked building in Broadway, American home of art as expressed through the register of the human voice. “We are not r.emiss in our music,” the vital and vibrant Miss Arden hastens to assure us. “On the contrary, music in America has become an absolute fever. The pity is that those who might mould this magnificent urge neglect the opportunity to make of us a real nation of music lovers. Any current must be harnessed before it serves a definite purpose. Our musical current has been allowed to run wild. “Not so many years ago, when the melodeon was still the accepted medium of musical interpretation, there was one instrument to every ten thousand people. The average today is one piano, victrola or stringed instrument to every ten persons. Figures do not lie. Music has become to us the air we breathe. We must have it. The only question now demanding consideration is ‘What kind of music are we going to have?’ ” Denies We Are Jazz Crazed The lovely lady in the ashes of roses mandarin coat with the gay butterflies embroidered on its antique satin pushes back a cloud of chestnut brown hair from a face flushed with eagerness. Her blue eyes, tinged violet, shone with the light of inner fires. She is a steady, burning flame, warm with the love of a life she finds joyous in the living. “It is a base libel to say America is sold to jazz bands,” declares the young opera mezzo-soprano. “How can this be charged against us when we have never had the opportunity to make a free choice? The opera has always been considered an amusement for the highbrows. How I wish that word—highbrows—could be blotted from the American language! Good music belongs to every