Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1880-01-31
"rIMBEB AND rEcHNIoUE..

High (Old) Art Criticism ON the Patti
Tf0upe-A San Francisco Critic who
Wanted Ten Per Cent Soul.
The critic of the San Francisco Post thus
writes OF a recent performance OF the Patti
troupe in that dty;-On arriving at the Grand
Opera House, the other evening g, we were panied
and surprised at being refused a private box,
and handed some back seat In the gallery In
stead. The circumstances at once shook our
faith in the success OF the enterprise How
In the world Signor Chizzola expected to score
success without reserving all the best seats
for the deadheads is, indeed, remarkable.
truly. 1t was with sad forebodngs, there
fore, that we took our seats behind two
Jewesse in crimson silk and wearing schooner
next to an Italian who cracked peanuts all the
evening without Offering us one. Mr.. Toedt
he sang in good style Ronlanza by the late
DIR. List, whom we gathered from the reverse
OF the programme to be an employee of the
Chickering Piano FACTORY, or something of that
sort. Mr.. Toedt is young-a very young
man, and If he takes the advice of one who mas
practced every Tuesday night with the Ala
his bad habit of shutting one eye while he
| shakes out his low notes from the lungs. 1t
looks like he was taking aim at the gallery, and
| creates much nervousness in that section.
Besides this, he slants his romades a
little nor'west, which gives throaty
painstaking artist viii be the I' first 'i to
regret when his salary is lowered. Mr. Ketten
/ followed with Noctutne Espsgno.e. Mr.. X.
| comes to us much lauded on account OF his
| finger ring, which we cannot understand 1t is
small, on-color cluster. and hardly be seen
! from the back seats. He hammers mis- tunes out
| with much vigor, but has an unpleasant way Of
sitting about two yards from his plano, as
| though afraid it would claw back when h
| tleads on its tail. He has also queer habit Of
| drifting up to windward and betting the living
daylightS out OF the loud end of the nStrum enG.
| His school has been much praised but we
i should think Mr.. X. could make more money
| playing dance music for the Jolly Ten
| Sociable," the "Heliotrope Club" ETC., than
by teaching school, BY collecting his coin
before e IL the esd dancing began he could be
will speak to the society man OF the CAL about
| it in the morning: He should learn to play more
the catcher of the Red Stocking nine from the
| vindictive manner In which he whacks the keys;
and the fact that the damage done to the piano
| used is taken out OF his salary after each per-
| Torrance probably accounts for his attenuated
| appearance. SgnOr Clamp Cellaj is gentle
man who took advantage of having two irents
baritone with an expression indicative of an
| unsuccessful wrestle with one of our regular
hotel patent rubber srlolns There is lots
OF wood the French call it tinbr) in the
singular snss He hqgrnss his appear
music, as it were, and the simple minded coun-
| tryman who SHE'D him meal ticket from the
gallery last evening should not have been fired
out. Most any klnd-hearted person would have
done it, Mr.. de Munckey-or Mr.. Patti, as he Is
best knoWn-did some good saving on the big
| fiddle for so small man. His phrasing is much
too broad, except In Staccato passages, where it
| narrows somewhat and becomes sharp at boUh
ends. If it were not for Mr.. PATHS unfortunate
bibulary weakness, which compelS him to stand
on cracker box, so as to be out OF the reach of
| the rats and things while playing, he would have
| a bright future and coin money on most any
| ferry boat It is this tagging around on all
| Ing the deuce with most of our best f1dders,
| and that's fact. OF Carlotta Patti herself we
regret we can say very little In praise Her first
| number, a symphony In B-gorrar, by dear old
| Jim Beethoven, was given with much apparent
nervousness. In fact, this well known soprano
| 1--WE think she Is soprano) seemed to realize
| cultured and critical San Francisco audiences
| we read about, many OF whom had walked in
from Hayes valley and Laguna street purpose.
| The result was that her knees knocked together
| with such force as to throw the accompaniment
out several times. Her voice has several para
mount faults, and we will endeavor to render
| our meaning clear to our unprofeSSional readers
by using as few musical phrases as possible.
| In the first place her technique is bad,
besides being too small When a brand
| and good secondhand one, hAd-
ing over two quarts, for s1.75 there is no excuse
for this OF course we all know-all we critics
| that there are no tears in Mrs. de MunckeyS
voice, which is the real reason for her having to
| wet her whistle so early and often. There Is a
| llaTheQ QeIClenCy In DTedQCQ ana QepCh and
| thickness In her upper register, which does not
| admit the air freely in consequence, and far
off nearness, sort Of inanimate aftertaste, so
to speak, In the dtnaue,ldO Of her flats, partic-
| ularly her French flats. Her singular manner
| ism OF holding her chin lopsded during her G
ups is In bad form, and the first thing she knows
| one OF her SharpS will come out edgewayS and
| cut her throat. Then, she opens her mouth too
| much and TOO often when She sings, which
makes her chest notes mouthy and her
| mouth notes cheSty. 1t would be much
better, to say nothing of more artistic, if she
| were TO open only one side of her mouth
| at time. This would save wear and tear of
| her teeth, and at the same time give the other
! corner time to rest and brace up. She exertS
| herself too much in her trills, and it would
| save both breath and expense II she had them
! hereafter done behind the scenes by boy with
dog whistle or something. Her method is
| admittedly good-we refer to her method in
| refusing an exclusively usher encore-but,
| probably, after all, her chief lack is soul. We
| regret to say 1t, and thereby cut down her
wages one-half, but Carlotta does not sing
| lights. This is sad, and c. p. I'VE mean
| the singer, not the r. R.) had better take
something for it at once. On a two-dollar
soul. Her repertoire is a slngularly small one
/ for the time She has been in business, and we
Looked In vain on the programme for "Whoa,
| Emma" Johnny Morgan Plays the Organ" and
Though we since understand that she has hired
an inside compartment at the Safe Deposit Com
pany in which to practice ''Grand-father's
Clock, Her Front Name was Hannah" and
other real gems: This is step in the right di-
reetion, and In the hope of decided improve
ment we shall suspend our final decision until
We find how Chizzola Is going to pan out on
complimentartes and beer. More anon.
The Chair Carried the Point.
tba nofrn