The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1890-06-01
DRAMATIC AND LYRIC
The Closing Day of the Great
May Festival.
SHENANDOAH ONCE MORE.
What Mr.. Stephens Says of the Result-wilso
Barrett to Return-General Notes
of the Profession.

The first May Musical Fsstival-let US
hope 1t will not be the last-came to an end
with the afternoon and evening concerts
yesterday. The attendance was nearly
even all through, the matinee being a shade
the lightest and the audience last evening
being about on par with that of the open
ing night 1t was impossible last evening
to learn the total receipts of the festival
close estimate would probably be So, 800
they will not go far beyond that if at all
this result, while it is very fair, hardly
comes up to what was expected. but it is,
we trust, sufficient to pay all expenses and
remunerate the principal toilers in the
grand entertainment with which the city
has been RECALLED.
The matinee programme was frightened
by the beautiful spectacle of the 1000
school children who were massed into the
chorus seats, and who looked a huge bou-
quet with the gay and restless colors.
They sang with lusty and tuneful lungs in
the two parts, and were immensely APP
plauded. While they were standing a
couple of photographs were taken Of the
spectacle, and il the result is favorable the
pictures will be decided curiosities The
musical numbers were OF the popular
order, and probably the best received was
the Tempest of the HearJ,n by B. b.
Young, which was rendered in excellent
style, better, in fact than anything he did
the opening night The Sampson trio
was not given, owing to Miss Young's
absence, much to the disappointment
Of the audience. Miss Bayliss rendered a
pretty song in its place. Mr.. Easton and
Miss Dean sang the duet of the previous
fnh nd Mn ,hr mr.
ballad, "Roses Underneath the Snow
both numbers being well rendered. Mr..
Pyper's old friend "Ah, so Fair" was
given in his usual graceful style, and Prof
Radcliffe gave the beautiful ''Pilgrim's
Song of Hope" Edith Knowlton and Viola
Pratt sang the lovely "Holy Mother duet
in good style and were greatly applauded
The Calling band opened the matinee with
the civilian Tel'' overture, played very
creditably and conducted by Prof Peterson
The evening programme was grand one,
somewhat heavier than that on the initial
night, and for that reason hardly so well
appreciated when it began to grow late,
but one with two or three numbers in it,
any one of which would have caused a
furore and 1oated the whole on to success
These numbers were the great finale from
''Traviata,' magnifcently rendered by
Mrs. Knowlton, Miss Thomas, Miss Dean,
Miss Pratt Mr.. Easton, Mr.. Piper, Mr.
Goddard and Mr.. Spencer-voices that
alone could bring an encore out of the
''Old Hundred" tut which when backed
upon by that great magnetic chorus the
orchestra and the organ-were simply IRE
sistable. The encore calls were loud and
long and the singers had to come out and
bow and then go over the selection again.
he
reception accorded the infammatus,
the noble selection rendered by
the chorus and Miss Bayliss;
this, too, had to be repeated. Mr..
Goddard never sang better than in his
Ernani selection and he also was accorded
an encore. Miss Dean sang an exquisite
selection by Mucadante and was vocifer-
ously recalled, when she sang ballad to
Mr. McIntyre's accompaniment. These en-
cores threw the hour rather late and Miss
Bayliss and Mir. Young's solos from
Elijah which were rather difficult at
the best, did not meet with the enthusiasm
they would otherwise have done, though
both were admirably given. Miss Thomas
and Miss Pratt were recalled and made to
bow their acknowledgements twice for their
excellent duett from ''Stabat Mater"
The chorus was at its best again in the
two pieces mentioned and it gave the
Russian chorus with great spirit. The
Thanks be to God' was hardly
so well done, though the audience was
growing so restless that its deficiencies
were not noticed. Mr.. Weihe conducted
the priests March," with which the
concert opened.
We asked Mr.. Stephens at the close of
the festival how he felt regarding the
whole thing now that il was over. 81 am
in two moods" he said, zone of extreme
satisfaction at the work Of the Choral So
ciety, which, though l say it who should've,
was glorious. 1t was more than thatr-it
was not duplicated TO my mind by the New
York or Boston Philharmonic, and I've
heard both. l think they did Farewell to
the Forest exquisitely; they have done
nothing but what was good, except the
Thanks be TO God, and that was SO slug
gish l can't forgive them for it. My
other mood is one of disgust, / might
say indignation, at the parents OF those
1000 children. who could not take enough
interest in them to turn out and hear them
sing. What these children did was mar
Vicious, considering that they learned it all
in the district schools, that they were not
picked at all but taken just as they came.
1t was to my mind a triumph for the ad-
vocates of music in the public schools,
when we think that they have been only
studying for year and that it has only
cost them cent lesson. Then to think
their parents had so little interest in them
that they allowed them to sing to empty
benches, it puts me out of patience.
Regarding the artistic outcome, L am IN all
ways satisfied. The financial is very fair,
though / have not the figures yet, and
can't say what they are. / do not agree
with some that dollar was too much to
charge-if with the entertainment we pro-
vided, we cannot command the price paid
for a minstrel show, then we ought to have
no such thing as festivals. We don't want
to charge so little that we can't keep up
the excellence of our programmes, and
next year we will want, | hope, to bring in
some great soloist to head the thing. and
that of course will mean more money still.
Next year the festival can be started earlier,
doomed harder, and with the prestige
this one has given US, have no fears as to
the result. You may say this-that l
think the advertising promised by the rail
roads in connection with low fares for the
festival aud the young mems conference
has not been pushed as it should have
been, or we would have had q larger at
tendance from the outside. | have not
seen q single announcement in the papers
from either of the railroads, and parties
are here from Logan who tell me that peo-
pie came to the depot in Logan expecting
to get half fare, but were told by the agent
that he had no instructions to sell half-fare
tickets, and they went back home again."
Shenandoah Bronson Towards war
drama, in which for the most part the
fighting is done with smoleless powder
and noiselcss guns, may be said TO have
been advertised into prominence by the
patriotism of the people, to have made at
The same time fortune for its owner, Mr..