The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1891-03-15
ANOTHER CHATTY LETTER ABOUT VOCAL
AUSICIN GERMANY.
BERLIN, Feb. 5, 1891.

| aCS1C IN GERhANA.
BERLIN, Feb. 5, 1891
To the Edter Of the Eagle:
The musical season has been so full o
good things that we have not ATTEMPTED
anything but to study German, read his
tory, when not sightseeing, practice few
scales daily and be ready for concert oil
opera in the evening, as we went almos
every evening, for how could we stay a.
home, and why miss these beautiful
things! 1t Is such source OF delight tx
look forward to these entertainments, pre-
senung so many great works we have moi
been able to hear in America. But as fal
as vocal music is concerned. the critics are
not nearly so exacting as they are npon In
strumental work, and am sure not nearly
so competent. In the first place we were
surprised and astonished at the place and
reputation Gudehaus holds as dramatic
tenor in Germany, when upon hear
ing him he displayed such poor
and badly trained voice, and his acting
was SO stiff and conventional. Later, he
has been singing at the Metropolitan II
New York, and the best musical critics
declare, The is no artist and can neither
sing nor act" In any of our own musical
cities, let tenor or baritone sing his
| high notes in falsetto, and he Is literally
scored out of the ranks, yet here in Berlin
| a member OF the opera company, and
others, even in concert have repeatedly
resorted to this abominable trick. Emil
! Goethe, we'll known tenor, gave recital,
which was delightful for the program,
and rendering of some Brahms songs, and
many others. In voice he had fine
warm quality of good timbre. The upper
1 11na A1
but his chief fault was singing piano pass
ages falsetto. In commenting upon
the recital the musicians took no
notice of certain faults and illegitimate
use of the voice, but complained of his
! taking liberties in rendering Schuman,
and of his lack of taste in singing a
waltz movement song, by Meyer Helmund.
you will frequently hear professional
| singers go entirely outside OF all rules of
vocalization to produce some rasping, per-
haps blood curdling, dramatic effects, but
usually they are repaid in transgressing
natural laws by hOarseuess or poor, thln
tone Immediately afterwards. This is not
art, and certainly not music. The tremolo
so much condemned especially by Ameri-
can teachers and musicians, in the last
year or two, is most prevalent being so bad
| in the olden singers who are wearing out
prematurely and frequently the tremolo is
so pronounced as to put them out
of tune, and some still use that antedilu-
Wan and reprehensible "stroke Of the
CLOTHS" But, of course, there ara many
German artists who, fortunately, have
been trained in good school 1 speak of
some characteristics, such as we have
heard. Lilli Lehman, whose singing in
one of the Won BuloW concerts, and in a
recital by herself and her husband
Kalisch-proved most charming to the
throngs of people who welcomed her to
Berlin after an absence of five years. Frau
Lehman is a tall. handsome woman of
fifty, and has, 1 should think, four times
that number of pounds avoirdupois, which
she carries in a regal manner She has
been singing constantly these thirty years;
has taken the great Wagner dramas and
80 sung them as to have almost no rival.
They say, in Berlin, her voice is much
broader and has gained In dramat-
ic quality since ten years ago.
OF course she has lost some of the brillian-
" in her highest notes, but she can with
full steady tone fill the big Philharmonic
hail. or in ballads and songs. sing such a
bright delicious quality as to make you
wonder if she can do everything, for she
executes perfectly; but there is little
sharpness in their quality on the upper
tones not noticeable five years ago. l won
der it is not more frequent after so long
singing the trying roles of Wagner's great
music dramas. Her husband also shows
an excellent school, without effort produc-
ing some of the best high piano tones in
the natural voice | have ever heard. His
singing of the Jansen Slumber song made
quite a sensation, ballad singing being his
forte. Nature gave him but little voice,
but he has the perfection of art and SUI
perior taste in the use of what he has.
Amelia Joachim, a renowned soprano-con-
tralto, is the wife of that great viOlinist,
Joachim, but for serious domestic dis
turbances they have lived separated two or
three years, the son, young man of %
in sympathy with the father the daughter
going with the mother. Amelia Joachim
is past 80 years OF age, and mother Of
eight children, yet she sholds position as
an interpreter of classic songs, equal to
anyone on the continent. We heard the
first OF her series of recitals DEVOTED to
Schuman and Shubert, it was one of the
most delightful and instructive of the
season. She sings beautiful head tone
throughout, breaths deeply and has such
perfectly, one of the great points
in the singing of this class of
music on this evening was without any
assistance but OF an accompanies. She |
sang twenty-four songs by Shuraan and |
Shubert in faultleSs manner. When you |
remember how long she has been singing |
and all her natural cares, then hear her |
deep tones, you realize, on the completion |
OF such long program without fatigue. |
that she must have used her voice with the |
best OF art She fills the large hall with |
over two thousand enthusiastic listeners. |
In dress she wore a high cut black velvet, |
making her rather superintendent flesh |
less conspicuous. On the stage Lehman
wears elegant gowns very decolette and
in brilliant colors. many dia-
monds, gold coronet, bracelets above the
elbows and at the wrists. But IL |
is sad on the street she dresses
shabbily even wearing old fashioned
bonnets and though very wealthy, she IS
One of the singing socie-
ties produced Mendelsohns St. Paul,
assisted by the Philharmonic orchestra,
and schools from other cities. The GLORIOUS
was large, but not well trained, not like
the Apollo club of Chicago. or the Phil
harmonic of New York. Still it done some
effective work, OF the soloists, the soprano
from Frankfort mad no more qualifications
for Oratorio than nightengale, the con-
tralto was an iunofencive body who sang
everything in a colorless manner, the
tenor was also too light for his part and
quite faded out before the close Of the
work, but st. Paul. Herr Wolf from
Hamburg. was every inch ST Paul,
singer and man. OF course we have heard
many Others, from fair to bad, and some
hLANA Was CHN |
evening our friend, DR.. L. ".
Mason, superintendent OF music in
Boston schools, who is spending
The winter in different cities here, collect
ng school and foiksongs. for new series
II music books, invited Us 20 attend
charity concert with him, where his friend,
Dr.. TaniAa, the japanese scientist, was TO
have his newest invention OF harnouium.
Exhibited This instrument illustrates
he perfect interval, may be adjusted TO
produce differences in pitch 20 the ninth
u tone, and has some other remarkable