The herald., 1896-06-14
MUSICAL COLUMN
That Instructive and Il

Inal instructive ana lnteTeSthiS 'OA
ume. the City Directory, seems 10 sup
ply one of the grounds on which Los An
geles boasts that 1t Is distinctly musi-
cal community; for within its pages you
VIII find that there is table containing
the names of no less than 16o teachers
of music, and this list is not complete,
since the names Of several well known
teachers In various branches OF the ART
are not to be found therein. In all
probability there are nearly two hum
dred men and women within our gates
who follow the profession OF teacnlng
music. In many cases 1t Is little more
than a profession, for with such compe-
tition the supply must be greater than
the demand however general the muslcai
aspirations of our population may pc.
There are also many names within the
list of those who have no Quallfcatlon
OF right to make the profession OF teach-
ing music. but nevertheless Los Ange-
les does possess really remarkable al"
vantages for the student of music IN
numbering amongst her citizens many
most skillful and successful teachers OF
singing, of the piano, the violin, the or
gan and almost every known 1nstru-
ment. Presumably it is this very keen
competition which induces some or our
best teachers of music to themselves
pose as fine pianists and think 1t advls-
able in the light of an advertisement
to appear on the concert platform. A
man may be very successful teacher
of the piano, certainly in its elementary
stages, and yet be but an unsatisfac-
tory performer in public. And 1t is easy
to see why. Imagine any great piano
virtuoso being bound down every DAY
to several hours labor in instructing the
schoolgirl in scales and exercises; IL
would be purgatory to his soul ana dam
aging to his genius. With the great
maestro it is different matter: he only
receives Finishing" pupils Of excep--
tional promise, and his own touch and
skill may be preserved undemoralized
These reflections were suggested by
hearing last week the disappointing
playing of undoubtedly one of the most
successful teachers of the piano in
Southern California.
1t is indeed time that the semiama-
teur, semi professional soloist should
lend an ear to a note of warning. Anna
teurs are notoriously hyper-sensitive
on the matter Of criticism, and it would
not be just to review their work in pup
lie print from the same standard that
one would naturally adopt with profess
sionals. But there are many ladies and
gentlemen in this city who are not too
proud to make as much money as they
can out of music and have constant
desire to appear before the public. Sew
eral such performers appeard during
last wek; some of the guilty songsters
and songstresses should confine their
performances to the privacy of their
own chambers, and even that should be
discountenanced. Again artists that
are we'll worth hearing make grievous
error in allowing their names to appear
on programs with such inferiority. How
ever delightful violin recital may be,
it is serious detriment to the pleasure
of an audience, if it be sandwiched with
execrable singing.
The organ at the Simpson tabernacle
is neither good enough for the fine audi
torium or for the accomplished organist
who preSideS there. Mr.. Colby Strug-
gled hard with the instrument last Tues
day night, but at length had to declare
himself vanquished. During the after
noon before the recital an attempt had
been made to remedy the rattling of the
keys, but the workman had so stiffened
the action of the instrument as to make
it physical impossibility for Mr.. Colby
to do any sort of justice to himself in the
heavier movements; accordingly he
wisely concluded to abandon them.
Nevertheless, the organist gave plenty
of proof of his ability both in execution
and expression, and his Interpretation
of favorite gavotte was remarkably
finished and delicate piece of work. Miss
Todd. soprano, Miss Rosin, contralto,
and c. S. Cornell, baritone, were the So
10 vocalists of the evening and acquitted
themselves with great credit. Mr.. Cor
nelrs choir of forty voices from the First
Methodist church also rendered a very
good account of themselves; the tenors.
as is often the case, were too light, and
one really good tenor voice would be a
great addition to the quality of the lead
erS.
Nv, IT,
was somewhat distressing perform
ance at the Southern California music
hall. The musical attractions of the
concert" given there by Mrs. Abbott
Chandler, were few and far between.
Miss Katharine Kimbalrs singing re-
deemed the performance from total in
anity. me sutor ultra crepidam'
seems singularly apt adage for the
spiritualist lecturer to apply inspira ton
to. There is nothing more painful than
Indifferent or affected recitation; how
ever, the majority of the audience
semed to enjoy it.
Mrs. Katherine Bloodgood's song re-
cital is being anticipated with very
much pleasure. 1t will take place at the
Friday Morning club hall, 3301a South
Broadway, tomorrow evening, and is
certain to attract large audience Mrs
Bloodgood has a national reputation
and her splendid vocalism has been en-
dorsed by all the leading papers of the
| country. A Hartford paper in reporting
the festival held there on May 2, said
The original cast was Nordica, Mrs
Bloodgood. H. E. Williams and Max
Heinrich, which makes an impressive
appearance on paper. OF all the singers
Mrs. Katherine Bloodgood sustained her
part al the highest level of excellence
and her beautiful and expressive rem
dering of o, Rest in the Lord fairly di-
Vided the popular enthusiasm with Nor
| dica's fine and powerful singing of Hear
ye Israel. The audience was large and
enthusiastic, insisting upon an encore OF
| the beautiful tyio, Lift Thine Eyes. ir
which Miss King sang the middle part
| Both Nordica and Mrs. Bloodgood were
| obliged to decline encores.
Mr.. w. S. Gilbert told good story
! against Sir Arthur Sullivan and himself
| at the Savage club dinner the other day
| While the Mikado was in process of in
| cubation the collaboratorS decided that
| 1t would be an excellent thing to herald
! the entry of the Japanese monarch by q
| suitable Japanese tune set to real Jap
| anese words; and they appealed to 4
| gentleman learned in matters concern
| ing the far East to help them in theii
difficulty. The result was the chorus ir
| the second act, "Miya sama, miya sama
| the strains of which are also heard with
| such singular effect in the overture. I'm
| til quite recently Mr.. Gilbert and Sir Ar
| thur Sullivan were under the impression
that this air belonged to something II
| the national anthem; but it now seems
hCK hnX haa ba n c,o11 A f,,;n ~