The record-union., 1897-01-26
ADJUSTMENTS.

The Nordica concert last night drew
a splendid house, a brilliant, critical and
enthusiastic audience to the MetrOpol-
tan Theater. Though expectation had
been raised to high pitch the people
We're not disappointed. The programme
was given as announced in the Record
Union" yesterday. In Mr.. Luckstone'
the pianist, the audience were intro
duced to a careful, refined and artistic
player. Finer touch one seldom hears.
It was as an accompanist that he Snone,
however. 1t would have gratified the
auditors could seven-tenths of accom-
panists with whom audiences are
brought into contact, have heard Luck
stone last night, and learned from hlm
how to support without leading, to &C
company without making the accom-
panist the king pin. Mr.. Dempsey mas
not been by the San Francisco press
properly represented. He is by far a
better artist, a richer and truer baritone
than the critics at the metropolis have
credited him. In enunciation he is
perfection, or nigh unto it. In tone ne
is true. and in method artistic. He sings
with feeling held in hand by fine judg-
rich. Not the greatest or best by any
means. but superior in many respects
notably in volume and in quality. That
he was approved by the audience as no
other baritone has been here in many
a day. and was recalled again and again
was highly complimentary. Mr.. Ber-
thald. the tenor, suffered from throat
affiiction that compelled him to decAne
ercores,~ despite the insistence OF the au-
dience. His tenor is not that of Wachtel
or Campanini, but it is a sweet, service
able voice with it's best notes IN the
uppre register, and with phrasing, eH-
pressive and tasteful. There is senu-
ment in his singing and nothing cold OF
unexpressive about it. Scalcm was
greeted with a thunder of applause ana
the waving of hands in welcome. She
is not the Scalchi of old, but as an ad-
miring auditor exclaimed loud enough
TO be heard Thank God for the rem
nants." If the great contralto's voice
is fraved at the edges, and in its lower
REGISTER rumbles and roughens where
it was once soft in it's great strength,
and velvety in its vigor, 1t IS stlil VOICE
worth a long trip to hear. How the au-
dience did rise to the favorite, ana now
it did applaud her and Wearled not OIL
applauding 1t was all because Scal-
chi sings all over. Every fiber OF her
being enters into her work. She
sings literally with the soul and the
understanding. 1t is the method OIL
| Schalchi and the remnant that sun
makes her dear to lovers OF contralto
singing. 1t made no difference that in
her upper notes the splendid artist was
ra gged, and that in her lower tones nus
! kiness was manifest it was Stlil the IRE
/ of genius on the altar of high art, anu
the spirit-it was the spirit, the 1eeHng,
the soulfulness. as someone has said Tor
want of q better term, that made Seal
| chi of last night nearer to the hearts OF
| hea rers than any other contralto.
Scalchi may be an apparition to-day
hut she is one that warns and fires,
| and inspires and oVercomes all resisting
criticism by her wonderful art. She was
recalled over and over again ana at Ile
last sang Annie Laurie" as it can be
sung by an artist only, and one VINO
| knows how to make the author feel with
her the thought and emotion OF the
| composer and the poet
Then came Nordica, the America n
| prirna donna, the singer OF contradlc-
4iOns. the soprano whose great tone Is
! like a trumpet call, and yet when sne
| willis If. as delicate and pleading as a
lutte. Majestic, sweeping, commanding
almost imperious, this woman VINO mas
prOved what a conquest art can achleVe
over nature. at first aWed her hearers,
! then surprised them by the volume OF
her splendid, rich, rounded and sono-
,,o,1s tones. and next charmed them by
tho delicacy and linpid quality of her
no+ac. and then carried them by storm
with her dramatic power; yet again
! she won them almost to tears and made
! +hroats choke up, as she sang the lul-
Iabv Of the mother grooming over her
baba And then again this brilliant
and commanding Nordica- who is as
e7gccAssful by her dramatic art as by
/ her musical gifts and accomplishments
/ couvulsed the audience with her Wit
and archnesS in a provoking love con-
/ ceft. with a Cupid's moral at the end
/ Of each stanza. Nordica is notable most
! for three things, the purity of her voice,
i+s absolute trueness and its dramatic
! o,alifv combined with her unqueS-
/ TONED talent as an actress. HAD tne
! dramatic rather than the lyric stage
fean her choice, we incline to the be-
+ lief that her life's triumph would have
/ hnen greater We have heard no sing
i or In wears whose top notes are so full.
/ strong and clear as Nordica's. An ac-
/ cornplished European critic said last
night: I'VE have had PARTS with finer
I and higher notes, but none with such
wonderful volume, sustained power and
rich fullness. in top notes" And that
is probably a perfectly impartial and
coldlv critical criticism. She was very
! gracious and responded to all encores,
snd proving her metal in Hungarian
q, era. the majestic measures Of Wag-
no.. and in the ballads Of lowly Life. love
songs ard cradle gems. Altogether a
! singer Of surprises and contradictions,
N5rdica is 4 prima donna Of our own,