The Portland daily press., 1898-10-25
@us;c AND pRAMHA
TIE soA1cHI CONCERT.

VI
singess y the past 80 years-or nearly
al and has enjoyed many fine concerts.
But in some respects the concert OF las5
night exec led any OF them. We reler 20
the first act of "Semira1n1de' given ao
The Jefferson by the Seal hi opera COM
rany. 1t is true that piano served Tor
orchestra, and that there was no chorus.
But the three artists that appeared IN phe
characters of Semiramide. Assur ana
Arsace made one forget the absence Oh
those important accessories and reused
the audience to great enthusiasm. There
was no reason for surprise in this. Mime.
Eofi, Scalchi is a great artist. There
are but few of them left today. There
are great singers on the operatlc stage,
Init to even these Sofia Scalchi can give
noints. Just as Patti, even at this late
date. can enchant great audiences OF the
most cultivated, so 1t is with Scalohi.
Years ago she was singing at Covent Gar
den with such historic people as Ttetjens,
Trebelli- -Bettini. great singers. alas, now
passed away. Such method as Scalchi,
possesses you very rarely hear now-a-
days. As a great orator knows the value
of every word. and how to give it all the
expression of which it is capable, SO
Scalchi gives svery note coloring
every measure shading that is reve-
lauion to musical people that think they
have heard the familiar aria sung as
well as it can be. Such wonderful phras-
ing as she displayed last night one rarely
hears. Her voice has lost somewhat OF
it's richness. but it is still superb or
gan.
The programme as published in yester-
days PRESS was fully carried out last
night All the members of the company
were we'll received end there were several
encores. "Che faro Senza Eurydice.
has been sung here many times, but new
er as it was sung by Schalchi last night.
q The scorn and grandeur exhibited in
the opening scena was followed by great
tenderness and feeling in the aria. Every
word was as clear cut as piece of crys-
tai. There were little runs given IN
manner that we have never heard
eaualIed, displaying a tone rarely OBJ
tanned from the best contraltos In re-
Spouse to the furious encore, she respond
ed with "Annie Laurie," sung with
deep feeling and a perfection of Scotch
accent remarkable in foreigner. Her
Arsace in "Semiramide'' was master
piece She was presented large cluster
of roses.
Mile, NoIdi created a most agreeable
impression. She has brilliant, flexible
soprano voice, well cultivated In the
Italian school. She sang the celebrated
valse from Romeo and Juliet" with
fine effect and for an encore delighted
with "Rock Me to Sleep Mother, sung
with great pathos. Her Semiramide was
excellent.
Signor >Alberti was a surprise. He is
the possessor of a strong, musical bari
tone voice. he has been taught in a cbpi-
tai school, he sings with intelligence and
feeling. He made marked hit. After
an enthusiastic encore of the air from
.Faust,' he brought down storm OF
applause by his mastery rendering of
the Toreador song from Carmen" He
gave great pleasure in the duet from
"Trovatore'' with Mile. Noldi, both be.
ing recalled at its close, and he was dig
nitied and impressive as Assur in the act
from Sem iramide He was encored after
his fine rendering of the prologue from
"Pagliacci.
Siguor Canzio's robust tenor WIS heard
in an air from "Gioconda." He sang
with a great deal of spirit. but the quail
ty of his voice was not very pleasing and
the vibrate was constant.
A.r. Walter A Pick performed the
arduous labors of accompanist most
satisfactorily and displayed admirable
technic in his rendering Of Bendit's valse
brilliante.
PORTLAND THEATRE.
The Offering at the Portland Theatre
this week is sort of double-header, for
in addition to the Joseph Greene company
there is 8 galaxy of vaudeville stars which
stirred the souls of the small boys in the
galleries and made the building fairly
shake with applause. 1t was packed
house. standing room being at premi-
um, and many were turned away.
"Held by the Enemy was the play,
and its love scenes with military environ.
ments, stirring war Incidents. court
martial and thrilling events cow and
then Of a somewhat melooramatio aspect,
kept the attention of the large audience
from start to finish.
Not moment was allowed to be dull
one, for no sooner did the curtain drop
than some catchy specially was intro
duoed and thus the ball was kept agoipg.
The company Is exceedingly well bal
anced and far above the average of reper-
toire companies. There were many mill
tary characters in the cast and they were
we'll cared for in the hands of McCanp.
Malcolm, Malaidy, Better, Norton and
Heath, while Joseph Greene to whom
honors should go personated the hero of
the play in an earnest and effective man
ner. James j. Ryan is deserving of warm
commendation for his buo. ant portrayal
of the irrepressible war correspondent,
tvn iod