Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1900-01-28

Ca&flo square Qu9Q4u4 EtV&9 opera Ak ~
f1dicuIously small price, and that. ~ 81
| doing. It Invites class Of patrons that
| does not frequent the foyer Of the Metro
politan. and that knows Calve, Sembrich
/ and the De Reazkes by name only. As
an educator of the masses and a provider
| Of musical entertainment it has had a
startlingly brilliant existence. 1t has ele-
waited the musical tone of the city. 1t has
| ennobIed us and made us better citizens
But it has not wholly satisfied our musical
lodgings, but has rather whetted our APP
| petite for something we do not receive
1t has tickled our palate until we have
! cried for rarer dainties and have crossed
the avenue and willingly paid for the
| dishes that were there served. And is
| there any sane man or woman who would
| not prefer the dear old Meiserere in its
| original Tuscan beauty; or would rob the
! mad rawlings of Ophelia of the force of
| the Gallo phrases Ambrose Thomas
| knew so well how to marry to his musi-
| cal cadences; or could complacently listen
| to the Wald Weben, while Siegfried was
| telling us in well Englshed Wagner of his
| yearnings to find his mother? Out upon
all such rubbish Music is the universal
| art language. English is the tongue of
| commerce. Wed the one to the other and
| you must perforce have union that is
so in name only.
| We have recently said au revoir to an
| English vocal teacher who appeared here
as a lecturer and vocal illustrator of his
| theories. The name of William Shakes
peare is rather heavy burden for any
nineteenth century mortal to carry about
| in public but it's present possessor is suffi-
| GENTLY impressed with his own WORTH
| ness to shoulder it and does it in so jaunty
a manner that we lose sight of the great
| mans name in our admiration for his
| namesake. Great is an adjective, / think,
but the thoughtless few would apply to Mr..
| Shakespeare's work upon the platform,
but interesting he always is whether adj
dressing a well dressed audience in Men
delssohn Hall or explaining his views to a
lone pupil in his own studio. I remember
distinctly the impression he made upon
I me when 1 first met him in his hand
some London home, and of his practical
| demonstration of the use of the voice.
Mr. Shakespeare was violinist before he
was vocal teacher and builds up voice
on the violin theory. PLAY upon your
vocal chords as L play upon the strings"
said he picking up his violin. Make
them vibrate with passion, with tender
! ness, with all the feeling and aspirations
of your heart. That is singing And
this in a nutshell is the whole of Mr..
Shakespeare's teaching. 1t was this plain
explanation and demonstration of his
theory that made him a London success.
1t was this that drew SO many more peo-
pie to his last lecture than to his first and
it is this that will compel us to accord
him a respectful hearing whenever he may
return to US.
Mr. Victor Herbert and his Pittsburg
orchestra scored an unexpectedly brilliant
| success here. Mr.. Herbert was always
more of a favorite as solo performer
than as an orchestral leader, and that his
| men acquitted themselves so nobly is
feather of great weight in his conductors
cap. The coming of this outside orchestra
into our musical field is an event of more
! moment than we are wont to admit. New
Workers are of all people, the most jeal-
Gus of their own-their own soloists, their
own choral and instrumental bodies, their
| own public halls, where they congregate
| to hear their own musicians. The first
concert given here by the Boston Sym
| phony orchestra was begun in the most
| freezing atmosphere. We could believe
| in nothing that had not our own hall
| marks upon it, and it took a superb per-
romance OF superb programme TO tear
off our robe of self-complacency and COM
pei us to ask of one another Where is
our orchestra that can do such work?"
And here comes another band froms
small town on the western border line of
Pennsylvania and we again ask ourselves:
| Where is our orchestra that can do any
work at alp" For we have no permanent
orchestra True, there is the Philharmonic
and the Symphony and the Opera, and one
or two other orchestral bodies that meet
every season and give a series of concerts.
But we have no body of men that is called
the New York orchestra, and that meet for
constant drill and practice, and it is time
we had. Mr.. Herbert's programme of the
other evening was a brilliant one, and
one that would have taxed a more expert
enced body of players, and the defects of
execution We're attributable to lack of
practice rather than to want of balance,
or sorority of tone, and there were certain
numbers that were most excellently we'll
done. The assisting soloist, Nine Brema,
was heard at this concert for the first
time this season, and renewed and
cemented old friendships and made many
new conquests with her glorious voice and
charming personality.
FREDERIC DEAN.