The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-11-13
SEMBRICH'S SONG RECITAL.
THE POLISH SOPRANO GIVES 4
WONDERFUL CONCERT.
Alone She Delights . Great Audience In
Carnegie Iall-Art That IL Musical
and POetic-SinEer With Personal
Witchery and Q Matchlees Voice.

Usually in each generation there are one
or Two singers whom the world delights
10 honor Sometimes the world is righ,
and sonnet imos il is de!uded When IL
elected TO lay its heart az the feet Of Adclina
Patti Il was right, for. "a an eminent mascu-
line singer once said. Patti ia a witch" But
it was not alone her personal witchery that
won the world. Her matchless voice. which
flowed with the clcarness and spont' reity
of a mountain spring and her adora-
bio beauty made together a combination
of charms that neither man nor woman
could resist.
Patti is in the sera and yellow leaf, and
only in London, where vocalists die Of age.
without growing old in the minds of men.
does she longer MARBLE. Comm Thro the
Rye" and III me, Sweet Home On the
operatio stage she has been succeeded
by Marcella Sembrich. whose Queen o. he
Night in II Flauto Msgico," Zsriind in 'Don
Juan" and Lucia equal PATHS, whose Vio-
lstd has infinitely more pathos and whose
Susanna stands by itself. On the concert
stage no comparison exists between the
two, for Patti never was shining eyem-
plar of the art Of song singing, and could
no moro have interpreted Schumann and
lranfls tndn ens COulu nave lfnIerhOnated
BrvnnhiIde.
Nine. Sembrich Is the best lied singer now
before the public. The public knows il 4.
too. and therefore it was no wonder that her
one song recital Of the present season.
which took place yesterday afternoon in
Carnegie Hall, should have been attended
by an audience Of immense size. The pro-
gramme offered by the singer was a new
one. though not composed of now songs.
1t Is pity that the book Of the words fur
nished to the audience did not entirely
agree with the programme. Many minds
must have been confused thereby, and
whoever was responsible for the disagree
ment incurred severe censure.
Nine Sembrich followed the established
custom and began with examples of the
old classic style-airs from Clicks -Iphi-
genie en- Tauride.' HandeVs Joshua"
Pergolesis La Serva Padrona,' Campra's
Les Fetes Nenitiennes' and Bach's
"PhPbus and Pan" The remaining mum
Der OF the first part was Beethoven's Neue
Liebe." The second part embraced songs
by Schubert, Schumann and Loewe and
Brahms, and the third part. others by
Bizet Tschaikowsky. Hugo Wolf, Richard
Strauss. Grieg, Bungert and Van der
Stucken.
To describe the singing of this incom-
parable artist would be to describe the
art Of song itself. There is nothing calm q
for discriIninative anal ss in her per-
Torrance The educated music lover is
here on solid ground lie has no moments
OF anxiety. no instants OF discomfort.
All he has TO do IL to sit easily in his chair
and drink In the beauties of an art so ex-
quisite, so finished SO fascinating, that
II Is a joy to be on the same earth with It,
That Nine. Sembrich returns with I'M
impaired voice need not be recorded for
the information Of music lovers; they know
that she would not sing if she were not fit
10 do so. But what is to be said Of her
wonderful coloring Of tones. her mastery
OF defamation in several languages. her
ravis hingly brilliant upper notes, her f,ite-
Ike lower tones. her phrasing. finished to
the delicacy Of mosaic work?
There IL sonnet hing beyond these namely,
her high musicanship. which enables her TO
construct what Carat called the plan Of
each song so as most adequately TO dis
close the musical beauty of the composition
without sacrificing the sense Of the text
Of all, of the poem, secondly, of the music
In its relation TO the poem, and, thirdly,
Of the treatment of the musical phrase
and accent so as to place the organism
Of the song in the clearest light.
Her study Is vitalized by rich tempera-
ment, and this temperament floods her
delivery with a warm glow Of poetry. Who
has ever heard Der Nussbaum' sung
more beautifully than she sang II yester-
day? The audience made her repeat il
and almost asked for 1t a third time. 1t
was a touching piece of singing What
deep, reposeful tenderness she threw int q
the Gl1ck air, what buoyant archness into
the Pergolesi number and what contagious
humor into the delicious excerpt from
the Bach cantata!
These were rare exhibitions Of high art
and her hearers plainly so regarded them.
or course. the middle part Of he programme
was a mine Of riches. and the hearer was
lost in wonder as 10 whether he should be
best satisfied with her readings of the
Schubert and Schumann songs, her superb
vtalization Of the meaningless ornaments
In the closing phrases of Ioewe's Die
Mutter an der Wiege, "or the magic illusion
OF atmosphere with which she surrounded
Brahms's thinner lesser wird mein Schlum-
mer"
But enough. II was q memorable after
noon. There are singers and song recitals
but only one Sembrich. The accompani-
rnents were we'll played by Rubin Gold
mark. After the second part of the pro-
gramme, in answer to many recalls and In
acknowledgment Of a wagonload of flowers
Nine. Sembrich sang Schumanns "Auf-
TRACE and after the final number Of tbs
programme she played her own accom-
paniment and sang the Chopin mazurks
which she has so often suIg in the lesson
scene in III Barbiere di Siviglia'