The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-11-25
FIRST APOLLO CONCERT
AR0USES MUCH ENTHUSIASM

Last nights Apollo Club concert. in
| ausurat atin- tho tenth season of the or
| ganiZation. was remarkable for the enthu
| siasm of the large audience over the New
! York tenor. Mr.. Edward p Johnson. This
| enthusiasm. in a measure. partook Of the
| delight of. the unexpected. Mr. johnson
was substituted at late day for Mr.
Bursstoller. owing to the latters DELAYED
| departure from GERMANY
Johnson is by no means new 20 the mu
sic world, having had rather wide rang
| or experience. but they rejoiced over hin
| last night az over a new discovery. He j.
a lyric tenor. his voice clear, and possess
| ing that musical quality which we axpres:
| as sweetness and tone. b. far its mos
considerable CHARACTERISTIC, however is a
| iieXib!lity amounting almost to volatility
The facility of his vocal accomplish
ment. coupled with distinctness OF
enunGiation. and last. but not least. a
simplicity of manner somewhat notewor-
thy. considering his operate experience.
combined to render his performance gen
timely attractive. This should not be taken
to mean that Mr.. Johnson's tonal quality
excellence
II is not. Some of his notes In the low
er range were the least shade cLouded and
weak. But he has certain texture and
purity. DEVELOPED to its finest in the high
er passages. which is rarely equaled and
scarcely surpassed in any male voice. In
the finale and the last note of the Faust
"Cavadna' it was thrilling to every ear
At the conclusion of this his first num-
per he was compelled TO give two encores.
the Four-Ieaf Glover" by Hawley. and
the familiar For All Eternity For the
second number he sang D'Hardelot's "A
for You" Lohr's TO My First Love- and
Wards Phyllis: in all OF which the fiex-
,hiiity and texture of voice were delight
hearty acclaim of the audience. II was
generally voted that in Mr.. Johnson the
club had achieved happy find.
Miss Edith Adams is 'cellist with a
measure of command over her instr,I-
meni not yet amounting to mastery. She
has still! to develop. ut least in the rendi-
ton of the Rubenstein a minor concerto.
a perfect certainty of tone. The 'cellist
who essays that cencerto dares virtually
all things within the possibilities of the
instrument. and subjects herself to criti-
cism by the most exalted standard of
technique
There are few severer tests than this
bsrrenly unmusical work calling for
sheer execution. For an Apollo Club con-
cert it was an unfortunate selection.
Considering. nevertheless its excessively
and almost superlativsly difficult nature.
the variety of It's technical demands and
Miss Adamss rendition whole. it Is
only fair to say that she demonstra ted
superior powers.
This Is too faint praise, indeed. for her
playing of the delicate adagio part. In
the second number. consisting OF three
topper selecilons. Romance. PapillOn and
Tarantelle. her playing. especially in one
of them her development of the ,nelodiors
richness and harmony in the chords. quite
delighted. and the audiences encore was
hearty where before the response had
been half-interested.
The clubs first number The Bonny
OWL was bonny music. The club was in
unusually fine voice. Dudley Bucks spir-
tied 'On the Sea" came as the well-ner-
tied encore.
The second number by the club Ger
tclies Awake. My Pretty Dreamer" was
neither well rendered nor go we'll ra-
oeived. But the following ''Serenade." bv
+. Ecllner. simple. tuneful. yet difficult
because of its wealth OF orchestration and
its requirements of fine shading was ey-
given and thoroughly appreciat-
ed. Later "The Forrester's Chorus" and.
finally Dudley Bucks Good Night" COM
pleted what upon the whole must be set
down as an exceptional nights PERFORM
ance for the club and more than or
dinarly pleasing programme.