The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1904-05-13
MUSICAL DEMAND AND SUPPLY.

i in demand by the leading managers OF
i the world. They are usually found IN
4 obscure places and by accident In
Italy. IN Germany, in sweden and Nor
lway, in Great Britain. or in the United
Estates, some humble person, to whom
vocal music is recreation. occasional
ny attracts the attention of noted
manager or singer and. in few years,
a new star is added to the musical firm
ament- Discoveries of this sort. how
lever. are scarce in these days of ma
Iteria1 activity. while the. demand is url-
/ intermittent.
It would be impossible TO enumerate
the musical celebrities of the last cen
fury, most Of whom We're revealed by
apparent chance. Jenny Lind, after
wards Madame Goldschmidt. was sim
ply Incompatible. In her song Of the
nightingale, it seemed as if the bird
iiof the evening. was soaring above her
lhead, as she stood on the stage, and
realizing the pure fancy of Shelley. by
Iwarbling ard trillingg those transcendent
notes that were the vsry ecstacy of
lsentiment. GrIsi. in her operate char
lacter, notably as Norma, raised the
human soul to the level of subliInity
Alboni. yestris and host of others
Thrilled vast audiences with exquisite
incubation and expressiveness. Madame
Anna Bishop. sang ballads in such q.
-
Imanner. to the accompaniment Of
fBochsa's harp, that the memory of her
vocalization never can die. Her render-
ting of Angels Ever Bright and Fair
or Of John Anderson My 10. or Of
Home Sweet Home would have pene
trated the epider1nis of Washoe mill
Iionaire Kate Hayes was only less
effective. The tenor. Mario, Crisis sec
ond husband, was a prodigy of range
and richness and kept his voice almost
to the end of mis- prolonged life. Henry
Russell, who sang almost entirely in
concerts and composed many popular
ballads, possessed such subdued in
tensfty of expression that he produced
an effect upon an audience that was
some times painful. The basso pro-
fundo, Lablac1le, had a voice like the
roll of an organ, that was above all
|instrumental or choral accompaniment,
and was so powerful and so deep that
it was said he could break a piece of
plate glass by the mere exhalation of
his breath. 1t may not be generally
known that Thomas Moore was fine
singer and used in private to sing his
own songs with great effect.
These are scattering "reminiscences of
a past age. There We're many others:
Adelaide Phillips, Etelka Gerster, Ade-
lima Patti and few of their conten- |
poraries We're fine contraltos and sopra
nos in their day. although it is doubtful |
whether they equa1led their predeces-
sors of the nineteenth century. Still, |
If it be admitted that there was de-
cline in vocal talent or genius in the
last years of that century, the suisse
quent depreciation is more distinct.
Now the earth is being rummaged for
new singers, who can realize the in
spiration of Shelley's verse:
IT pant for the music that is divine,
My heart in its thirst is a dying flower
Pour forth the sounds like enchanted
wine;
Loosen >the notes in silver shower.
1t would be to the interest of mama
gers, searching for new material to de-
vote some attention to the Hawaiian !
Islands. Melody. which is akin to har-
mony. is the birthright of the Hawai-
ian people. Some of the native music |
is filed with the delicate minor tones
of transmitted sensibilities. There are
native singers, who If they had the
benefit of training in the best Euro |
pean schools, would be heard with rap
ture upon all the continents. There is |
at least one basso here, who should be |
prepared for the proper use of his re-
S. Ellis, such a baritone as William S.
Ellis, with a brief access to the techrli- |
cal schools of vocal music, would soon |
reach the hearts of the masses and shed |
the arrows of the critics. It is doubtful
whether there is any spot on the globe
that could be so protitabIy used as a
recruiting ground for singers as the
Hawaiian Islands. The examples men
toned are within the male sex. but
there are women, both natives and
hapa- haoles, who require only extrica-
ton from their surroundings and the
gift of opportunity to charm the lovers
of music in the most advanced centers
of the divine art.
A japanese publication says that
criminal, under sentence of death at