The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-03-03
LARGE AND TOLERANT
AUDIENCE GREETS PATTI
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Is understood that Charles X. Harris. com
poser, has something to do with the imam
cal end of the Patti tour, and that 1t is for
this reason that the diva is obliged to sing
this dreadful song of his every time she APP
pears in public. 1t is the sort OF song one
hears at the vaudeville show with stereop-
ticon pictures, perhaps little worse III Is
without rhyme, without reason, without
melody, and though Patti may be forgiven
many things-Americans are good-natured
peOple-it will be hard to forgive her Tor
becoming so hopelessly entangled with The
Last Farewell that she couldn't get rid
of it without infiicting it on an unsuspecting
public.
said of it at this belated period? One hes,
itateS TO criticise this dear old lady dear,
il is true, in both senses of the word-when
one remembers the great pleasure she mas
afforded the civilized world for fifty years.
The Queen of Song she has been for so long
a time that many thousands OF people con-
slider the name of Patti synonymous with
all that is greatest and most wonderful In
music.
an enthusiastic little woman on trolley
car that was making its way down town
last evening. And then, fearful that the
acquaintance to whom she was speaking
might be one of those unfortunates I'M
mindful of who's who" she added hastily:
THE real Patti, you know-the true rat,
IT," She wished ii distinctly understood
that it neither the Black Patti nor any
other imitation Patti that she was gong 10
hear-but the genuine Adelina Patti.
1t never occurred TO this woman lndt
Patti at sixty-two could not possibly be
the same Patti that her parents hao rap
turously applauded many, many years ago:
Patti, to her mind, had always been, ana
ever would be the personification Of melody
in its purest form. And there were nun
dreds of others, doubtless, in last night
audience who had cultivated the same rev.
erential feeling toward this world-famous
lyric artist-unconsciously bestOWing upon
her the same idolatry that the heather con-
enthusiasts disenchanted? Well, TO those
who have never heard Patti sing before
there must have come doubts as TO the
justice shown by the musical world IN
browning her queen of all queens of song.
and those who had heard her sing when
she was in the height of her glorious ca
reer last nights concert must have had It's
distressing features
THE MIDDLE REGISTER.
But let it not be imagined that Patti can
longer sing at all. She can sing-within
her enforced limitations. The clear, high
tones have faded away with the years; the
lower tones are far from rich and vibrant,
but the middle register is still fresh, after
a half-century of constant use, and re-
tains, well-nigh unimpaired, the delicious
sweetness and bell-ike timbre of early
womanhoOd. She is no longer capable OF
miraculous vocaliZation, but she still sings
with certainty and finish, so long as she
avoids-and she does avoid as much as
possible-imposing the smallest unnatural
strain upon the mechanism Of her vocal
chords.
She sings easily, for the most part, for the
very reason that she has been far-seeing
enough to have her selections all rear.
ranged SO that the extreme high notes and
the extreme low notes will not be in evil
dence TO any appreciate extent. In his
Twenty Years of Musical Life in Lon
don," Hermann Klein says that Patti
never studied the art of producing and
emitting the voice-that nature, alone and
unaided. accomplished that marvel. 1t is
doubtless true that of all the great singers
that the world has known there has been
no other example of such perfect preserva-
ton of the voice; for is 1T not astonishing
that Patti, at sixty-two. Is able to sing as
well as many sopranos now before the pub
| lie? But, on the other hand, was IL not
inartistic of her-and unpardonably avar-
icious of her managers-to make this final
| tour of America and ask her old admirers
and the new generation of music-lovers 10
pay the same high prices to hear her sing
that were paid, quite willingly, in the days
when she was worth the money?
The company that has been engaged TO
support Patti on her present tour is not the
sort of organization one would expect to
find with a queen of song The four solo
lists are young musicians of talent, but
there was nothing in their work last night
| calling for expressions of enthusiastic ap-
prevail Vera Margolies, who is said to be
a protege Of the diva, proved to be a young
| pianist with a sweet, girlish face and a
modest manner. Her playing did not lack
possessed of the patience to accomplish
wonders-if she but possessed the tempera-
ment, which. unfortunately was missing.
She gave two List numbers and played
both of them in rather amateurish fashion.
Wilfred Virgo, a tenor from London, sang
his selections-Gounod's Lend Me Your
Aid" from Queen of Sheba," and air
from Coring Thomas's Esmeralda'-in a
clear. true voice. bat with little or no ex-
preston. Miss Roza Zamels, the violinist.
played Wieniawski's Fantasia arrangement
from Faust" with considerable skill and
gave another number In pleasing style. The
baritone, Claude a. Cunningham, a hand
some young man with a good voice, rend-
cred the aria, Fri tu' from Verdis "Un
Balo in Maschera," and Wagner's lovely
Evening Star from 'Tannhauser," giving
the latter number a praisewoTthy interpre-
tation.
The concert concluded with duet for
| tenor and baritone, sung by Dir. Virgo and
| Mr. Cunningham The number was the
selection from Flotow's ''Stradella." lead
/ ing UP to the jolly laughing passage. 1t
was one OF life's little irOnies that this
concert should have wound up with a laugh
/ ing song.