The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-12-06
FAUST BY PHILHARMONICS
For this, much thanks.

For this, much thanks.
"Faust' as presented at the Audito-
RUM last evening by the Philharmonic
club, was a great success. True, the
lacking. Mephisto appeared in his dress
clothes, as he SO often does, instead Of
the red garb Of tradition. Faust was
not clad in doublet and hose, and Mar
garita and Siebel looked very modern.
But. not understanding all this the
charming Faust music was there and the
sololsts. the orchestra and the chorus
each entered into the performance with
zeal and intelligence. The result was
There was an occasional lack of snap
and energy, especially thru the first two
acts and the climaxes did not quite ma
terialize as they might. This was,
however, more than atoned for later i'm
the evening, as the spirit Of the music
began to get into the blood. ~
Praise for the result does not belong
to any single one of the contributors.
Mr.. Oberhofer may certainly feel graft
precision, such shading and body of
tone, such balance and individuality
from SO large chorus, is great
achievement. To handle the splendid or
chestra and guide and sustain the solo
ist thru such an ordeal is equally great.
The chorus numbered about 26O
voices, altho many of the prominent
singers were in the audience. 1t is by
far the largest permanent singing Choir
us ever organized in the northwest, and
famous tFSoldiers' Chorus,'' sung by
the male members Of the club, was tre-
mendous, supported as it was by the
orchestra, and when it was finished. the
insistent applause that would not down
demanded and secured a repetition This
is the second presentation of this chorus
here within week, the Apollos having
sung it last week. The necessary third
in the usual trio Of presentations comes
next Friday. evening at the "U' Glee
mess chorus, the waltz chorus, and that
after the death of Valentine were all
admirable.
The soloists formed a weu-balanced
quintet. None of the voices, however,
was Of big enough caliber, with the
| possible exception Of that of Frank
Craxton, who sang Mephisto. for so
| large place. And yet Anito Rio, with
her absolute, clear resonance and her
perfect enuneeiation,, could be heard
of the .sJewel song'' aroused consid.
erable enthusiasm, while the two duets
with Faust, "The Hour Is Iate'' and
IT Am Stricken with Grief,'' were a
| delight. The closing trio was really
great and Miss Rio easily carried off
the honors Of that number. Margue.
rite Hall has a mezzo soprano of good
tlmbre, which she fails to make tho
most of. The romance, 'fWhen All Was
Young was her best number and was
very enjoyable.
George Hamlin, who is we'll known
here, sang Faust. His voice. ALWAYS
lyric, and especially clear and resonant
on the high notes, was in good form
| altho he is never overly energetic in
his work. The evening was more thar
half over before he began to do such
work as he is capable of. Frank Crax
ton, as Mephisto, scored hit sin the
.Serenade, - and made the most of hi.
and resonant, and he has an astonish
ingly wide range. Vernon D'Arna1l,
sang the 'Valentine'o role and was es
pecially effective in the death scene.
or the orchestra, too much in prais,
could not be said. 1t was large and al
ways responsive. AS might have bee1
i expected, it was a great elemental sup
| port to the entire presentation and con
trlbuted in great measure to the sue
cess of the evening. The solo of MI
Erck on the cello was beautiful,
/ played and the. violin obligato by Nj
DAM was also fine. Miss Eulalie Chen
evert played the organ music in tn
church scene beautifully and with full
responsiveness to the baton Of the di
Il rector.
The large auditorium was well file,
with a brilliant assemblage of musica
and society people: Altogether tn
opening Of the Philharmonic season wa
most suspicious and the next concer
will be awaited with keen anticipation
of interest. Howard Boardman.