The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-10-26
MISS IAPHAM'S CONCERT.
She Shows a Remarkable Versatilit,
and Wins Favor of Her Audience.

Kansas university students of a few
years ago will remember with no diff
Guilty young pupil in the department
of piano of the school of music, Miss
Agnes Lapham, of whom her teacher.
Mr. Carl Preyer. and the other MEM
DerS of the faculty held high hopes
Miss Lapham was Chanute girl and
then very young. but she showed
remarkable aptitude for the piano and
delevoped under Mr. Preyer a truly
unusual technique for her years Miss
Lapham graduated from the univer-
sity music school, spent a year or two
abroad, studying in Berlin, and then
came back to this country to study
under Madame Fanny Bloomfield
Zeisler of Chicago She has since
opened a studio in Chicago and met
with encouraging success as teacher
and concert player Last night she
played at the First Baptist church for
the benefit of the local Y W. C. A Her
engagement was secured by Mrs
Charles S. G1eed. who is intensely in
terested in her career. and was anxious
to give Topeka concert goers an OPP
portunity to hear a Kansas girl who
has made good"
Miss Lapham is girlish in appear
ance in spite of her unusual height, is
very pretty and attractive and has a
charmfngly prepossessfng manner
which wins her audience at first sight
Last night she wore an adorable
princesse gown of white silk and Re
Nuisance lace whose simple, almost
severe lines, were exceedingly becOm-
ing to her splendid young figure She
has a beautiful pair of round girlish
arms and a lovely throat and shoulders
and although, as has been said. her
proportions are goddeSSlike, there Is
something appealingly youthful in her
appearance This girlish quality too,
characterizes her playing in every re-
spect except the one of technique In
that she entirely fulfllls the promise Of
her university days for her digitaI dex-
t. =r,Tr- .a-1xea n Inr
playing is brilliant, smooth. fiawless:
her tone, fine, clear, resonant The
scales and arpeggioS sparkle from un~
der her clever fingers like glitterins
jewels on golden strand The facility
and equability of her performance re-
veal uncommon ability and faithful,
earnest study But her art. for all her
technical attainment. is the art of the
jeune fIIe-of the unawakened soul.
Appreciation she certainly shows, for
the lyrical. the rhyth mical. the tonal
possibilities of the composers concep-
ton. But for the intellectual. the emo
tional2 Well, she is the jeune file
stilI-that's the answer There is no
heart hurt in her Chopin and what is
Chopin without heart hurt? There
must be something to the theory, after
all, that the Interpretation of the works
of genius demand, II not genius. at
least indigestion. and Miss Lapham is
hopeIessly healthy and wholesome and
happy looking She has certainly
missed out on her Great Sorrow, II ap-
pearances can be relied upon But
who will commiserate her on that
point2 Isn't it better to be wholesome
and cheerful. in art as well as in life?
Miss Lapham is certainly all of this
and in the numbers on her programme
last night which called for brilIfancy,
high lights, professionally the Span
ish Dance of her former teacher, Mr.
Preyer Anitra's Dance. of Grieg. which
was one of her encores. and the
Moszkowski Valse she was perfect
Considering the night, which was I'M
propitious there was a fair audience
and everybody said nice things about
the Young pfanfste and prophesied for
her increasing success