The San Francisco call., 1907-01-28
Four Thousand Brave
RainStOrm to Hear
SChumann-Heink
By James Crawford

ror the privilege OF hearing Schu-
mann Heink sing in Dreamland Pa
vlllon yesterday afternoon about four
thousand people, at least four-dfths of
them women, were obliged to expend
something besides money. Their pa
tince was heavily taxed and they suf-
fered severe physical discomfort
When the doors were opened a rain
storm was steadily raging. and the
street fronting the pavilion was blocked
by a compact mass OF humankind surg
Ing toward the sheltered foyer, which
was jammed. Admittance to the rink
was obtainabIe only through two turn
stiles, and not more than one person a
minute, or sixty an hour. could possibly
pass by either of them so great was
the pressure. There were no police
men to keep the crowd in line and IA
cilitate it's admission, as is done at i'm
p0rtant prize fights in the same struc-
ture, and after being rainsoaked and
squeezed unmercifuIly the women who
finally succeeded in getting through the
revolving gates were in pitiable
plight. It was the sight of several Of
them in a fainting condition that pro-
voked Mr.. Rapp, husband OF Schumann-
Heink, to lead band OF volunteers that
plucked the turnstiles out Of the door
ways and relieved to some extent the
congestion. But even then the outer
crush continued. Some OF the women
were more than an hour In getting
from the street to the interior, having
been elbowed back by stronger and less
considerate admittance seekers.
Then there were about ten ushers to
perform the work that forty were nee
essary to do adequately. The seating
of the throng began at o'clock and an
hour later it was still in progress, while
the entrances to the various aisles were
choked by clamorous groups. In their
distraction the ushers placed many per-
sons in wrong places, and when the
holders of coupons for those places ar
rived there were chickering's all over
the hall.
When the great singer eventually
appeared, at a few minutes after
o'clock, hundreds Of cket-holdeTs were
still awaiting escort to their seats, and
the programme was nearly half-fn-
ished ere perfect quiet was, established.
Her opening number, an aria from the
opera 'AIitrane," which she sung in
Italian. proved that however well the
Dreamland is suited to skatorial and
pugiIisHc exercises, its acoustic quail
ties are not such as to make 1t an ideal
concert hall. The number was sung
beautifully-that is the only way Schu
mann-Heink sings anything she un-
dertakes-but between the seating OF
the audience and the defective sound
conveyance aforementioned much OF
the tenderness of its lower passages
was impaired in transmission to the
back benches. The first really big
reward given was for her third numbe
Beethoven's ''Neue Liebe, Neues Leben,
her beautiful phrasing Of its various
movements compelling applausive thun-
der Schuberts Der Doppelgaenger'
was given full need of dramatic ex-
pression. Schumanns Lotus Blume
4 frnl ma
then with all the fervor of a deeply
religious spirit her magnificent con-
tralto rang out in Bow Down Before
Him, Ye Mighty"
Her wagner selections were the
Erda scene from 'Das Rheingold' and
the WaItraute scene from Die Goet-
terdaemmerung." 1 heard her sing
Erda in the Grand Opera-house, where
she had elaborate scenic and orchestral
aid but liked her singing Of the great
aria better when IT was without pic
torial accessories and the only 1nstru-
mental accompaniment was furnished
by a frail young girl at piano And
the Teutons in her audience yesterday
also seemed 70 relish the absence OF
blaring brass. Cor their demonstrati~ 9
approval was louder than any noise
Bayreuth ever produced.
VOLTS "Heimweh" broughts out IN
first, perfect display the marvellous
range of the woman's voice, swelling
from chest notes royal in their resonant
depth to gossamer-hke tones in the up
ner register. Three Hungarian folk
songs by an unknown composer were
f1,I of the color that Brahms applies
so artistically, and soon afterward we
were smiling at her facial and vocal
comedy while she sang Hildach
"estrannelchen," In like humor she
gave rs for an encore the drinking
song from "Lucrezia Borgia," which
would pronounce her marvel Of tenal
versatility If she were to sing nothing
else. so thoroughly does it enable her
to voice all the sporano methods,
dramatic, lyric and colorature, and ven
tiIate her own peerless contralto
throughout the register.
Her rather poIyglot programme-for
she had already sung in Italian, Eng
lish and German-was concluded with
/ Fides' aria from the prison scene In
Meyerbeer's 'Le Prophete," which she
sang in French, and with all the verve
Of the Gallo school, her trills and runs
in the finale fairly sparkling.
Then her improvised dressing room
! voas invaded, as usual. by worshiping
/ femininity, and the informal reception
/ lasted until her attendants had to be
nngallant in order to rescue her. She
! sings in Sacramento tonight, and for
/ two years San Francisco viii be al
/ forded opportunity to hear her only
through phonographs-
| II may not be Irrelevant to report, on
| the authority of Madame Schumann-
Heink herself, that from eight recitals
! sung by her last week in Middle and
i Southern California she netted s11,224,
/ the largest weeks earnings she ever
received.