Los Angeles herald., 1907-12-15

the Apollo club Thursday. The work is a
great one, and favorite Of music loving
people all over the world, given at this
happy Christmas time! AS large city
as Los Angeles ought to have an Apollo
club composed of the best voices to be
found in musical circles, and we have
many here, conductor who has had ex-
perience in oratorio work and then their
success would be assured and we could
present all the oratorios given in other
cities. Mr., Davis is rather a stranger
here and has no position, musically, to
aid the club with, ard has had little ex-
perience in this work. He has always
been associated with musical work In
small places In several choruses where
the work was so uncertain the precision
is lacking and you trembled for fear they
would stop singing entirely, 1t was the
fault of the conductor. Consequently the
trouble, and not even glance from their
director. The orchestra deserves some
praise, often trying to take the right
tempo in its own hands, and in trying
to do so was great help to the so.osts
and the chorus, and practically saved
many numbers. In England. the home of
oratorio, nothing Is accepted there in
the singing of the oratorio but the old
traditional phrasing of the recitatives
and arias, no changing of the words in
the long runs, absolutely true to the
score of Handel and the arrangement of
orchestral parts by Mozart.
Mrs. G. Clark Wilson, the visiting SOLO
list formerly from Chicago, now living in
New York has pure sweet voice, even
in quality, and refreshing.y free from
any effort l enjoyed her work and any
criticism 1 may offer is from musical
standpoint entirely. In the recitative
following the pastoral symphony, which
was ruined in the ending by the lullaby
tempo of Mr.. Davis, Mrs. Wilson did not
use the appogeatura. This is never sung
in England without it, and in the third
recitative-"And the Angel Said"-I did
not find her voice as sympathetic In
"for unto you is born this day Saviour
as it should be. Here is the entire story,
and calls forth all the sweet sympathy of
voice a singer may possess. In the last
recitative, 'And suddenly there was an
angel" she changed the words in the End,
"and saying" taking the one word SAY
ing on high A. This is a taxing place,
grant you, but we must not leave ou:
word to suit our own pleasure, or we in
vite criticism, and II we sing oratorio,
sing it absolutely as 1t is sung in Erg-
land Her "Rejoice Greatly was beau
tifully sung with spirit and clean runs.
However, in the second run, which IS
difficult one to render and takes so much
breath, she put in a second 'Rejoice' in
order to be able to take breath. That
Is never sung that way, and to end the
air, a hold on Thy King is always
made She omitted that. The beautiful
and impressive Come Unto Him" she
sang well, but not carrying over the tied
note on the word Come on the F is an
other error. According to the rules, the
"Un' in Unto Him" is never accented.
Her last solo, II Know That My Re-
deemer Liveth," she did good work in.
Mrs. Wilson Is charming woman per-
sonally and we hope her opinion of our
Los Angeles musical clubs will some day
be changed to admiration. A more SYM
pathetic devotional rendition of HE Shall
Feed His Flock" / have never heard.
Miss Estelle Heart was the artist in
that Her recitative was broad and
convincing, and her carrying over the c
In "He Shall was true oratorio art. 1t
is not the size of a voice that should
be judged, it Is the use, the phrasing,
resonance and musical intelligence, and
Interpretation. In Miss Heartt's first solo,
20 Thou That Tellest," she did not end
the solo well, introducing another word,
"Risen," not permissible in oratorio. Her
last number, HE Was Despised," seemed
beyond her in that great hall, with the
conductor pulling back on the tempo
and she forcing her tones and laboring
SO nara ana IalIHIully TO SlHB lHiS LiO5t
soulful message from her heart Her
work is always satisfying and her
enunciation unusually good.
From the first note and impressive
words THUS Saith the Lord" that
Charles Bowes uttered, he demonstrated
to the audience that he is a gifted artist.
His reading OF the recitatives, broad In
depreciation, enunciation and absolutely
adhering TO the strict oratorio style and
delivery, was more thon convincing, and
met the appreciation of every musical
artist that heard him-if they knew any
thing about oratcrio Mr.. Bowes had the
mark of having studied this work in
England with Raudegger His runs were
clear, clean, steady and his phrasing
faultless, The tempo of the recitative,
For Behold Darkness Shall Cover the
Earth" Is marked larghetto andante.
Mr.. Davis took 1t up in two step tempo,
but Mr.. Bowers held to the correct tempo
throughout, and both this and the follow
ing number, THE People That Walk in
Darkness" were remarkably well rem
dered. But alasl the great solo, why
| Do the Nations Rags?" did not rage but