The San Francisco call., 1908-10-26
CONCERT BY ARRAL
IS MUSICAL TREAT
Prima Donna Delights Fashion,
able Audience at the Van
Ness Theater
Soprano Has Not Brilliancy OF
Tetrazzini Nor Purity Of
Melba, but Rare Color
By Walter Anthony

1t is hard enough for an artist to live
up to enthusiastic press agent notices
spread through a single week of pub
licity; the task becomes one of almost
impossibility when for three weeks the
adjectives have been worked. Nine.
Blanche Arral has been i'll, and her
concert, much heralded, was on that
account subjected to two postpone
ments. She sang yesterday afternoon
at the Van Ness theater and bravely
attacked the task of proving what had
been said of her.
Nine. Blanche Arral belongs to that
type of singer, rarely heard now, in
whose throat there turks nothing but
Song-pure, spontaneous melody. She
has not the iridescent brilliancy of a
Tetrazzini nor the chaste purity of a
Melba- The limitations of her tone
dramatically were on the horizon of her
art now and then yesterday afternoon;
she has rich lower and middle regis
ter whose warmth I have never heard
excelled, and her singing is laden. with
.eolor-variety of expression and beauty
She can rocket up to E altissimo and
cascade back to middle c without a
break or a flaw. Her fiexibility is mar
velous. No skip of sixth or seventh; no
leap of octaves was too difficult for her,
and only once could any one observe the
faintest variation from the pitch. Her
information is as perfect as anything hui
man may be.
The chief charm of her singing is it's
musicianship. She is, primarily, a mu
sician. Her Interpretation of the mad
scene from Thomas Hamlet" proved
that. It's haunting beauty, its broken
and halting phrases, its minor wall and
its childish sweetness were all brought
forth, and her climacteric finale carried
with 1t the suggestion of poor Ophelia
hoating gently between green banks to
her death in the waves. Poetry and
music We're splendidly blended in this
number, admirably supported by Stein
dorm and his orchestra which, in pass
ing, should become a permanent insti-
tuition for the accompaniment of other
artists as they come from time to time.
MusicianShip again was apparent in
her aria from Mozarts Marriage of
Figaro" The pure outlines of the
pretty melody, robbed of ornament,
and standing in its unadorned sweet
ness, tax any art. The singer was
entirely equal to the number and sang
it for the full worth of its rare and
exquisite beauty.
Quaint, old fashioned Bishop supplied
a bird song, .Loi Hear the Gentle
Lark" and Louis Neubauer played the
flute obligato. Not an atom of beauty
but what was uncovered by the singer.
and the player. Every trill and run in
harmonious thirds and sixths was
rounded and smoothed to perfection.
Offenbachs Frenchy melody, "Mala-
guena, was sung with delightful
piquancy and charm, with pretty little
foreign gestures and much grace of
manner.
Indeed Nine. Arral has a most pleas
ing personality, and establishes an inti-
macy in art which is as pleasant as it
is unusual
The longer she sang the better she
was. Her concluding number again
brought "bravo" from her fashionable
Sunday afternoon audience. 1t was the
"Poiacca' from .'Mignon" and it was
beautifully done.
Manager VIII L. Greenbaum was
more than justified in making the an
nouncement that there would be an
other opportunity to hear Nine. Arral
next Sunday afternoon at the Van Ness
theater. The audience on the forthcom-
ing casion will doubtless be greater
than -hat of yesterday. for the singer
belongs 10 rare family, and to miss
her. finished art is to lose something not
easily compensated for.
The orchestra, under Steindorff PLAYED
with discretion and skill: unobtrusively
and yet with precision and earnestness.
The singer must be easy to follow. for
the tempt, but sings, as has been said.
with Fortnight musicianship and au-
thority.