The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-04-29
ALL DELIGHTED WITH OPENING OF
 MUSIC FESTIVAL Initial Concert Brings Showers of Praise on All the
 Participants
TODAYS PROGRAMMES
 ARE VERY AT TRACTIVE
Mrs. Beecher VIII Be Heard This Aft ernoon in Midsummer Nights Dream" Numbers-Euterplan
 Club Tonight.

The music festival had most aus- picious opening last night. The au- dience that assembled at the Hippo drome was both large and music | loving, and Walter Damrosch, the fes- | tvial director, and the crowd present were in close sympathetic touch. The distinguished leader, the splendid or chestra, the soloists and the Treble Clef club chorus, were all in the best of form, and the initial concert of the festival was a tone-feast indeed. 1 This was the programme: Overture, "Semiramide" (RossinD. Lord How Long Wilt Thou Forget | Us," dBrahms); Treble Clef club. Ballade and Polonaise (Vieuxtemps),
 MT. Alex Saslavsky Symphonic Poem, Les Perludes" | (Liszt).
 (a) Moths" (Palicot); (b) Nam | my's Lullaby" (Palicot) Co "Tiritom- ba" (Reese), Treble Clef club. (a) Allegretto from string quartet, | (b) Spring Song (Mendelssohn). | Air from Der Freischutz" (Weber),
 Mme. Corinne Rider-Kesey.
 The Blessed Damozel" (Claude De-
 bussey), Treble Clef club, orchestral accompaniment, with solos by Madame
 Kelsey and Miss Nevada Van der Veer.
 Slayonic March Tsohaikowsky).
 It was a delightful programme
 varied and artistic with out being severe
 ly classical, or over the heads of the | average listener. It appealed alike to | musically educated men and women and l to the laity and was therefore model
 programme from festival point of view.
 
 l great favorite in days gone by but it is safe to say that it was a novelty
 to all but the older set of concertgoers
 in the audience. It Is fine overture and
 while it used to be played by theatre
 orchestras it is especially effective for the | symphony orchestra, for 1t needs the
 horn quartet and in fact the full wood- wind and brass cholrs to get the rich | color that Rossini worked into it. It was | so finely played that the audience in | sisted on an encore and MT. Damrosch
 responded with Moscowskis serenade. | Brahms beautiful hymn, the second l number on the programme, was sung by | the Treble Clef chorus with that fine in- | telligence and artistic feeling for which | the club is noted It was directed by
 MT. Damrosch with plano accompaniment, | Mrs. Charles Dorman being the efficient | accompanist.
 The third number, MT. Saslavskys vio- l lin solo, the soulful and brilliant ballad
 and polonaise, was received with tumul- 1 tuous applause. The artist produced a | warm sympathetic tone and if his tech | nique was not so dazzling as that of l some of the famous virtuosos, he had | ample mastery of his instrument to bring l out with musicianly finish all that Vieux-
 temps put in the piece. Although his play
 ing was of the big hits of the even | ing, on being recalled many times he | only bowed his acknowledgements. Liszt's symphonic poem was the largest | orchestral number on the programme, and | it was rendered with all the virtuosity
 that body of high-class performers | under a scholarly and magnetic conductor would naturally insure. It has been heard | here frequently, but never, perhaps, has | it had reading quite so poetic or inform | ing MT. Damrosch gave it. It was | really grand achievement, and was little | short of a revelation. The triple number sung by the Treble | Clef was conducted by Mrs F1ournoy i Rivers, the clubs director Each little | piece was gem, and was shaded with | exquisite taste. Mrs. Rivers was greeted with great applause. MT. Damrosch, who occupied seat near the chorus, shouted, | "Bravo!' and clapped This hands vigor ously.
 Of rare beauty was the allegretto move ment from the Mendelssohn string quar- | tet, played by the stringed orchestra It l was familiar to students of music and | few others, but to the majority it was | doubtless like something new That and 1 the Spring song were popular that 1 response came promptly-the strings play | ing Bachs celebrated air with singular
 soul, grace and breadth. | Madame Rider Kelsey, the solo soprano, | made charming impression. She has a l nnality. | Seldom, in fact, does one find even world | wide celebrities who possess voices of l such fine ''timbre." This lady achieved | a triumph in her solo and to quiet pro-
 longed applause she sang Birthday Song | by Huntington Woodman. | In the principal choral work of the 1 evening 'eThe Blessed Damozel," Mrs.
 Rider Kelsey and Mss Van Der Veer | were the solists. The latter had short, l but important solo and was altogether ex- | celent
 | Mr. Damrosch conducted the Blessed | Damozel," but before taking up the baton | he said that as the words had not been l printed in the programme book, he would | read Rossettis mystical poem, in order | that everybody in the audience might know what was going on" upon the stage. After a few introductory remarks about Debussy, one of the extremely
 modern French composers, MT. Dam-
 rosch read in a clear and pleasing man. ner the "Blessed Damozel" poem. The orchestration for this work is some what weird, and is, of course, marked by original tone color treatment The Treble Clef club rose to its full height, and in its well nigh faultless intonation and its strong ensemble won new plaudits from Mr. Damrosch and musicians in general. The programme closed with Tschaikow- skys Slavonic march-a stupendous march of almost symphonic treatment, and few things rendered during the even ing were more enjoyed. Today's programmes are follows Afternoon at 8 o'clock sharp: Shakespeare's Midsummer Nights Dream" with incidental music by Men delssohn.
 Isabel Garghill Beecher, reader. The music will include: Overture Scher- 20. Nocturne, Chorus and Wedding March.
 Tonight at S:3O sharp: Overture, "Carneval," Dvorak Tannhauser March, Wagner. Euterpean club, orchestral accompani- ment.
 Air from "Radamisto" (IandeD, Miss Nevada Van der Veer. Andante Cantabile, from Symphony No. 5, Tschaikowsky.
 Blue Danube Waltz, Strauss. Euterpean club, orchestral accompani- ment.
 Air, MT. Reed Miller. (a)Adagio from Ries suite, played by MT. Saslavsky.
 <b) Perpetuum mobile from Ries suite,