Omaha daily bee., 1909-05-23
About Music, Musicians and Musical Events

T have. They did fair work, with one ex-
/ ception-Mr. Arthur Middleton, who did ex-
cellent work, indeed unusually excellent
! work in the Messiah" Here he was at
his best. His nobility of tone and dignity
of presentment were a pleasure to notice.
In the recital work he was also heard to
fine advantage. In short, when he sang
music suited to the "basso cantante' voice
he was absolutely lat home.'
Miss Ormsby was suffering from a cold.
Mr.. Jones was more the teacher" than the
artist" he is a capable man and is di-
rector of music at the University of Vhl-
cago. Miss Plumb was not conspicuous in
her art-just ION the level" as her cog
nomen would imply.
As to the choral works presented there Is
not much to be seriously commented upon,
as they had both been done before, on
several occasions. The first evening 'Hia-
watha's Wedding Feast was heard by an
audience which was somewhat small,
owing to the protestations and preventive
measures of one Jupiter Pluvius. In other
words, 1t rained "cats and dogs that
night.
Hitherto, in musical presentations by
Omaha choral societies, the choral body
was seated on the stage throughout the
performance. (Let us think back and re-
member the days of b. b. Young, l.. A.
Torrens, Thomas j. Pennell, Homer Moore,
and at the exposition of 1898; Mr.. Arthur
Mees, William l.. Tomlins, Willard Patten,
w. II. Pontius, Willard Kimball, and one
who may modestly acknowledge his name
therewith-if you wish to know, it is signed
| at the end of this column. Think back
further and we have a chorus under Anton
Seidl, under Theodore Thomas, under
Walter Damrosch, and under the famous
old -bandmaster, Patrick Sarsfield Gil
more.) Later, Rosenbecker and Frankie.
But hence with aforementioned old his
tory.
Only 1t is queer to think that 1t is of
Omaha we are w~riting-in view of recent
events.
Somehow, it seemed unprogresslve, If not
retrogressive, the other night, to have to
note that the choral members of the festi-
val, who had been sitting in the audience,
left their places during the playing Of one
of MIR. Carlo Fischer's beautiful voiloncello
encore numbers. and assembling in the rear
of the theater walked out through a side
entrance to appear on the stage for the
last offering on the program.
II mas always seemed tlldI the cnOfuS and
the local conductor should assemble back
of the scenes" But haply this latest in
novation is to teach us that we We're
wrong.
Perchance the objection now raised is
simply the murmur OF the memory of musi-
cal days gone by, and should not for a
moment be given thought.
But as We are barking back to olden
days in Omaha-mind you, in Omaha-we
are reminded that the men Of that time
used to 'climb into" a dress suit for the
occasion OF, a musical festival. That was
probably a mistake. too, for a dress suit
does not make one more musical!
The chorus numbered between sixty and
seventy voices. While the singers worked
hard and earnestly, there was an absence
of Inspiration. In the "Hiawatha's Wed
ding Feast there was an entire absence of
color effects. Of shading and of contrast; in
short, of those features which are the dis
tinguishing characteristics of that rich
modern work. The pace at which the
choruses were given was very much slower
than that Indicated clearly by the com
poser. There is excuse for a conductor not
having genius or temperament or force,
but there Is no excuse for taking a work
''out of time" when metnnomes are cheap.
The presentation OF this work showed lack
of thorough rehearsal, Notwithstanding the
valiant efforts OF some members OF the
chorus who tried nobly to bring the other
singers into line.
In the Messiah" the orchestra saved
the performance. II you don't believe II,
ask a member OF the orchestra. 1t is ut
terly useless for a chorus of about sixty
five voices to attempt even the abbreviated
version Of the Messiah" Handel's great
and enduring masterpiece. which the Ora
torio society attempted TO present on Sat-
urday night.
This is one OF the greatest Of oratorios
and 1t should be presented only on a big
scale n chorUses demand breadth and
they must have II, or die. Much better