The San Francisco call., 1909-03-17
TIME IS DFfIfD BY
ART OF BISPHAM
Singers Voice Has ''That
Something in 1t That
Never Fails to Charm
Program of Infinite Variety
Contains Lessons for VOcal-
lists and Much to Please

David Bispham is the aristocrat of
the American concert stage today-the
cultured gentleman, the absolute mas
ter of all the artistry of song. This
conviction deepened with every num-
Der given last evening al his first
cfscos good fortune to have.
There will be no croakers today to
count. the years that Bispham has
charmed the musical public and de-
clare that his voice is beginning to
go" If any of these age statisticians
are clamoring to be heard it will be
that they may be allowed to declare
that Bispham's art is the kind that
defies time and that his voice has that
something in it that never fails
Old songs-"wher'e You Walk
(HandeD; Behold, Along the Dewy
Grass" (Haydn): The Frost Scene"
from the old opera King Arthur
(PurcelD, and the famous old Jacobin
song, Down Among the Dead Men,
began a program of infinite variety.
Each was a lesson to any singer, and
interest was added to The Frost
Scene" by an explanation of the old
opera with special reference to the
text of the selection.
ENCORE CAUSES DELIGHT
AS an encore to this group Bispham
sang Drink to Me Only With Thine
Eyes to the unequivocally expressed
delight of. the audience. Despite the
fact that the program was long, Bisp-
ham was always generous, repeating
parts of several songs.
1t would be difficult to pick favorites
from the group of classic songs.
Faithful Johnnie" of Burns, which got
it's setting from Beethoven, was given
with exquisite tenderness, while When
Through the Piezzetta" (Tom Moore).
arranged by Schumann. was brilliant
and sparkling. Schumann's Row Cen
tly Here" Bispham had to repeat.
The operatic songs recalled the dra-
matte intelligence and intensity Of
Bisphams voice. OF this group THE
Templar's Song" from Arthur Sullivan's s
"Ivanhoe" will not soon be forgotten.
Bispham as well as the audience, was
amused when just as he began to sing
the Mad Dog from Liza Lehmann's s
Vicar of Wakefield a fox terrier in
search of his master came trotting
down the aisle, sad but insistent.
Modern ngs-five of them-con-
cluded the announced program, The
Paupers Drive" by Sidney Horne, being
singularly effective. Bispham will not
have to sing Denny Deever' while he
keeps this song in his repertoire. He
has stamped it with his fine personality.
SPECIAL THANKS ARE DUE
There should be special thanks to
the person who heard Bispham give
THE Raven's at Palo Alto and insisted
that he repeat it last evening. To a
perfect setting of music he recited this
poem holding the audience at the point
of absolute silence. His resonant
voice talked in perfect sympathy with
the music. Bispham should repeat it
when ample announcement of it will
have been made.
1t seems trite to talk of the perfec-
tion OF Bispham's art, because the
world knows about it, but there is a
deal of satisfaction in talking over
the way by which such achievement
comes. The student and every singer
should note the way his tones are
placed, to his faultless diction and to
his singularly intelligent interpreta-
tions, to the sadness, the joy, the
passion. the tenderness he puts INTO
his voice.
Bispham wiz be heard this evening
at the st. Francis, and next Sunday
afternoon. All the San Francisco con-
certs are booked at Christian Science
hall. A. P. S.