Omaha daily bee., 1909-05-06
Music

Two musical events ciasned last night
which necessitated a division Of attention
on the part Of The Bees music critic. The
first was under the management Of Miss
Evelyn Hopper and was held at the First
Baptist church. II WAS In the nature OF
a song recital by Christine Brooks. who
used to live hereabouts. and consequently
there was much local interest In certain
quarters and a very enthusiastic greeting
was given to the singer. Her program
was lengthy and OF ambitious character.
Christine Brooks has gained in every
direction since she was first heard here.
Her voice. which seems to be a dramatic
mezzo-soprano has increased beyond aues-
ton. both in volume and color. She puts
into her work a lot of verve and feeling
which at times amount to real tempera-
ment. She has worked hard and seriously,
and she has accomplished much; her work
is in a stage of development at the present
time. and further s~tudies-along the line
OF enunciation in her German songs tespe-
cially in words with the letter r. such
as Herr. and of the effects of what is
called atmosphere" sor want Of a better
name, in the modern French numbers-wil
do very much for the dnigent singer who
gave this recital.
In the matter Of tone-production she
achieves some very thrilling and full-grown
| tones in her upper voice, and apart from
a tendency to a reedy quality In her mid
die voice. she gets effects which are fully
I'M 10 the standard Of the average recital
lst appearing upon local boards.
The singing Of the Mcdowell and Rudolf
| CAM songs was characterized by thought
and sincerity OF purpose. In fact, 1t was
to be regretted that the singer did not
! give more along that line. Miss Corinne
Paulson played the Accomplishments with
her usual sympathy.
The second OF the musical events was a
very UNIQUE concert at the Boyd theater.
II was given to a packed house and enthus-
iasm was at boiling point. The concert was
given by the Royal Vendes Regiment Band
NJ sweden and it's visit to the United States
is by special permission of His Majesty
King Gustave of Sweden. John Ekblad
was the director of the music which was
furnished by a real brass band and by an
orchestra. The band surely shows great
versatility which can furnish a very ac-
ceptable string orchestra and a splendid
sonorous band of brass exclusively. But
Sweden does these things well. The accom-
paniments, which we're played by the string
orchestra together with the usual supple
m~entary instruments), were done with GER
tainty and good taste ard always under the
| complete control of the director. who kept
the accompaniment beautifully subservient
to the sololst.
The brass band looked radiant when they
| stood to play the great airs of the nation.
and the tones from those gold-looking in
| struments were noble indeed, never noisy,
always carefully produced and unsteady
sustained. In the first part o fthe pro-
gram some compositions were given-with
! mastery skill and artistic discretion-which
were entirely new to Omaha audiences.
Mile. Hilma Mattson was the soprano
soloist with the band. She possesses a
voice which is as clear as the tones of a
vesper bell on a quiet evening, and She
has a manner which entices and compels
ones attention. Good nature and self
composure are expressed in her features
and her pronunciation is sunny and dis
tinct. The folk songs and the Lullaby
by Sjogren were especially appealing. Hell
voice has received much training and she
has a command of her scale and of the
shake mot the tremolo) to be envied by
the rising young singers. Mile. Mattsor
contributed a great deal OF pleasure to tht
full cup of the evenings enjoyment. X,