The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1909-11-03
NEWS OF THE DAY
IN SOCIETY WORLD
Music Lover Talks of Walter
Allen Suits
THE DAYS EVENTS
Mrs. Lucien Brown Is Hostess for
House Guest-Miss Bains' Lunch
con for Bride-EIect-Per-
sonal Mention.
BY MYRTLE MILES.

a Birmingham musician whose opinions
are decidedly worth while was in Chi
| cago recently. where she heard Walter
Allen Stults, the young basso who is to
sing in concert the evening of Novem-
Der . with Mrs. Aldrich as accompanist.
| and Mrs Beeeher as reader in chat rel
alive to the approaching entertainment
recently, said:
MIR. Suits is an excellent example of
the modern trend in the development of
young artists. Time was in the days
of ford Italian opera when all that a
singer needed to insure a public success
was a voice-yocal quality pure and SIM
pie. and a technical equipment able to
cope with the runs and roulades of the
music of that time would save the for
tunes OF any day; and the ability to take
| and sustain a phenomenally high or low
tone was In itself sufficient to make a
| reputation. We have all heard of Mario's
| high c, but of the general public who
knows much more than that about him?
'As the composers began to demand
more and more of the singers who were
to impersonate their operatic heroes and
heroines public opinion became more ex-
dowment doomed large and in the case
Of the Wagnerian operas. emotional equip
ment was as necessary a qualification for
an aspiring singer as the possession of a
beautiful voice. To this the ultra modern
] writers have added the additional de-
mand for histrionic ability, and as the
glittering and snowy cadenyas for the
display of vocal agility have been aban-
doned. it has become more and more
necessary for an aspirant for public favor
to possess not only voice and emotion,
but the technical equipment of the actor
to express that emotion. The mention of
Mary Garden, for instance, calls to mind
a great actress as well as a singer. II
this matter of the portrayal of single
character, through an entire opera, with
| all the aid of lights, scenery and costume
| to assist in creating the desired illusion
has made such recognizedly large de-
mands upon the abilities of the operate
stars, how much more exactng IS the
work of the recital singer of today who,
| bereft of all artificial aids, must SO i'm
! bue himself with the spirit and dramatic
significance of his song as to project the
footlights by sheer force of intensity, thus
making his audience see what he sees and
feel in their own hearts the emotion he
Is endeavoring to express.
1.-THE opera singer has one role into
which to fit his personality, but the reci-
talist has as many characters and moods
to portray as he has songs upon his pro-
gramme.
Where colorature singer like Tetraz-
zini can select such parts as best suit her
particular style and adhere only to them
the singer who essays recital work must
be prepared to sing a programme en-
bracing all styles and making equal de-
mands upon his vocal, temperamental.
! dramatic and intellectual endowments, all
of which must be equally developed In
order to absolve his task successfully.
ut is no small thing for one singer.
supported only by a piano accompanist,
to hold for an entire evening the unvary-
ing attention of a cultivated and discrim-
mating audience, and cause them to feel
with him the gamut of the human emo
| lions. 1t means a breadth of vision and
range of feeling undreamed of in the
old days when voice alone sufficed to
please and impress the most critical
/ auditors.
''Mr. Suits has been very successful
in the oratorio work which seems to be
the natural Inheritance of a basso, and
won appreciation for his work as soloist
when the Evanston Musical club gave
the Messiah at Hull House in Chi
cago last January, as well as upon nu-
| merous other occasions, but the fact
that he has made a place and reputa-
ton for himself in the difficult and ex-
acting field of recital work speaks for
itself when the true inwardness Of what
| it means to achieve success there is con-
! sidered.
| The numbers that he will give in Biz
mingham range from the traditional
Handel aria to the broad humor of the
north of England folk song (Widdicombe
Fair, and from the classic lieder of
Brahms and Schumann to the intense
modernism of Debussy.
ut is interesting to note that Just as
the demands upon a singer have increased
SO have the old-time. simple accompani-
ments disappeared. The piano accompani-
|
! display such a wealth of color and emo
| ton in themselves as to compel a vir-
tuoso technique, in the broadcast sense,
in order to adequately interpret them
| 1t has been said that the singer repre-
sents the poet, whose words he sings,
| while the musician. who sets the poets
| thought in tone, comments upon that
thought and expresses himself In the
| varying phrases of the accompaniment
| and depends upon the pianist to make
| clear his meaning. A song recital now
adays in the joint presentation by the
singer and the pianistof the single thought
the poet desired to express, and the COM
poser gave musical utterance to, and as
| such makes equal demands upon the art
| istry Of yboth. There must be a unity of
! purpose and ability. or that which should
| be a well-rounded and convincing whole