El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-02-15

A bird like voice, and a temperament
al personality like a flower-that was
Ellen Beach Yaw as she impressed her
audience at the Ell Paso last night. Shy
almost to the point of embarrassment,
Miss Yaw's first appearance before an
Ell Paso audience was anything but
pleasing. But this was not to last. A
tinkling prelude on the piano, a burst
of song as If from the threats of a
thrush. and the American Jenny Lind
had risen to the occasion splendidly.
Filmy, lacy, drawnwork like, her
voice thrilled from note to note and
from low to high pitch with the spon-
taniety OF spring bird inspired by the
warm, bright, sunshine. Hers is not
commanding voice. She did not march
onto the stage with shoulders thrown
back and with the air of an officer of
the old guard taking command, as did
David Bispham in the recital the great
baritone gave here last year.
Miss Yaw's voice is as modest as her
personality. AS artistic as the great
baritone, her methods directly opposed
to those Of the music master who sang
in the same theater last year, Miss
Yaw's concert was just as enjoyable in
an entirely different field. Pleasing as
were her program numbers, the simple
and when she appeared with Mr.. Plowe,
the solo flutiSt, in the numbers with
flute obligato, her voice blended so
perfectly with that of the instrument
that her tones could not be distin-
guished from those of the mellow flute.
She completely captivated the audience.
Unsurpassed in the high range, Miss
Yaws voice is delightful when she was
trilling through this register. She was
singing higher than her audience real
lied because her songs were all pitched
high. When singing in full voice as in
the mad scene from Lucia di Hammer
moor" her tone power was seen at its
best, but it was in the lighter, finer
toned songs that she eXceled. Her
trilling was remarkable and showed the
perfection of breath control which she
has attained. 1t was only in the medium
range that the fineness of her art was
missing and even then the perfection
of technique upheld her artistry. When
it is known that she was suffering from
indisposftion which confined her to her
bed Monday, the recital Monday even
ing was all the more of a triumph
Opening her concert with the rus
sian Nightingale" song by Alabieff,
Miss Yaw had arranged her program to
alternate with her instrumental soIoists
so ohat her appearance on the stage
would not occur too frequently. Mr..
PlOwe, the solo flutist. proved himself
as much an artist as Miss Yaw and his
solo numbers were equally well re-
ceived. He appeared in the first flute
obligato number with Miss Yaw fol-
lowing his solo and the effect of the
blended tones of the voice and flute was
as soothing as a summer shower.
Mr.. Deming, the solo pianist, fol-
lowed with two instrumental selections
His other solo, THE Wind" was most
realistically effective.
Miss YaW then sang a group of four
short songs, the last one in German.
The encore numbers as given by the
famous soprano were well chosen. She
sang Coming Thro' the Rye" after the
first flute obligato number, and later
in the evening sang '-Suwanee River"
Dixie" and a catchy little English
ditty, which caught the audience from
the first note. For these simple little
songs, Miss Yaw played her own accom-
paniment with an abandon that was re-
freshingly girlish. The closing num-
Der was the most pretentious on the
program, Miss Yaw singing the mad
scene to Mr.. Plowe's obligato. While
splendidly done, the effort was not as
charming as her lighter, gauzier selec-
tions. For an encore to this. the clos
ing number, Miss Yaw sang our