El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-10-26

One wonders almost unconsciously
whether ali unpleasant and distract
ing mannerisms, grotesQue vocal pro-
iections. and tawdry vocal ornamental
tions have been educated out of Miss
Helen Cooper so that she is so differ
ent from most professional singers
and deliberately trained amateurs or
whether these things have not vet been
educated into her. May the gods OF
pure delight and the muses. of Olym-
pus grant that she may remain as now,
whether this be a state of exquisite
filming of talent or a state of pre-
Adamic innocence Of coarse pretence
masquerading too often among ambi-
fious persons of talent as decorative
art and really having as much relation
to musical art as the sculpture on the
animal cages of the circus has to the
immortal creatures of Phidias.
They say of this extraordinary
young woman that she literally worked
her way through the European schools,
teaching. playing accompaniment,
helping here and there as occasion
offered, toiling to the point of physical
exhaustion, and that an explanation
of her earnestness and of her success
may there be sought If so, il is so
much more to her credit, and envy OF
the satisfaction she must feel in gen.
pardoned in so gracious a presence
The human voice is the most perfect
musical instrument ever created, and
there is a certain incongruity in at
tempting TO compare it with the tubes
and boxes Of wood and metal and fiber
and animal membranes that man after
100000 years of experimenting has
laboriOusly learned to make in crude
imitation Of his infinitely resource
g. IL
the vibration Of confined air and thus
TO produce musical tones in scientific
and harmonious progression more or
less differentiated from noise But ac-
cepting the incongruity and using the
device so common and necessary with
interpreters and critics, that of COM
pairing the Incompatible with baser
and familiar things, we dare to sug-
geSt q certain resemblance in Miss
Cooper's full rounded, resonant, nerve
yoothing tones TO the lovely notes of
che gentler wood-wind instruments Of
the modern orchestra. Her tones are
mellow and caressing, like the dripping
IF the spring in the fairies grotto or
tike the undulant whisper of the wind
across the unripe grain
Her transitions from register to reg
lister and from open to closed tones
pre- smooth and true, her high notes
IRE almost never throaty and her low
3r register is free from the double
vibration curiously described by one
writer as the internal echo. Her open
SUSTAINED tones are singularly pure and
convincing, her intervals accurate, her
attack natural, restrained, effortless,
and free from slurring. If she ever
had to overcome a tendency to excess
sive tremolo, no evidences of her strug-
gle are perceptible now
The Herald has heretofore spoken
Of Miss Cooper's wholly pleasing stage
presence. Her modest maidenly as
surance and womanly poise make an
altogether delightful combination, for
they betoken strong character and in
telligent direction of impulse If there
seem to be now a measurable lack
Of dramatic accomplishment, it is fair
TO expect that she will develop this
quality without any loss of that fine
restraint which marks even her most
serious work, and which is the abiding
charm OF her lighter essays. In ballad
singing one would look far to find her
superior; her voice and method just
now are exactly suited to oratorio But
she is very young. and the years have
great possibilities for her Colorature
may not be her forte, and there have
been many great singers whose talents
have snot found their highest develop
ment under the artificial and re-
strictive devices of Vperatic compost
ton.
Miss Cooper at her recital Tuesday
night was necessarily subject to ter
rifle tax of fatigue, evidenced, how
ever, only in the occasional shading
of a semitone, an insecure final, or
Slightly misplaced trill. These things
are in no sense characteristic but
purely accidental, and are worth men
tioning only to euphasize the neces-
sity that she conserve her physical
health and strength.
Francis Moore was at his best in
the Chopin Ballade. A young man
of genius and wonderful technic due
to thorough training and close appli-
cation, Mr.. Moore possesses the ele-
ments of great dynamic power. He is
too restrained, toe reliant on his su-
perb technic. The fire is imprisoned
there, if he will only allow the sparks
TO blaze-if he will only let his appre-
ciative hearers feel with him. He has
a marvellous way Of developing mellow
nonmetallic orchestral quality out of
his singing tones. his pedaling is eff