The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1912-10-31
Nine. Sembrich Is
Still Great Artist
New York Declares


heard in Richmond. November nth,
gave a concer; in New York yester-
day. Two {. sties teil ap,L
Before an audience that filled Car
negie hall to It's capacity. Nine. Mar
celia Sembr oh yesterday afternoon
gave an exemplihcation Of her art
which was Instructive and inspiring.
That the great Polish soprano, rep
reseutatiye Of a school which seems
to be dying out rapidly. was In bet
ter vo Co than when she sang here
last, two years ago, was questioned
by few.
Within the limits she imposed
upon herself her tones sounded as
tonishingly fresh and young Con-
siderin. nme. sem Jrich's aFe--and
she Is a young woman no longer
that in itself might well seem sur
pris ng. But more surprising still
was the distinct Improvement noted
In her interpreiative art.
For SO great an artist as Nine.
! sssrfrbricfY tV improve IN mature
years may sound incredible. but
therin lies one proof of her great
ness If she had been unable to
advance In the last two years--and
merely held ng her own .woas'd have
meant retrogressien--she would not
now be s nging In public.
The gift OF self-criticism. which.
despite her phenomenal successes.
has warded off every bit Of vanity
and concelt. enabled her to observe
that her diction was not perfect
when she appeared before. Yester-
6sy she sang tn clearness of
euunciation that permitted those who
sat In the back OF the hall to under
stand almost every word she uttered
Max SIN tn In New York Press.
What the Sun Said.
The mellowirg OF the artist in ma
turi,y Is one OF the most significant
things in Ire world of art. The young
man rejoiees In his youth. and II he
In a painter draws with reckless
bcldness and col1rs WITH productivity
reserving nothing. sparing nothing
The writer is prone to spill half the
treasure Of a dictionary on a fancy
which might better be crystallfzed
in a phrase, and in this latter wise
the ripe artist In words puts 1t be-
| fore his reader.
The young, pianist 'thunders along
| the keyboard and knows nothing small
| Ter than a mexxo forte The youthful
| orchestral composer calls for more in
| struments than a Strauss and would
scorn to use the simple orchestration
1 VI a MOGEits Cor NCo, tttN SoahA SaASNf
| pours out q tumult Of tone and over
whelms an audience by the mere pow
| err of sound. But the singer who has
| reached the golden years Of the au-
| tumn Of q splendid career applies tone
with confluence and makes effects in
gubtle, elusive. but expressive shades.
Thoughts OF this kind are invaria-
| bic when Nine. Marcella Sembrich
comes to town and gives a song re-
citai as she did yesterday at Carne-
| gle hall. There never was time
when this truly wonderful singer
could hurl a great volume of tone
| Into an auditorium Her voice. per-
| feet In quality and In that uncom-
| mon trait Of humanity which makes
every utterance a direct personal COM
munication. was always small one.
| To be sure, those who used to hear
her in her operate days know that
| this voice always carried well to every
part Of the theater. but this was be-
cause 1t was perfectly produced.
Faulty tone emission would have
made much OF Nine. Sembrich's sing
| ing in the opera inaudible. but her
| admirers well remember that this was
never the case
| Since she has confined herself TO
| the field Of the song recital. music
lovers have never ceased to be ravish-
| ed by the rems ~kahi~ ~~ects --Ni~"
she obtains while holding herself
| within very narrow range OF dy-
| namics She essays no songs calling
/ for the heroic style. She makes no
attempts at heaven storming decla-
| nation. She keeps to lyrics which
ask for the most intimate manner OF
/ musical speech. profound tenderness,
| pathos suppressed and poignant, or q
| gwyety renHed and gentle and NJ