The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-04-15
MCCORMACK SALE OPENS TOMORROW Fine Tribute to Great Lyric Tenor By San Francisco
 Critic

COrmack concert at PoH,s new theatre Sunday evening, April 26, will open at the M. Steinert & Sons Co.'s store, 915 Main sstreet. at o'clock tomorrow morning. The following striking trfb- ute to McCormack's work is from one of the leading newspapers of the West:
 (From The San Francisco Bulletin. Feb. Is, 1913.)
 Since John Mccormack left San Francisco two years ago, he has be- come an even greater figure in the world of music. In popular favor he now stands next to Caruso. But a comparison between the two would have little meaning. Each is incoTn- parable in his own Gfeld. No singer approximating him is now before the public.
 To see Mccormack step out on the platform is to realize something of his power. With youth looking out of his smooth, handsome faces he makes an impression by his manly air of confidence. He strides forward Efaintly smiling, and he takes the cen- ire of the stage and looks straight | ahead. In his hand he carries one of his programs When he begins to sing he lifts both hands, holding the program in his fingers and he keeps that position, seemingly controlled by the song, so there is sense of waste l movement, or uncertainty or of em-
 
 among singers on the concert stage, particularly among those used, as Me Cormack is to singing in opera Instead of trying to make the music subordinate to himself, means or self exploitation, as many a singer does, he lets the music exploit him, he subordinates himself to it., giving to it's service not only his marveIusly beautiful voice, but his intelligence and his taste. No other singer that have ever heard has seemed to me more controlled by his song than Mc- Cormack, more intimately identified with it's spirit. In itself the voice is a marvel, luscious in quality, absolutely pure and ,1impid and always mascu- line. There is never a hint of the conventional bleat or of effeminacy.
 It is the complete abandonment to the mood the song that keeps the taste of the singer unerring. Near ly always faulty taste in art results from the desire to introduce some thing that is not there, some extrane- ous element, usually related to ego- tfsrn or vanity, producing what George Santayana calls. .tflourishes added on.'' There are no flourishes. There is simply complete expression with Mccormack. It is easy to imagine what the joy of a composer must be at hearing one of his songs sung by this singer. Even g man like Handel would rejoice if he could hear the recitative and aria of .Jeptha'' given as Mccormack gave it. last Sun day. a calm noble interpretation. in a voice of celestial sweetness: in per. feet harmony with the thought and feeling. s..s ssss
 It is, however, pre-eminently as a singer of Irish songs that John Mo Cormack stands out In the first place, there is his Dublin accent, which to our ears has a rare quaint ness and charm. Then he feels the spirit of the songs. And what is tently of the meaning of the words, and he expresses every shade in a dic- ton that is a model of clearness and the perfection of emphasis. So many singers. in the devotion-to the music, apparently think of the words not at all Every word Mccormack sends unerringlys through the auditorium, with just the right infection, often in single word, conveying tender ness or pathos or a faint humor. So fine is the art of Mccormack, so entrancing is his voice that he can perform the feat of making a poor song seem like good song. When sung by any other singer. "I Hear You Calling Me-. flor example, his reserve and delicacy and taste, Mccormack gives 1t a kind of dis tinction and charm It has become identified with him now and at every one of his concerts he is expected to sing it. It happens to be peculiarly suited to his voice and methods. In the singing of the Minstrel Boy'' long relegated to the place where the old songs finally go, through his inter- pretation it takes on life again and becomes the expression of the battle spirit of patriotism.