El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1915-04-23

M or how stated one might be, as to
i musical impressions, II would be
impossible TO escape one lesson Of
Thursday nights concert: that dramatic
music is as sharply defined a realm Of
artistic achievement as dramatic Htera-
ture- The book Of Job would be hope
lessly flat in narrative. but in drama it
Is unsurpassed, its poetry burns ike
stars, its emotion sha--es, its humanity
is all embracing The acting quality
Of some Of Browning's greatest work is
what grips the reader. rather than its
imagery or its other elemental poetic
qualities. Some Of Shakspere's men and
women stand forth from the printed
page in flesh and blood, commanding,
appealing, living our own lives for Us,
turning our baser and our more exalted
thoughts into action. so that as we read
we become intensely conscious Of our
own responsiveness.
Other forms OF music. and other forms
Of literature, than the dramatic form,
have their splendor. their beauty. and
their power And it is a mistake TO
think that everything in an operate
score is dramatic, or that all nom
operate forms lack drama. Many folk
songs, symphonies. nocturnes, dance
measures, are highly dramatic But the
musical aEtist-interpreter who has not
the dramatic power can never suitably
interpret dramatic music. And when an
artist has that power, IL is a pity to re-
press or divert it. for il is a rare en-
dOwmenL When the singer is conscious
OF self-repression, it is hard TO con-
ceal IL.
Exigencies Of a concert program, in
evening dress on stage set daintily
for a garden party, necessarily limit
the possibilities Of dramatic expression
Of operate music. But Thursday nights
program gave many pleasing hint OF
what these artists could DO and would
DO, in grand opera with all the Access
SORES Of scenery, costume, orchestra,
and consecutiveness toward the denoue-
menr Of a plot Every member Of the
quartet eXcels in dramatic quality, and
IL was in those numbers permitting the
greatest range for the acting quality
Of the music to take command, that
each Of the singers did most notable
work.
1t was a rich and varied program,
covering q wide scope Of musical ere
q ton. Exclusively Italian and French,
it was also chiefly tragic, passionate, or
deeply emotional in its program num-
bers; frequent encores gave the variety
and lightness essential TO well bal
anced concert program As the lover
Of woodlands delights in the vista Of a
sunlit clearing. so the mind revOlts at
TOO sustained souberness and brilliant
scoring, and reacts jOyfully to the sim
pier melody and the note Of laughter.
Great music adequately interpreted
always LlTLALE- II MOu44 De 44AE u a.
tempt to traverse in detail the swiftly
succeeding pleasures of such an evening
of musical Indulgence as the National
Grand Opera company quartet favored
FL Paso with. But everyone there felt
building I'D of musical power and a
gathering Of control over the audience
BY the singers as the moments drifted
bv- At first 1t was a concert. toward
the last IL began to suggest more and
more the operate stage It would have
49,. Ito,
eAfignon" OF 'TOsca" or "IrOVatOre-
from the first part Of the program, how
ever pleasing the voices But toward
the close, Imagination began TO Lutter
its wings, and theater, stage lights,
crowd. became DINNER and DINNER as
the picture rose to background the
singers whence proceeded the ever re-
neWinE Wondrousness OF harmonic
sound caught out OF eternity by poet
and made into universal language
The obvious things have all been
said nobody would care abstractly to
know about Miss Sarame Raynolds's
fine control in the high register, her
sustained power, or the clarity some
times compared with that OF a flute, in
her semi-StaccatOs. no one having
heard Miss Jarman's splendid voice and
having come under the influence Of her
friendly stage personality cares par
ticularly whether she is a cOntralto or
a mezzo-soprano. The Herald is not
the good and sufficient reasons why
ItaIo Picchi. the bassO cantante, caught
cold. though the public is more than
sympathetic. and warmly appreciated
his heroic efforts to overcome his slight
obstruction which was undoubtedly
very distressing to him though not at
all an imposition upon the audience.
Mario RodOlfi, the tenor, will sing Just
as beautifully and as couvinclngly
whether The Herald comments upon his
-.Tn d fe "a fr,H
Of pitch. and his open tones, or keeps
still about them. Why say that the
voices blended beautifully That is
what they were intended TO do.
But it is in grand opera that all these
distinguished artists have essayed TO
made a. career for themselves. And il
is not beside the mark TO give them all
the word Of a lay auditor alive to the
difficulties Of operate Interpretation,
and all toe familiar with the frequent
failures. to the effect that each one of
the four singers shone most brightly
when the acting quality" Of the music
was allowed the freest play, and when
the singers forgot for the moment that
they were singing program piece, and
let themselves 60
To our mind, that is a right severe
test A singer who does not possess
the dramatic quality makes himself
ridiculous when he tries to act-by
which The Herald means. not gesture
or grimace, but vocal acting. inter
pretative expression OF the music. But
the true operate talent cannot success
fully be hidden Certainly the members
OF the quartet Thursday night failed,
TO a degree every time they tried to
hide it.
1t was q great and satisfying per-
Torrance in every way, and it fulfilled
The Herald's prediction that it would
surpass the work Of any quartet that
ever appeared here, in opera or concert