Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-10-30
HENRI SCOTT Is SOLOIST
IN ORCHESTRA CONCERT
Philadelphia Sings and Or
chestra Plays a Varied
Program

At the third concert of the Philadelphia
| Orchestra, given yesterday afternoon at
the Academy of Music, Mr. Henri Scott,
| the Philadelphia basso. was the assisting
artist. Mr.. Scott has sung in opera be-
fore, and Is this year under contract to
sing with the Metropolitan Opera Com
/ pany. As good bassos are by no means
common, It is certain that Mr.. Scott will
be heard here often this year. It is none
the less fitting that his first appearance
Of the season should be with local or
! ganization. The program, which ranged
/ from the 18th century, with Guck, to
modern times, with Strauss, will be re-
peatef tonight
Mr. Scott's voice, except in its very
lowest ranges, is deep and expressive and
richly Colorcd. At one or two times II
tended to be flat and in the register which
Mozart employed for impressive sobriety
c'In diesen heiligen Halcn'D It was more
than little dull In his carefully enun-
ciaicd German Mr.. Scott did not quite
convey the august serenity of sarastro's
invocation But his phrasing was well
curved, and there was no fault to be
found with his glowing periods. His sec
ond excerpt. "The Legend of the Sage
Brush" was happier i'm the lyric narra-
tive than in the dramatic, and his reclta-
taivc was without any high inspiration.
1t remained for the beautiful legend of
the sage brush, which opened TO receive
the infant Jesus when the proud rose
had refused to move him, and so move
his hearers to lyric ecstacy. The bass is
hardly a chosen meter for this feeling,
and Mr.. SCott's triumphant achievement
of 1t is wholly and splendily TO his credit
There was n little slurrnE of sounds, as
when he made "mouvrir' sound "mou-
rir" but the feeling of the artist was
irreproachabe and his voice a rich pleas
ure.
The orchestra played with closer ap-
proach to its normal excellence than in
either of the two previous concerts 1t
had not the sudden swinging inspiration
of n week ago, but II had fine steadi-
ness of good execution and smooth
tone which promises nightly for the fu-
ture. In the Gluck overture ("Iphigenle
en- Aulde'O the strings played with all
their best sorority and with sweep of
gesture which were gratifying to sensi-
tive eyes and ears In the Brahms SYM
phony (No in ID Maior) all the choirs
were mellow, and on occasions the tonal
coloring was ineXpressibly beautiful
How Mr. Stokowsk and his men engaged
to bring to the Don Juan" overture of
Strauss such fresh energies as they did
is puzzle The audience--as much of
1t ns stayed-was inca abable of taking in
all that was offered in the tempestuous
and swiftly changing moods of this piece.
y French critic, obviously Wagnerian,
said Of Brahms that he works wonder
fully well with the ideas he lacks. That,
in the words of the street, seemed rather
thick yesterday afternoon. The second
symphony is almost too full of ideas
Some of them are trivial, but all of them
have some beauty, and the depth of feel
Ing of the first and final movements are
not surfaces mirrored in deep technicali-
ties, but real emotions. The adagio Is
divided between sentiment-what one
called German sentiment before he was
afraid to hurt peoples feelings-and a
gay thoughtfulness. The allegretto is
spiritual and charming. The symphony Ia
confessedly one of simple humors-but
they are all very human humors, and as
such they were played. The syncopation
of certain passages was beautifully ham
died by the orchestra without n trace of
monotony or of dullness. On the whole,
1t was fine concert