The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-02-17
MIME. GERMAN HIGH IN HER PRAISE OF
 CHILDREN'S WORK
The SoIoist With Symphony Orchestra Is a Great Art ist and a Charming
 Companion
By MRS. SIDNEY NJ. uLLMAN

We havn't talker about music at all,
 said Mime. Lucia Chilsom Ohrman, as I
 told her good-by after delightful hour
 with her at Mrs. Laurens Blocks home, where Mime. Ohrman is a guest
 That's all right" I remarked. its splendid for the public to know your great artists are human beings as well
 as singers, and besides it's the personal
 side of the artist we enjoy reading about"
 { Mime. Ohrman is a charming, unaffect- ed person, very handsome even in her negligee, which she said, in a very fem mine fashion, was quite a disgrace" though it looked very smart and attrac- tive to me. In fact, when the interview, which had proven to be only visit,
 was asked for, Mrs. Block said they were enjoying a real, cozy corner morning,
 and it did seem rather cruel to drop in on them.
 I found these friends at the piano
 having a a really lovely time at work
 and Mime Ohrman was loud in her praise
 of Mrs. Blocks musicianship, which has
 always been such a pleasure to Birming-
 ham. Some very polite compliments
 were exchanged, and the conversation
 naturally drifted to the subject of music
 The opera was commented on and Mme
 Ohrman spoke of her great regret in
 having to miss all such pleasures as
 other peoples concerts and grand opera
 T am always either just leaving a place or just getting there,' said Mme Ohrman, and so I have to miss hear ing a great deal of the best. That's one of the penalties of having a career but I feel that this God-given gift of mine belongs to the public. I am here to serve them with my voice.
 T wanted to be quite sure of my self-denial years ago, and as test I
 went abroad to study under MT. De- Reski. and to my great delight he taught me free of charge and was delighted with my voice. MT. DeReski says Amer ican singers have the finest voices in the world. They lack the temperament that centuries of tradition have given the European singer, but they are intel- ligent and acquire all os the temper
 nent bybeing properly taught
 "Oh, how my heart aches when think of nay dear teacher now his great es- tates in Poland gone, his only son, an only child, mortally wounded and the
 man so great and vigorous now so old.
 I can't bear to think of the war All over the waring country I have friends in the hoSpltalS ana In the trenches. America is reaping the harvest, for never before has there been such a galaxy of great artists and wonderful teachers in this country as today. One can get any kind of instruction from the very best. I was in New York in the fall and decided to study awhile. It was really very hard to know who to select" During the course of conversation Mme Ohrman was told of the manner in which the children had been prepared for the childrens matinee of the orches- tra She was perfectly delighted, and said she believed this was an unheard of thing for complete audience of chill dren to be so fully prepared
 That is certainly the way to begin,'' she said. "The appreciation of children for good music when they have been rightly taught will never lessen, and to be sure they are our future audiences. Birmingham is to be praised and con graduated
 Mme. Ohrman spoke of her lovely home in Chicago, saying how devoted she was to it, and what a real delight it was to go back to it after a long trip. Upstairs this sweet, attractive wom- ans mother was doing some mending and looking after the little comforts of her gifted daughter. Mime. Ohrmans mother travels with her great deal From here she goes to Florida, but Mime. Ohr- man goes back to Chicago, then to the coast.