The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-06-05
VERDl'S MUSIC GIVEN
WELL IN OPEN AIR
Polo Grounds Far From Taxed
10 Capacity to Hear Pro-
durtion Of Requiem.
MANY TONES DROWNED

Ve.d's Manzon, REQUIEM was given
l- 'Us open AR at the Polo Grounds yes
;s-,ly afternoon before a widely dis
.emiraicd audience. The grand stand
7 q large place and it's seating capacity
.s we'll huowu to such celebrated artists
pc old Master Mathewson. Home Run
Baker and the only Hans Wagner.
Never did any one Of these face such
VIDE gap. of empty benches. This does
no. prove that Yesterdays performance
was unsuccessful, but only what every
one knows. that there are infinitely
more FANS than music lovers.
WHY the Manzoni Requiem was per-
formed out OF doors. where. IA the
verics' ,yro In music knows. all bal
snre of sonorities must he destroyed, IL
NOT = matter for discussion. It was re-
garici as n desirable enterprise and
was undertaken with earnestness. There
were y large and excellent chorus. a
good orchestra and -four soloists we'll
cho.cu for the purpose of the hour.
They were Lucille Laurence. soprano 4:
MARIA Gay. contralto Giovanni Zena.
,elio. tenor. and Leon Rothier. bass. The
conductor vas Louis Koemmenich. we'll
Known as the conductor OF the Oratcrio
Society.
The musical forces occupied a tenn
porarv stand. which ran from the west
end Of the bleachers ~diagonally out into
left field. Its frontal line was drawn
so "a To face the middle section OF the
sod .Earl Tia -~..
clans and singers was much tho same
as II would have been in a hall. except
that the chorus was stretched straight
across the platform and not Obliged to
OF partly on the sides. as in Carnegie
Hal.
There is no news about the compost.
ton itself. All that can be said to-day
must refer To the results OF an open
a. Performance. The stage setting was
good Every one knows what the
weather was. but not every one will
know that the breeze was sufficiently
shu, OF from the Polo Grounds to pre-
vent Its working such injury as il other
wise would have worked.
The beauty OF the day was no small
Item in the sum total Of pleasure. OF
course the elevated railway motors hut
ted I'm occasionally with quotations from
I'll Eulenspiegel," and sometimes a
railway locomotive across the river
threw in a shrek or two from 'Pe-
trouchka." But on the whole there was
little to interfere with the efforts OF
Mr., Koemmenich and his forces to pub
lish the impressive message OF Verdi.
II goes almost without saying that the
singing of the chorus sounded we'll
Choral delivery changes in character
when taken out Of doors. but II does no,
lose It's entire effectiveness. on the
other hand an orchestra is quite impos.
She. The strings yesterday were al.
most inaudihle except when played ir
the upper register. The wood winds
were ineffective. for only the higher
tones of the flute carried well. The
brass was the hero Of the hour. Tht
trumpet groups in the Tuba mirum'
were placed at opposite ends OF the
stand and were heard to advantage
But most ~ Ncrdis beautiful and pic,
torial instrumental effects were wholly
lost.
AS to the ~solois,s every musician will
readily expect that statement that some
times their singing sounded well anC
sometimes IT did not. 1t can be said o
all four that they achieved exception
ally good results. Naturally the highes
honois fell TO Mr. Xcna'elio, since a bril-
.itut tenor voice carries better than an.
other Kind in the open air. But DESPITE
the fact that he is a bass Mr., Rothie
wa almost as successful as Mr.. Iena
teilo in projecting his tones across tn,
space between the stage and the audi
tors.
Nine. Gays methods were also favor
ably exercised and Miss Laurence. Al
American who has made her entire ca
rser In Europe, revealed a good dramatic
soprano voice and a knowledge OF style
On the whole the presentation OF tn
Requiem was one of high merit. Tn
shortcomings were those inseparabl
from an open air performance.