Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-11-18
JOY AND MELANCHOLY
MUSICALLY MINGLED
Tschaikowsky and Haydn by the
Orchestra, With Nine. Gluck
a Disappointing Soloist

Joy. we take II. Ia the first essenti.t -
| all music, whether symphonic operaflc ~
chamber in nature. It may be tbs io -
simple emotional happiness such as Mora,
affords, or the JOY of contemplation of ths
beautiful and the tragic, as in Beetbo,,a.
and Wagner. So all of us who wers h
the Academy yesterday afternoon souoht
consciously or unconsciously, for iov os1
we found II in the most unexpected ni,os.
In dear old Papa Haydn, for Instance ana
In tho sinister and splendid recesses ~
Tschaikowsky's Inferno For once an
prophet Of careless gayety and the pronbat
OF the souls unrest met and mingled IA
was strange meeting.
Not more strange, however, than sor,.
other episodes OF the program. one ~
these and the most distressing, was the
vocal poverty Of the soloist. Mime C,ncr
has been. nay is, one Of the finest of lIvins
HopranL Her bell.like voice has raA.
appealing many concert aria, has gisa-
dened many an opera. "They said'' vestsr-
day that she had cold, and II must have
been 30, for rarely has she sung with -
little art and so little tone Her unns-
register was plnched and scrid her Al.
livery forced and ''breathy": her tritt.
wooden and unsure. Now and again ths
old richness returned. as in the GlInka
cavatina. But she did nothing at aI ,vj,h
the Mozart aria The thunders OF abnIauss
which called her back did not cover tbat
fact, nor did the striking picture she mads
In red gown, looking much like MaIIjsis
IN The Jewels of the, Madonna" atone FOR
her artistic retrogression. Very popuIar
singers sometimes spoil their voices through
an unwise generosity. Can II be that that is
the case with Nine. Gluck? In any event
she seems to need a rest
OF course, we have known all along thaa
the eighteenth century symphonic child n
father TO the nineteenth century syuphonio
man. but in our devotion to the bIrper CON-
Nd
symphony as Mr.. StokowsN conducted "a
make us remember It. Haydn Is not A nanns
TO conjure with in these futurist times. yst
what charm he still hasl The work tSat
stood opposite his name on the program
was the socalled Hymn Symphony" with
its wlnsome merriment. The tunes Of tha
first movement, carefully fingered, as chill
dren do with favorite toys were barely leaa
attractive than the momentary gravity az
the largo. In which the sudden entry of the
strings was like smile that couldn't be
checked. The minuet, followed by tha
schoolboy gayety of the finale was delight.
fully played proving that the orchestra
can have its moments of Juvenile mirth
and pleasure as well as of somber power.
They turned to the latter mood In Tschai-
kowsky's Francesca da RImini" fantasia.
This remarkable tone poem Is seldom played
here. One OF the reasons may be its length.
for, though 1t holds much of beauty ana
terror, 1t makes one realize that even hell
may be bit firing If you stay there too
long. 1t was done with great sentiment and
fury of orchestral endeavor which only
in the brass failed of success. That accusa-
tion also held true of the "Egmont" over
ture. magniflcently played. but Off color
in that particular choir. The variations on
theme by Tschakowsky by MlchaIi
Glinka-quIte the usual thing. but more
characteristic and faithful--pleased the
audience, like everything else on the pro-
gram.
1t is TO be noted that the orchestra win
be on tour for the next two weeks and,
consequently, that there will be no con-
certs till December s, when the series win
be resumed, with Efrem Zimbalist, tho
violinst, as soloist b. D.