Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-03-13
DR.. MUCK'S ADIElJ
MOZARTIANLY SAID
Boston Orchestra Heard in a
Fine Farewell Program at
the Academy

SHARP definition of his likes and dslkes
IS one of the peculiar virtues OF Or Kari
Muck, and. therefore secondarily. Of the
BOSTON symphony Orchestra Last nights
'oncert-the last this season by the schol-
arIN band from the Ttuh-was singularly
happN in most musical choices and marked
WIth all the mellow splendor of tone that
NaE come 10 be synonymous with these mu-
siclahs But further than that II fitted
'h'' inc personality Of the conductor. in
many instances So farewell was regret
iuIiE feit by his auditors one parts with
inc clear. brown beauty of his oboes with
a sigh
DOCTOR Muck never llumines his talent so
clearly as when he elects to play Beethoven
or Mozart The profound. tragic. snritual
recesses of the master of Bonn are as
NISIple 10 MN as the no-lcss-p profound comic
Splrltual ones of the master Of Salzburg
Some cOsmiC salt I'm the veins Of each finds
response IN the conductor. So it Is pure
uellght 10 near him read the "IIaffncr SYM
phohy' as he did last night This work
demands absolute and unsullied sound from
the strings. 1t also demands cleanness
oi outline, 'rcsh and dainty mode Of at
TACK. All these qualities it had under the
leaders, stick. The dashing allegro melted
INTO the grave and precise andante and
then into the charming mnuet and the last
oubbling presto with indescribable elegance
and detached gusto The composition was
rustic sunlight and pools more secret than
the soul"
" was 80 gay that it was touching and
so free in Impulse that it never passed the
bounds of stress. The dancing beat of its
measures was admirably brought out by
an the choirs One thought again of Beet
hoNen, of the seventh and eighth SYM
phonies, of shepherd revelry.
There was a sort of saltatory spirit to
much else on the program. And there was
Elena Gerhardt, who had sung in the same
building no later than the previous Satur-
day night. Like all good music and musi-
clans II is hard 10 get too much of Mime
Gerhardt Last night she was in espe-
cially fine voice. even better than when she
sang with the Philadelphia Orchestra For
one thing, her upper register had sloughed
on the slightly muffed condition that failed
10 make her otherwise than great and
joyous singer on Friday Her dramatic
sense and her always authentic lyric gift
shone as brightly as always. Ordinarily
one wishes there were legislation to prevent
lieder-singers of her caliber from singing
excerpts from operas. generally poor ones,
But the scena from Goetz's Tanning Of the
Shrew' is quite a little gem of sentiment
and melody II was hardly so poignant as
the three Wolf songs that followed. There
the power and heart-touching infection of
Nine. Gerhardt's organ were made clear in
all their warm appeal Her diction is a
marvel in itself
The Brahms variations, given by Doctor
Stokowski earlier in the season, and the
Paris version of the "Tannhauser" bacchan-
ale given by Mr. Damrosch lately, were the
other orchestral numbers of the night II
would be false TO say that Doctor Muck is
at his best in either though he attacks the
former with n gentle authority that is very
taking and an attitude of dealing with a
tour de force that is almost distressing
How to understand his attitude on Wagner
is a little difficult Here people have been
going on all these years, thinking that this