New-York tribune., 1918-11-02
Music
Charm and Immaturity in
Miss Barbe's Recital
By II. +. Krehbiel

4 singer vito has chosen the name
Of Alice Barbe, and who, we believe.
comes ont Of the West. no doubt with
hopes of carrying away her hearts de
sire from the big city of the East. gaze
a song recital in Aeolian Hall yester-
day Afternoon. She had several good
reasons ff,' believing that her advent
ure Woui be successful "a voice OF
naturally line timber which seems 10
have accepted training of a special
type with ease, iacilc command of Ian
Tu"ges and q ready faculty for iMita-
tiou.
The last qualification may not have
hlghly complimentary sound, but it is
merltorlous in young singer to inli-
tate her modes ii she has chosen them
wisely. This the ncwcomer has done.
She seems TO have studied the type
o5 music in which Nine. Senloricll has
peeh the country's peerless oXamplar
and her list Of pieces was such as
Mmc. Sembrick might have recommend-
od TO her after she had attained 10
little greater proficiency IN some Of
the essentials which She seems TO have
sacrificed TOR the sake of skill in the
delivery Of roulades, or divisions" as
they used to be called.
III the Passage work Of such airs as
SO, Had Jubal's Lyrc" from Handles
"Joshua." with which she began her
recital, and Come and Trip Ii as You
Co. from 'L'Allegro,' which she sang
on recall after her first group OF
songs. She Won admiration not un-
mixed with wonder, at the tempidity.
care and finish Of her vocalzation
But IN the sustained song passage 5
between the senitiilant explosions, she
always dropped into a careless style
not only Of declama alton but also Of
voice production. which caused an equal
amount OF Wonder without the admira-
tion. Here her voice frequently under
went q change in quality at the cost
Of its natural beauty
Greater care for the emission of
tone and Justures of phrasing gave
lo1ehness to her singing of Handel's
80. Sleep, Why Dost Thou Leave Me-"
and Caccini's "Amarillb' but their
technlcal finish summed up their
merits, for they were obviously con-
sclous limitations of q good model.
soul had not been breathed into them.
WITH the carelessnoss, or Indifference,
to the sustained portions Of the fiorid
airs. was paired in the songs Of Vidal.
Chausson. Weker)in and Dvorak, which
came late. tendency to impurity Of
tone--a surprising change of timbre.
which was obviously caused by fore
ing of the voice. though it is only
charitable and just to think that she
may have been suffering from u cold.
Miss Barbe's recital repaid attend
ance. IT was worth while to hear y
Young artist, who so nearly approaches
the highest standard III her field. We
could wish for her rest and continued
study, tor they would bring a rich re-
ward to her and the lovers of good
singing.
There are some 125 subscription
symphony concerts listed for the pres
ent season by local and visiting organ
cations, and the first of these was
given by the Symphony Society, under
The direction of Walter Damrosch, at
Carnegie Hall yesterday afternoon It's
ptogrammc as originally planned was
changed, partly TO its bettcrment, by
the eNc'slon Of Bach suite and by the
substitution of Mr.. Leo Ornstein as the
solo pianist for Ossip Gabrilowitsch
and the introduction Of MacDowell's
60 'certo in D minor in place Of Tschai-
kowsky's in + fiat The other numbers
were Beethoven'S Seventh Symphony
and two movements from Debussy's
string quartet, the andantino and
seherzo, played by all the strings of
the band
tbs feature was the most interest
ing and, in a sense, the most delightful
OF the entertainment, showing, as it
did, the greatest care i'll preparation,
the greatest finish in performance and
providing test Of the quality Of the
fundamental body of the orchestra,
the substratum of its tone. Devoted
and highly cultivated lovers of cham
Der music are pretty generally agreed
that much of the essential charm of
quartet music vanishes when it's
voices are multiplied, and this seemed
TO US to be the case yesterday in the
tricky scherzo; but conductors de-
light to resort to this device when
they can thereby publish the quality
OF their string choir or exhibit it's
technical proficiency. Both of these
aims were achieved by Mr.. Damrosch.
the latter in the effervescent jocose
movement, the former in the andantino
winch was peculiarly lovely in feeling
and scnsuously luscious.
MacDoWcl's second concerto had it's
lfst performance at concert of Theo-
dore % 1homas's Orchestra in March,
1rlbune's reviewer, it had the good
fortune OF an accompaniment which
Put no fetters upon it. 1t is rather
turgldly and gloomily orchestrated at
Tunes, and yesterday the hand weighed
so heavily upon the pianoforte part
that much OF the solo work sounded
like q cropping in the dark, the pas
sages obscured and the rhythms dullcd
or deadencd. Time was when conduc-
tors had better realization than they
have now Of the fact that there can
and -ught to be an adjustment of the
dlffering volumes Of a solo instrument
and the orchestral cohorts. even if
composers have v. ught Il change in
the relationship which they occupied
toward each other in the classic period.
To employ the entire army of strings
all the time, regardless of the nature
OF the solo part, is to crush the life
OF the latter, despite the fact that the
rlanoforte has become monster of
steel.
Mr.. Ornstein's presence removed a
suspicion of Teutonic tant which
might have adhered to the concert
from Mr.. Gabrllowitsch not too re-
inote record, and TO that exte1fA. at
least, was welcome. His playing was
not as proclamant of the contents of
the work as used TO be that of the
composer Or his best interpreter, Nine.
Carrino. and was not notable for song
fulness; but there was reason for
gratitude in the fact that he played no
Of his own. The svm-
phony received Z straig ightforward, un-
affected reading, which was most vital
and telling in the finale