Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-02-27
DAMROSCH ORCHESTRA
GIVES FINE CONCERT
New York Organization Divides
Honors of the Evening With
Mabel Garrison, Its Soloist

The Symphony Society OF New York,
Walter Damrosch. conductor. gave rs third
and last subscription concert OF the season
at inc Academy Of Music last evening The
soioist was Miss Mabel Garrison. the Ameri-
can coloratura soprano, whose beautiful
voice and perfect style Of singing. added to
charming stage presence. made her one OF
the greatest successes Of the Philadelphia
season
MT Damrosch opened the program with the
Firth symphony OF Tschaikowsky. the one
IN II minor In many respects the finest OF
the six which he composed. His interpreta-
tion Of the familiar work was sane and re-
strained and yet at the same time did not
lack warmth or color. The tempt were mod
crate and the volume of tone never too loud
or TOO soft TO lose the characteristic color
OF the various Instruments Only in a por-
tion or the second part Of the waltz which In
'nis work takes the place Of the customary
scherSo' was the tone balance disturbed. and
here' when the vioas took up the figure in
sixteenth notes, they could not be heard
IN all the other parts of the s,nphonv. as
wen as IN the other numbers, the work of
tone and precision was as good ss has been
e"iu mere IN a long time 1t is with this
orchestra, and not our late famous rivals
from further north, that our own fine organi-
20 .a''on must contend for premier honors in
tne East The changes made by Mr. Dam.
rosch in the personnel at tho beginning ~
.ae present season have added materially TO
.ne strength of the orchestra especially in
'he tone quality of the strings
me other orchestral numbers were the
synpnonic poem "Phaeton" of Saint-Sacns
performed last night for the third time this
year and Lalos overture to the opera "I,e
ftoi dfs.' Both works were as we'll nor
lormed as the symphony, and need no com
nnent except to say that the third section
OF the overture, for solo cellos in three or
aT aHul parts, was exceptionally well done, the
ciose pelng fine example of an extrere
o'mlnuendo-a difficult effect to obtain with
more than one part. The last part of the
overture was taken at high speed with the
lui, power OF the orchestra, and the concert
ended with snap and vigor-but then Mr.
Damroschs concerts usually end that way
flneiy as the orchestra played however
they had TO divide the honors with Miss
harrison. She sang first the recitative aria
anu rondo Mia Speranza Adorata" of
MoZar'' ana the second time the Hymn TO
.ne sun, from lie coz dor" OF Rimsky-
horsakon 1t is given to few singers TO
sing Mozart well for his vocal works are
usually either oversentimentalized or else
MADE TO sound like exercise Miss Garri-
son did neither. for she sang the tremen-
dously difficult and horid aria and rondo
win the best of taste using her great vocal
technlque purely as means of interpreting
the really beautiful musical thoughts that the
work contains. 1t calls not only for an ex-
tremely fluent vocal technique but also for
an enormous range upward. which Miss
Garrison has And her voice, moreover,
never becomes thin and white" in the upper
notes
The RimskyKorsakof number as was 10
be expected. was entirely different in char
acter. II is very difficult In its intonatiop
many of the intervals being unrelated to the
previous chord and therefore hard to sing
with accuracy of tone While not requiring
the extreme vocalizaton of the Mozart num-
ber, the Hymn to the Sum is just as hard
to sing. calling for a great range and per-
feet control bu- here. as before, Miss GarrI-
son sang with great tonal beauty and in
flawless taste. She received many recalls
after each number, and the tribute Of the
audience was well deserved.