The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-02-17
MEN, WOMEN
 AND THINGS

] about concerts, for I know that proba- bly, nine out of ten you meet on the street are concert shy . l I make no claim whatever to being a anusician or knowing anything whatso- ever about the musical game from the standroint of the artists or real critics. but do admit openly and without shame that have gotten great pleasure out of concerts.
 Having owned up this much. I will go bit further and say that I hava even remembered with genuine pleasure con% cerLo in which classical music was the only kind offered. for even when one does net appreciate the fine shaa.ngs which so please the cultured ears, yet there is something about a finished artist which has the power even to find the average man.
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 There was a very clever story in Dolly Dalrymp1e's article on Frieda HempeL the world famous prima donna, which appeared in Sundays Age-Hera1d, written by just an average man, and therefore could heartily enjoy it, for had the interview been the product of trained musical critic, it would have been wasted on me, for I would soon have been lost in NO Mans Land" try ing to follow confusing technical phrases.
 The description of his wife's surprise that Miss Hempel has actually played and sung for him alone was a real ! touch of nature, for I recall that when l Schumann-H -Heink was here she was equally gracious to me. and when I asked her at the Jefferson to sing a certain song as an encore, she said: q am afraid to try it out here. but | come to my rooms at the Tutwiler in the morning and I will sing it for you" The fact that she did so was seven days wonder among my family
 l Without any technical training in music, I can boast that I have heard nearly all of the worlds greatest prima | donnas of the past quarter of a century, as in my student days in the various capitals abroad I went to grand opera as faithfully as did to my lectures for it was considerd to be part of ones education to at least have a speaking {; acquaintance with the works of the great composers and to be able to, talk | about those who took the leading roles l
 l We talk about the war having made | the world safe for democracy, and of its ! far-reaching effects in government. ed- | other spheres of influence, but one of the great things we got out of the con ! flict here in America was the effort at the democratization of music. It gave an impetus not only for community sings" but in so doing prepared larger public with an ear for concert and operatic music of the highest type
 
 ] I am glad that Frieda Hempel is bringing with her for tonights concAl | the celebrated pianist Coneraad V. Bos ! for the accompanist. can make or mar the singing of even the greatest prima donnas. Then there is the famous flut- ! ist MT. Rodeman, who first came into 1 fame as the first flutist of the Philadel- phia Symphony later adding further laurels with the Cincinnati symphony. It will be real treat to hear the won derful voice of Miss Hempel to the ac- compartment of the flute.
 
 But back again to the possibility of the average mans ability to enjoy a concert. I can shut my eyes and see the music of his violin on the night he made his debut before the musical elite ! of Vienna I had sense enough it was l to be a great social as well as musical 1 occasion and so bought ticket but I soon forgot the fashionable crowd in the master playing of the genius of the | violin. I have always been a believer in seeing the top notchers in all lines. But the best thing of all about the l ''All-Star Concerts" is the fact that they | set new precept in the musical his- | tory of this city, and I heartily com mend the financial nerve and the i'm domitable pluck of the promoters, Mesdames Richard F, Johnston and Or line A. Shipman, for they did not tim I idly sit back until number of leading business and professional men under wrote the enterprise. but. like the good sports they are, they just took a chance. and this is why am strong for the suc- cess of their venture.
 signed my name as mere matter of form to assure the bringing of some en- ! tertainment to Birmingham tbat later as matter of obligation did not plank down the amount underwrete in good, hard earned cash. But having been caught so often, I graduated and was 1 able to stand off both men and women i who besought me to come in and be plucked. There have been few nota- | ble exceptions, where guarantees were not called for, but they were so few | and far between as to be conspicuous.
 But, more than this. the charming promoters of the ''All-Star Concerts have not bedeviled their friends and the public to take tickets for themselves and to sell to others, but have put the l whole thing on a business basis and said to the music lovers of Birmingham, 'sWe want your patronage. not for our own or charity's sake. but because we propose to give you your moneys worth