New-York tribune., 1922-10-30
Valltieville Note
Struck i'm Two
Concert Rooms
Symphony Society Plays
Saint Saeras' - sCarnaval
Ies Aninaaux,. Mocking
Sounds of the Mcnagcrie
Diseuse Makes Her Debut
Isa kremer Sings Polyglot
Program Interestingly
With Effective Mining
By RI. E. krehbiel

Having grown weary of the old story
of the Viannese banker who said that
he could not be in two places at once
because he was not bird" (though
we made an abortiye aIlusion to it as
late as yesterday, we tried some days
ago to say that had we been an annelid
we might have heard two concerts
which took place in different halls at
the same hour. The copyreader, COM.
positor or proofreader, evidently not
approving of our willingness to liken
ourselves to an earthworm, or less ex-.
perienced than we in batting fshhooks,
would not have 1t SO. A similar
dilemma confronting US we confess
that in undivided person we attended
in succession and with singular. en4
richment of experience. Both COM
certs were under distinguished aus
piees, but, as it turned out, both came
pretty close to being of the vaudeville
order--that of the, Symphony Or
chestra in Aeolian Hall no less than
that of lisa Kremer in Carnegie Hall,
For the sake Of the latter a per-
formance of Brahms's Symphony in d
had to be sacrificed; for the sake of
the former half dozen or more songs
of a kind unusual in the dignified con-
cert rooms of New York. Neither was
serious deprivation. The symphony
has been played many times in New
York and it is safe to say that it's
beauty received adequate expression
at the hands of Mr.. Walter Damrosch
and his men, and appreciation from
Mr., Damrosch's audience; and pos
sible hunger for it by tn ose who were
at Carnegie Hall will no doubt be
stilled before the season reaches it's
end. We can scarcely imagine 200
more orchestra concerts without a
repetition Of it. Half dozen would
not awaken surprise.
Polyglot Singer and Polyglot Audience
In only. one respect is Madam or Miss
Kramer q novel apparition in New
York. She was heralded at first as a
Russian folksong singer, but as Rus
sian folksongs, correctly speaking, are
conspicuous by their absence, in her
repertory, she was described in the
house bill as an international balladist.
That she is. In French she would be
called a dlseuse--a singing actress of
songs which hold the popular ear in.
the cabarets, or cafes chantants, or
whatever else they may be called In
European countries. The difference be.
tween her and so admirable an ex-
emplar of the art as Madame Yvette
Guilbert, lies chiefly in the sons which
she sings-the songs and their lam
guage-Madame Guilbert was charac-
terlstlcally French; Isa Kremer is cos
our notion by the World War. Two
centuries ago Mr.. Addison made merry
over the fact that the English people
Of his day were willing to "sit together
like an audience Of foreigners in
their own country and to hear whole
plays acted before them in q tongue
which they did not understand. He
referred to opera sung in
Italian, and thought that the phenom-
enon which he described would be
looked upon as curious by the descend
ants Of the people of his day. But
Italian opera persists as an entertain
ment for English speaking audiences
and to it we in New York have added
erman and French. Now comes Isa
kremer and Sings songs (Which tell
stories WHICH she illustrates by pose
and gesture) in French, italian. Rus
sian, Yiddish and English. Moreover
to Judge by the reception which she
received yesterday, she meets here
Win an equally polyglot audience.
How wide. her linguistic excursion
may be before she is done With us or
we with her cannot be foretold: but
It may be said that there is that in
the quality of her art--in the elo-
quence of her tones in her varied
facial expression in the plasticitv of
her, poses and gestures, the varied
NmDres OF her voice--even in the tech
meal excellence of her vocalization -
winch awakens understanding in the
emotions Of even those to whom not a
word OF French, Italian, Russian, Yid-
dash OF. even English is Ineligible. She
Is an interpreter who plays upon the
minds and emotions of her audience as
the pantomimist did whom Nero wished
to attach to himself SO that he could
mage his wishes understood bv his bar
oarian subjects who knew not the Ro-
man otngue. In this she is admirable
even # she can not truthfully be do
scrbed as absolutely unique. Wbat
VIII Russia send US next?r Perhaps =
eoncertma player in whom we shall
recognize the artist as we recopn;y.
nm m Mr.. Kurt Hetzel, who plavs tho
piaho1orte accompaniments for the
singer of yesterday. AS If thera ,.as ns
an adequacy of appeal to the Hebrar
cement very large one) in the an
dience. at Carnegie Hall, Mr.. Jossnh I
Cherniavsky, 'celiist, played a fanfspa fpn
| on Jewish folktunes and "The Pahh;,a