Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-04-07
TORONTO CHOIR WONDERFUL
ORGANIZATION OF SINGERS
Msndelssohn Choir Unquestionab!y
One Of the Greatest In the World

What was in many respects the most
wonderful exposition Of choral singing
that this city has ever heard, was given
IN the Academy of Music last evening by
the famous Mendelssohn Choir. of To
Honto. an organization which, in its
4rst Philadelphia appearance. fully JUS
ti6ed all the encomiums that have been
Asaped upon it.
The choir is composed Of about go
voices, perfectly balanced. with an un-
usually large percentage Of fine voices
among them, and with a character of
tone amazingly fresh and youthful. 1t
vas of vast power when demanded but
the finest Of all the effects were the
Dianiss'mos. so soft at times that the
voices could scarcely be heard in the
rear Of the Academy. but. neverthc.
lsss, perfectly balanced and full of color
and warmth. The nuances were rer-
fect, especially the diminuendo. the
most difficult Of all musical effect.
It was a revelation as to what can
be accomplished with large body Of
voices to hear the volume of tone grow
5ng gradually softer and softer, ana still
Lear all the parts in precisely the sane
tonal relation as when they we're at
the utmost power. Their sforzandos,
too, were things of rare beauty. There
was no punching" Of the tone. as is
Uaally the case when a choir attempts
this difficult effect. but 'ne sforzanho
alWays bore just the right relation to
the quantity of tone being produced nnu
to the effect intended at that particular
point.
In addition TO these effects. which.
after oil. are largely matters Of train
iRG, there Was the perfection Of enuncis
tiOn which no other choir that has Wis.
tied Philadelphia in the last quarter
q q century has, even approached 4
Asxibility Of tone and an absolute con
troll Of temperament. which enabled the
choir to sing with equal effect the music
ol Palestrina and Bach. Germans Vi
vacious London Town" FaninS'Y cX %
auisitely modulated 'IIow Sweet the
Moonlight "a composition whi"h it
would have been very cay 10 rrndcr
totally innocuous in less sk!llful hHnd~l.
the light delicacy of The Silversmith'
hnd the mock pathetic hunror Of The
Wreck Of the Julie Plante.'
81. A choir which can go to these cX-
tssmeU Of vocal and tempcramentpl de E
Aands can certainly rank a. one Of the
6featest in the world During the
lure Of the long and exacting pro =
aSom, there was not a semblnnce Of an
error in following the conductor. and
only for short sDace in on" instance
Was there any tendency to dev.atr froul
piteh, and this was speedily corrected,
The program had TO be slightly
CHANGED, as the orchestral parts of the
Anak Of "Dte Meistersinger' went
astyay and two capella songs had
to ~ substituted In a way this was
mot TO be regretted. as it gave new
ssolant" on the choir. Mr., Fricker. the
enductor, in making the announcement,
SSN that they would sing Sibelius
4yHroksn Melody" for male voices and
ySevari's "Lullaby" for female voices,
and thus an opportunity was given to
: icar the component parts of the choir
sleoe, This developed the fact that the
80 voices sang exactly as "A fine male
KSir would sing, and during their per-
man0e there was no hint that part
N n mixed choir was singing. as is
z InSlly the case in such circumsta noes.
4 = the same thing developed when
q V3mon's voices sang alone. This
S1AADs the escrst Of the marvellous