The Washington times., 1924-01-24
DELIGHTS
IN COSTUME
RECITAL
Audience Is captivated From
First Appearances Of
Artist at Polls.

It is not often an artist captivatesl
80 large an audience with her
grace, her charm, her beauty, and
tier voice as did Lucrezia Bori in
recital yesterday afternoon at Poli's.
She had it won from the minute
she sat down in the chair for the
first number, and, after arranging
her volumiuous skirt, coyly smiled
at the audience. 1t was a costume
recital.
have always cOntended that the
success Of any performance Is
written ON the faces and heard in
remarks Of the audience as It
leaves. Men and women left Polls
yesterday beaming and looking ex
tremely happy and satisfied. There
even seemed to be less pushing and
crowding of the hungry throng. !
suppose they were Just as hungry as
usual in the lobby. 1t, indeed.
would be a hopeless b0or who coula
soon get out from under the happy
influence of Madame Bori as to for
get and give his neighbor poke in
the ribs In the effort to beat some
body to the street.
How They Talked.
The remarks l heard were thess
She's wonderful" What an
actress. 20, yes. But she was In
costume, which gave the oppor,
tunity for acting" Full Of charm"
Lovely voice" isn't she beautl-
fun" II couldn't get all the words
OF her English songs. Neither
did anybody else, but who cares?
I'll wager that few understood the
words Of the French, italian, and
Spanish songs.) Practically the
same program as last year, and She
wore two of the same costumes. "
CWho cares about that? ] could
listen to the same program at least
twenty more times. And as for
looking at Madam Bort in her
fascinating costnmes-I would never
tire Of it,
To women interested in fashions
Of early periods, Madame Bori, In
her French costume Of 1880, the
Venetian one Of 1900. the English
one of 1926, and the Spanish Goya
costume showed what was what in
those days and just how clothes
should be worn.
ExceIled I'm Spanish Songs.
1t was in the last group. the
Spanish songs. that the artist ex.
celled. Attired IN the Goya cos
tune of white. embroidered with
large pink flowers and sprays Of
silver. wearing a bright green lace
mantilla, white stockings and green
slippers on shapely feet, and show
ing a neatly turned ankle, and
carrying a large green fan, she pro-
voked a burst Of applause as she
tripped to the front of the stage to
sing her native songs. / have never
seen anybody open, close and WELD
fan quite like Madame Bori.
That is one Of her many little mas.
terpieces. Attired thus she sang
Penella's La Maja de numbo, -
Grando's "El maja discreto," and
the familiar eel relicadio," by Pa
dilla.
The French group included Ar
naud's Jean ne meut pas" Der.
nard's "N'effeuillez pas les mar.
guerites, and Pouget's ION a beau
dire" Italian songs were Leva's
La pavana," Guarnieri's "Caro
caro- II milo bambin." and Respighi's
Invite ALA danza." English songs
were Thomas Smart's 1.-THE For
saken Maid" Thomas Cafnpion's
loft Have / Sighed" and Thomas
Moore's when Love Is Kind"
Kept Eyes Busy.
was so busy watching the
actress that I almost forgot to lis.
ten for any flaws In her singing
and voice. I didn't hear any, and
II there should be any, her ability
as an actress, her charm and per-
sonality makes one forget them
quickly. Anyway there aren't any
new adjectives In the dictionary to
describe Madame Boris voice and
singing, and the old ones won't do
for her.
Gathered Flowers.
One Of the encores was La Vic.
lettera," by Padilla. Carrying q
number Of small punches Of violets,
the artist scattered them in the au.
dience as she sang. Those treas.
ured flowers were probably put
between the leaves Of the old family
Bible. and will be shown to grand.
children and great-grandchildrell
with the story Of the smiling and
gracious Madame Bori. Other en-
cores were Menuet D'Exaudet, Der
gerette." by Reon. II Came With
a Song" by LaForge, and Val
verde's "Clavelitos."
It would be unfair not to men,
ton the excellent work Of Wilfred
Pelletier at the plano az accompan.
list. He also played Granados
"Danse Espagnole" PaderewslSi's
''Minuet," Chopin's ''Nocturne r
major" and "Preude," by Scriabini
as an encore. B. m, J.