Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-02-13
Nj i S | C.
BY HELEN FETTER.

to that title There is no greatest
tenor today. The greatest tenor is
dead and the next one has not ar
rived When asked, Then, who is
| greater than your" he is said to have
responded promptly, The Canadian
| singer, Edward Johnson; he is the
best all-around operate tenor i'll the
world, and. in addition, he has a per-
| feet figure. which SO Jew tenors pos
| SeSS.'
Mr.. Johnson, however, along with
mary other individuals. when he
heard the news FASTENED to express
the opinion: He doth protest too
much" He said:
AS coming from one tenor to an
other, | should say it was the acme
of generosity. Further, although
startled by ITS kindly f1attery, | must
say, and | wish you would print. that
his expression is exactly my feeling
for John. great artist and gen
erous, kindly friend"
However. it takes Mary Garden, in
her usual abruptly frank way. to
completely squelch both these polite
and genial gentlemen. Says the ia
nous diva:
John Mccormack hasn't heard as
many tenors as | have. During my
long and varied career | happen to
have listened to a long string of them.
Today there are two outstanding
operate tenors. One of them is Fer
dinand AnsSeau of the Chicago Civic
Opera Co. The other is my latest
$ItI arto IL. II
ter American Opera Co. Both have
God-given voices. Moreover. both
possess extraordinary intelligence and
great imagination, qualities which no
real operate artist can be without"
CONTINUING discussion OF Ameri-
~ can opera and tenors, it is nice
to take moment to reflect upon the
sturdy merits OF the American, Paul
Althouse, who was honored as being
chosen for the musical artist to be
guest at the annual breakfast given
to Mrs. Calvin Coolidge by the mem
bers of the Congressional Club.
Mr.. Althouse, who is favorite in
opera in Washington. also proved to
be an Al concert singer. He sang
two groups of songs, including d
group by American composers. The
real feature of the entire breakfast,
however, was his singing of "A Smile"
the words of which were written by
Jean Chalmers, wife of Representa-
tive Chalmers of Ohio, with music
by Helen Fromer. The song was
dedicated to Mrs. Coolidge, and she
seemed not only to enjoy Mr.. Alt
houses rendition of it, but COM
mented adIniringly upon the song it
self and showed much pleasure that
it should have been dedicated to her.
1t is fine thing for the United
States, and its progress unsteady, to
have so unsteady intelligent and per-
sonally interested First Lady of
the Land as Grace Coolidge has
proved herself to be. Her response
to the efforts of musicians at con-
certs in Washington. the majority of
which she attends, are much more
lceenly watched and considered as
authoritative than she may imagine.
X x X X
A MUSIC HALL that was built by |
SONY IS the unique ulSliHCtlOn
owned by St. Olaf Lutheran Col
lege, at Mortified, MINI. The choir
of 90 young people, who have won
fine comments all over the world on
their tours, in choral, programs,
raised the funds for this hall. They
sing here tomorrow.
These students represent largely
the farms of the Northwest States
Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, North
and South Dakota. The choir is I'M
der the direction of DR.. F. Melius
Christensen, and earns from $4,000
to $4,000 year for the school music
fund. Many of the students are OF
Norwegian ancestry and Lutheran
belief. DR.. Christensen is native
OF Norway, who came to this country
when only II years old. He is no
stranger to manual labor, but always
his talents and ambition lay in the
lines OF music Much OF his sound
musical education was secured in
Leipzig. Germany. where he remain
ed four years, studying under the fine
old cantor, Gustav Schreck, who was
also a professor at the Royal Con-
servatOry.
a