Evening star., 1941-07-09
5000 Attend First
OF Starlight Concerts
In Meridian Park
String Quartet Plays
In Setting Of Cascades;
Music Is AmpIified

Washington's newest venture In
outdoor musical entertainment
chamber music in beautiful Merid-
ian Hill Parks headed for a long
and pleasant life if the reception
accorded the opening concert in this
series means anything.
In fact, there are lot of music
lovers who now are convinced that
Washington has been missing out
on natural" in failing to use the
park for such concerts.
Chief reason for this feeling is the
fact that crowd estimated at 5000
turned out to witness the debut of
the starlight chamber music series
in the park last night in a setting
that fell short Of perfection only
because the stars were obscured by
clouds.
The distinguished Primrose String
Quartet played the initial concert
and, according to the sponsoring
committee, it was the first time in
this country that music for intimate
ensembles was played in an outdoor
setting.
Scores Stand for Concert.
The musicians, seated in spe-
Ciallv built shell at the east end OF
the rejecting pool at the foot of
the beautiful cascades, played to
hundreds of music lovers around
the pool and hundreds of others who
found precarious but apparently
comfortable seats on the west wall
Of the graduated falls.
Scores of others stood at the rear
Of the theater or located choice
spots along the walks which wind
through the shrubbery in the lower
section of the park.
The music of the strings could
he heard almost everywhere in the
'0Wer section of the park except at
me very top of the cascades. The
tone was a little sharp for those in
he front rows, but this Is to be
corrected by a change in the ampli-
4iCation system.
Falls Drown Out Encore.
Before the concert and during the
..lPtullNSlUIl Il
rejecting pool were lighted and
llUned on offering a pleasant inter-
lude to those seated along the pool.
The cascade falls were started few
minutes after the quartet played its
final number, but it proved to be
100 soon. The artists, in response
to repeated calls, played two en-
cores. the last one being partially
drowned out by the noise of the
falls.
The she'll designed by Horace w.
Peaslee. park architect, to insure
proper acoustics, IS made OF plyWood
and canvas.
1t was apparent that many men,
hers of the audience either were
discovering Meridian Hill Park
for the first time or were renewing
acquaintance after q long absence.
Scores remained after the concert to
watch the cascades and walk
through the park.
Another Concert Friday.
The concert was delayed for about
5 minutes at the start because so
-lany people evidently had trouble
lding parking space or the correct
rance to the open-air theater.
d the rough edges of the seating
rations are expected to be ironed
by the next concert.
C. c. Cappel, manager of the
reries. gave a brief talk before the
concert began, and he expressed a
hope that the concerts would add
something to the cultural life Of the
Nations Capital.
The series is sponsored by the
Starlight Chamber Music Committee
IN cooperation with the National
Capital Parks Service. The COM
mittee is composed of 81 promi-
nent Washingtonians.
The Primrose Quartet, which is
composed of Oscar Shumsky and
Josef Gingold, violinists; William
Primrose, viola, and Harvey Shapiro,
rello. will give the second program
in the series Friday at 8:15 pm,