Evening star., 1943-11-01
By ALICE EVERSMAN.

I, The unusual combination of tenor
voice and viola gave the recital OF
Richard Crooks at Constitution Hall
yesterday afternoon, in which he
was assisted by William Primrose,
g. new favor. Primrose, who has
appeared here as violist with the
string quartet bearing his name is
winning additional honors as a So
loist. At the same time, the re-
cital was Crooks, both for the su-
perior type of singing he did and
for his selections that was a pleas
ant mixture of classic and popular
songs with an aria for good meas
Eure.
+ In many years Crooks has not
fsung as we'll as he did Yesterday.
He has overcome the faults in his
voice production that were blem-
ishes on his art even in the su-
preme moments of success. Now,
] he is free of restrain particularly
in the upper register and his voice
flows freely and gloriously with full
rich tone. He was also in the mood
for singing and that mood was like
wise more expansive than usual so
that his recital may be marked
down as the most outstanding he
has given in some time.
For its character in a broader
field that songs, Crooks singing
could be evaluated in his splendid
delivery of Sound an Alarm" from
Handels Judas Maccabaeus' and
the aria, Una Furtiva Iagrima"
from DoniZetti's "L'Elisir d'An.ore. -
The spirit of these two contrasting
works was given out with fiery We
hemence in the former and exquisite
bel canto in the latter. AS encore
TO the DonlZetti aria he sang one
seldom heard. the Come Un Bel Di
di Maggie from Giordanos An
! drea Chenier."
But the type OF singing that has
endeared this fine tenor to count
less people was heard in familiar
songs sung yesterday with beauti-
fully spun tone and magnificent
breath control. One or two were
! freshly chosen such as Rosas Star
Vicino," Paladilhe's "J'ai Dit Aux
Etoiles," Bach's IF Thou Be Near
and Cigars Land of Hope and
/ Glory" but the others were those
everyone knows, many OF them
/ hardly rating placement on re-
Cltal program by a singer with a
less extensive following than Crooks.
The Creole Song "Ay-ay-ay' and
Ponce's "Estrellita" are not recital
numbers and there are songs that
one would welcome hearing rather
than Warren's Sailing HomeWard"
and Mendelssohn's ON Wings of
Song but the artist evidently
thought Of all tastes and tried to
please them, The singer had the
valuable assistance of Frederick
SchauWecker at the piano.
Encores generously Sprlnkled the
program, two OF them. the Schubert
/ Ave Maria and MaSsenets "Ele-
gle with viola obligato by Mr..
Primrose. As finely as these num-
bers were presented by both artists.
the vide difference between the
quality of tone of the viola and the
2
ment necessary. In his solos, Mr..
Primrose won enthusiastic recogni-
ton for his extraordinary virtuositv
Of an instrument not often exploited
without the other strings Of a
quartet or orchestra
Whether in the broad cantllena
style of the Bach Aria" or the
spectacular brllliancv of the Paea-
nlni Caprice No. "a written orig
inally for the brighter and more
flexible violin the violist stood forth
as an artist of the first water. His
arrangement of the Paganini Ca
price utllizes most of the yaria =
tions with others given to the piano
and eXcenently played by his ac-
companist, Harry Kaufman. The