Milford chronicle., 1961-11-10
Seuford Concert Group
Makes Presentation

The SeafOrd Community Concert
Association opened it's 1961-62 SER
les on pleasant harmonious note
with the appearance of The Serena
ders, male quartet, last week, at
the Seaford High School. This COM
petent vocal group presented a
program of infinite variety, greatly
enjoyed by the audience which
made its pleasure apparent by re-
peated demands for encores.
AS individual artists, each mem
ber of the quartet obliged during
the evening with a solo Offering.
First among these was Erhardt
Roeske, the very able baritone, who
displayed a darkly cOlored, rich
voice in singing an aria from An
drea Chenier by GiOrdano. The
piece gave Mr.. Roeske the OppOr-
tunity to display his ample range,
vocal control, and histriOnics. 1t is
only unfortunate that from the
multitude of beautiful BARTON e
arias, 'Eri Tu", the elder Ger
mont's aria, Rigoletto's seyera
| .
Roeske didn't choose more beau
tiful selection
Howard Marsh, the top tenor OF
the group, made a happier selec-
ton with RudolphO's aria, "Che
Gelida Mamma" from the first act
of Puccini's La Boheme". This is
admirably suited to Mr.. Marsh's
high lyric voice. One need not a.
gree with his overall interpreta-
ton to appreciate his clear, true
tones. Mr.. Marsh has the light lyric
timbre to his voice such as that of
the late Richard Crooks; it is only
when he makes like Mario del
Monaco, that his voice assumes
some stridency and shrillness.
Later in the program Laurence
Gray, the quartet's bassO, sang his
solo, "They Call the Wind Maria !,
from the successful m u c a l,
Paint Your Wagon, of a few
years back. This proved an i'm
pressive sample OF the musician
ship which Mr.. Gray might be ca
pable. His is rich, deep voice of
power and range, coupled with a
pleasing stage presence. 1t would
have been interesting to hear more
from him, perhaps in some Mozart
arias. The bassO, though, doesn't
have the wealth of material to
choose from that his lighter-vofced
contemporaries are blessed with,
so sometimes, he is forced into
Asleep In the Deep, which fell
Mr. Gray's lot among the encores
The tenor lead, and the groups
director, was Ralph Nielsen. His is
a very full and lovely tenor voice.
1t was this reviewers surprise that
he could produce the nice tones he
made with scarcely opening his
mouth. Mr.. Nielsen rendered an old
Richard Tauber favorite, "Dein Ist
Mein Games Herr, (YOurs Is My
Heart Alone), by Lehar, and did it
admirably. His Interpretation was
excellent, his vocal shadings love-
ly, but why he tackled on the un-
necessary high note at the end
when he had already proved him
self is mystery.
With four voices, each OF solo
calibre, it is sometimes difficult to
an excellent quartet blend.
Some of the most satisfying male
quartet music comes from a blend
Of four voices neither OF which
could stand alone. The Serenaders
were impressive througho the
evening, but their most beautifully
blended harmony came in their
Quieter numbers. Drink to Me
Only with Thine Eyes" was q de-
light Their group OF American
folk songs was especially good,
"Cindy" and sWay-
Caring Stranger.
The concert was an obvious sue
cess. The enjoyment OF the audi
ence was made apparent by the