Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
school picnic dressed as the Queen of Sheba.
I sent the march back to the gentleman with
the remark that if any one attempted to
keep step to his harmonic display I felt con-
fident he would be attacked with astigmatism
of the pedal extremities.
American composers during the last sixty
years have contributed an enormous num-
ber of beautiful melodies to the musical
storehouse of the people, and is it too much
to say that a nation which has produced men
who have sung of war and sung of love,
sung of home and sung of nature, shall not
produce composers who will depict scenes
and create dramatic effects as yet unknown
to the composers of the Old World?
MISS HANNAH L KEENE.
JVA LSS HANNAH L. KEENE, who has
appeared with great success through-
out the country in concert, has been secured
by Manager Charles L. Young for the com-
ing season. Miss Keene has a lyric-soprano
voice of wide range, and the critics have said
her high F is as perfect as the high C of
other sopranos. It is said, moreover, that
Miss Keene has vaulted into the unexplored
range of the time-honored soprano with re-
sults calculated to turn some favored con-
traltos green with envy. We shall know
how much truth there is in all this within
a few months. We have satisfactory as-
surances that she is an accomplished singer
J»
AMERICAN GIRLS IN PARIS.
A T the recent concert given by Mme.
* * Marchesi in Paris, a feature of the af-
fair was the number of American girls who
were selected to sing. Margaret Claire, of
Atlanta, Ga., scored a triumph in a delicate
rendering of "Linda di Chamounix." She
possesses a sweet soprano voice and her ex-
ecution was perfct. Gertrude Conrad, of
Philadelphia, has a fine contralto voice. Lucie
Lenoir, of Cleveland, has a mezzo-soprano
and commands a wonderful range. Her
rich, clear full voice was heard to advan-
tage.
Other charming singers were Claudia
Hockenhull, of Boston, Lou Ormsby, of
Omaha, Kathryn Coven, of Charleston, Eliz-
abeth Parkinson, of Kansas City, Mo., and
Ellen Beach Yaw, of San Francisco. M.
Hannebains, of the opera company, accom-
panied Miss Yaw on the flute in an aria
from "Lucia di Lammermoor." The sing-
er's voice and the notes of the flute blended
in such perfect harmony that it was almost
impossible to distinguish one from the other.
Miss Parkinson's exquisite soprano voice
and the style and finish of her acting mark
her as a coming prima donna.
The Misses Hockenhull, Conrad and
Ormsby did not follow the prejudice of some
Southern girls, who refused to sing with
Miss Lenoir, who has negro blood. One of
the most applauded pieces was the rendition
by the Misses Lenoir, Hockenhull and Con-
rad of the trio from "The Magic Flute."
1\A RS. JESSICA DE WOLF, the cele-
***• brated soprano, is the subject of a
most flattering notice in the St. Paul Des-
patch. Commenting on her success, it says:
"St. Paul is deservedly proud of Mrs. De
Wolf and of her splendid artistic develop-
ment—a development which has commanded
attention in several foreign cities, as well
as in the East and West in America. We
are still more proud of the fact that this
development has been obtained very largely
under a St. Paul teacher, Miss Liela A.
Breed."
TF Camillo Bellaigne, a Parisian musical
^ critic, is to be believed, Mazzini discovered
the principles of Wagnerism before Wag-
ner himself! He declares "there is not a
truth in the new faith, the faith so complete-
ly German, of which an Italian has not felt
the mysterious approach and, in advance,
the exact definition."
MISS HANNAH KEENE, SOPRANO.
and a genuine artist. She has an extensive
repertoire of operatic selections and orato-
rios. An exchange says:
" Miss Hannah Keene then took the company by storm with
the Waltz Song from 'Romeo and Juliet,' Gounod. Her per-
formance was at once a delight and a surprise. She has a voice
of unusual power and musical quality and she rendered the dif-
ficult selection with an case and appreciation that indicated the
true artist. Responding to the loud applause Miss Keene
charmingly rendered Denza's 'May Morning.' The same
young lady had also a piano number, a polonaise by Chopin,
which she played with a power and skill that said much for her
instruction. Miss Keene is destined to become a striking per-
sonality in musical circles."
" At the Philharmonic rehearsal last evening Miss Keene sang
the very difficult l Shadow Song ' from the opera of ' Dinorah '
by Meyerbeer. The Song is of great range and ambition, the
longest composition in the opera, so that, its memorization (for
Miss Keene sang without music) was in itself a wonderful thing
on the part of the young lady. The hearers were delighted with
the tone and quality of her voice, its freshness and strength as
'well as the ease of execution that she possessed, contain'ng as it
does such promise for future development. Her voice took high
F with reasonable force. Encored she sang with delightful
appreciation 'Four Leaf Clover,' Brownell."—The Courier Ga-
zette.
i'That of Chaminade's 'Summer' sung by Miss Hannah L.
Keene, deserved special mention. She is a young artist with a
most promising future."—Brooklyn Citizen.
" Miss Hannah L. Keene who returned to Rrooklyn recently,
delighted a very appreciative audience on the Carroll Park
Heights by singing Chaminade's 'Summer.' '1 he style in which
this none-too-easy selection was rendered gives promise of a
bright future for ihe young lady,"—American Business Woman.
" Miss Keene, a young aspirant, did remarkable execution in
this her first appearance here, taking high F with ease, strength
and beauty."—The Statesman.
" Miss Keene has a great future before her, having a phe-
nomenal range; she sings the G above the high C with appar-
ent ease."—The Statesman.
" The members of the Philharmonic Society were delighted
Thursday evening to listen to the singing of Miss Hannah
Keene. Miss Keene's voice exhibits the earnest work that she
has expended upon its cultivation since she sang here a year
ago. Her first song was ' Printemps ' a valse chantee by Stern,
a mo« elaborate and difficult composition, which Miss Keene
rendered with extraordinary brilliancy and ease, using the
French words instead of the translation. Enthusiastically re-
called she sang Foote's charming and plaintive ' I ' m wearing
awa' to the Land o' the Leal,' and on a second recall ' Daisies'
by Hawley, a dainty conceit in marked contrast to the other sel-
ections. Besides a voice of wonderful sweetness, power and
reach, Miss Keene has a sympathetic manner and a striking per-
sonal beauty that contribute to the delight of an audience. We
look to see this young lady go to far heights."—The Gazette.
STANFORD'S NEW OPERA.
' T H E merits of Villiers Stanford's opera,
"Much Ado About Nothing," which
was recently performed for the first time
in Covent Garden, London, continues to be
a subject for discussion. Many proclaim
it a disappointing work. It is conceded that
the first two acts are very clever, although
the two numbers of the score that attracted
most attention at the first performance were
in the second half of the opera. The lighter
character of the score in the earlier scenes
is said to be quite in the vein of comic opera,
and with the accompanying action seemed
better suited to a theatre like the Savoy
than to the large auditorium of Covent Gar-
den. There is little enthusiasm in the re-
views of the work, and one finds in its place
evidences of a valiant attempt to do every-
thing possible for a native composer who has
been fortunate enough to have his opera
sung at England's nearest approach to a
national opera house, although Ernest Van
Dyck did call it recently a "salon" and not
a theatre. Suzanne Adams as "Hero" was
about the most successful of all the perform-
ers, and the music of "Beatrice," written for
a high soprano, was not suited to Marie
Brema's voice, although she was dramati-
cally effective in a high degree. David
Bispham's total lack of humor interfered
with his success as "Benedick." The opera
is considered inferior to the same composer's
"Shamus O'Brien." It is his fifth operatic
work. "The Canterbury Pilgrims," "Sa-
vonarola" and "The Veiled Prophet" were
his preceding efforts. The last act with its
introduction of "Dogberry" is regarded as
the weakest part of the opera, John Coates,
who used to sing here in musical farce,
was the "Claudio." The text makes slight
pretence to follow the original play, al-
though the Shakespearean language is used
when possible. Verdi's "Falstaff" is said
to be the admitted model for the work.
THE KLINGENFELD PUPILS IN RECITAL
June 13th, the Klingenfeld College
of Music gave its closing concert,
which was participated in by the pupils ex-
clusively. In all three branches—violin, pia-
no and vocal—thorough and conscientious
work was in evidence, and, taking into con-
sideration the fact that many of the pupils
never before had played in public, one and
all acquitted themselves in capable form, and
their work was well appreciated by those
who were present. The little gentlemen,
Masters Smith, Christensen and Langstaff
were especially commended. Master Lang-
staff is the son of Dr. and Mrs. Elliott Lang-
staff, who are well known in Brooklyn as
leaders in all educational and charitable en-
terprises, and, though suffering with ex-
treme nervousness, he showed a remarkable
quality of voice in his low registers for one
so young and frail looking, and will cer-
tainly be a most promising singer in the fu-
ture. Those who excelled were Mr. A.
Bunker in his mandolin and violin solos,
also Miss Perry in her first piano solo, and
Miss Taylor with her dignified renderings
of a romanza by Henselt. Last, but not
least, were: Mr. P. F, Kane, who has a
robust tenor, and sang the Aria from "Faust"
most artistically, also the violin solos by
Mr. J. C. Koch, Jr.