Evening Star Newspaper, March 22, 1931, Page 92

NEW/ O I M ) S welcome as last Wednesday's first s burst of Spring is the news that the National Symphony Orchestra PR of Washington is rapidly emerg- { ing from fiction into fact. The - various committees which have been formed « throughout the city to promote what has been _ a crying need in the Nation’s Capital, report . that many music lovers are answering the . financial call to arms and have swelled the fund to half the amount required to permit a . symphony orchestra of 75 men. ‘ Hans Kindler, the energetic music chief, , through whose personal maneuvgrings a sym- - phonic goal may be reached, in town during . the week, seemed vastly pleased with the head- » way which has been made. Although a half- ¢ way mark in such a short campaign is an indi- . cation of enthusiasm on the part of ‘the sub- % scribers, he admits that the final half will be : the hardest and will need much buckling down to a good old grind for everybody concerned. As plotted now in the chart of this hop:d-for ».organization in a statement issued to the guar- antors of the season of 1931-1932 by the Or- % ganization Committee, which includes such prominent names as Nicholas Longworth, . George Hewitt Mpyers, Walter Bruce Howe, . Myron Whitney and Corcoran Thom, an almost _ jdeal symphony season is assured. “During the - season 1931-1932 the orchestra will give eight * symphony, eight popular and eight children’s _ concerts during a scason of 16 weeks. A sym- pheny concert in one week will be followed by . a popular and a children’s concert the next ; week throughout the season. The schedules * Will be arranged to avoid interference with the " desirable visits of orchestras from other cities.” * Purther news of interest is the fact that this organization will be assisted by a finance .committee as sound as the Rock of Gibraltar. “. Robert V. Fleming will serve as treasurer of this and the managerial reins will be held by Mrs. ““Wilson Greene. George F. Gaul will be the personal manager. ~ " wWith such a group of committeemen there is little wonder that Mr. Kindler's long- _ cherished scheme is emerging gradually out of * the clouds. One should like to express a hope 7 that by June 1, which is the last day of the . campaign, Washington may at last throw out its chest and pull an embyonic symphony or- % ohestra out of its pocket. v & FR.OM EDWARD JOHNSON, the excellent ¥ tenor, who has created the title role of “Peter Ibbetson” with such skill, comes a story which he calls, “As I See Peter Ibbetson.” This ¢ should be of interest to the many who, by . their anxiely to get the best of the seats for +¢ this opera, have been crowding the offices of . Mrs. Wilson-Greene. It is herewith reproduced, ¢ in part: «I feel that it is the studious duty of an in- ! terpreter of an operatic role to take himself _ out of the way and let the composer and - librettist be his main inspiration. Every . operatic singer should relegate his interpreta- . tion to the rhythm and tempo of the minds of * those who created them, and so conform tosthe ¢ material in hand. This I have striven to do faithfully with Peter Ibbetson. “Peter, to me at least, is the supreme role - of all that T have had the privilege of creating. + In delicacy and sensitiveness it is the most - sympathetic. You see, I had known Peéter very - well, long before the opera was thought of. I " had often read the Du Maurier book and loved . it as a story. So that when I was given the : opera to learn it was like meeting an old friend. " I just helped Peter from the poetical and dra- " matic place in my mind iato the musical place « which Mr, Taylor had created for him. .- “The opera is different from the usual. It © is a new venture and its speaks a new language “" in the history of operatic evolution. It is the first idea in the form of opera that goes into < the mental or spiritual side of existence. Even ~ as a play, it antedates those metaphysical plays ¢ soutward Bound,’ ‘Berkeley Square’ and the « several Barrie plays. * wrhe lbretto is very deftly and characteristi- “ cally described by Deems Taylor, both in the melodic line and in a typically rich Taylor . orchestration. He has provided a splendid piece of work, @eamy and strong, a rare combina- ‘ tion. It is a mixture of a strong dramatic story * which could be happening today as well as in ‘the nineteenth century, and it is interwoven with such delicate poetry and wistfulness that it must have an appeal for every one from one angle or the other.” Marine Band Concerts. THE concert schedule by the United States J Marine Band and Orchestra for the coming week will be as follows: Monday, at 4 pm, band concert; Wednesday, at 8 p.m., orches- tral concert; Friday at 3 p.m., orchestral con- cert. The Wednesday night concert will be featured by a solo by Musician Frank Schumm. The concerts will be given in the auditorium a8t the Marine Barracks, under the direction of Capt. Taylor Branson, leader. £ SIDNEY SEIDENMAN and his concert or- chestra will play another Sunday evenirg program tenight in the Palm Court of th: Hotel Mayflower commencing at 8:45 o'clock. The program includes: “Orpheus,” Offenbach; “Thé Beautiful Blue Danube,” Strauss; “The New Moon,”. Romberg; “Tales of Hoffman,” Offen- bach; “Fantasie from Faust,” Gounod. - A PROGRAM rangirg from Mozart to Lehar A will be presented this evening by the Lowe-Nevins Concert Orchestra in the lounge of the Shoreham Hotel between 7:15 and 9. ‘The program includes: “Phedre,” Massenet; “Vienna Blut,” Strauss; excerpts “Count of Luxemburg,” Lehar; “Minuet,” Mozart; “Un- finished Symphony,” Shubert; “Rondo Capric- ¢loso,” Mendelssohn. THE SUNDAY : STAR, WASHINGTON, -D. C, MARCH 22, - 1931, Prominent Local Artists in Week’s Recitals. Misses Lowe, Ware, Rybier and National String Quartet Featured. 7 Lawrence Tibbett as Col. Ibbetson in the Deems Taylor opera coming here in April, surrounded by artists prominent in the week’s recitals: Upper left, Fjeril Hess; upper right, Mary M. Burnett; lower left, Marjorie Lowe, lower right, Felicia Rybier. other “evening cf music” this Thursday at 8:20 pm. The program for this concert is unusually interesting. Mar- jorie Lowe, soprano; John Wiggins, pianist, with Marion Rozier, acccmpanist, will be the featured artists. - Miss Lowe will sing groups of songs from various nations, in costume. Mr. Wiggins, a well known pianist of Boston, is making his initial appearance here in re- cital, THE University Club is sponsoring an- NOTHER interesting recital of the week is to be given at the Carltcn Hote] Wednes- day at 8:30 p.m.,, by Felicia Rybier, pianist. The program will include selections by Bach, Couperin, Searlatti, Brahms, Beethoven, Chopin, Debussy, Scriabine and Moussorgsky. ON Friday at 8:30 p.m. the Chappel concert management has announced that Helen Ware, violinist, with Louis Potter at the plano, will be presented in recital at Barker Hall. The program will include the -Leclair “Sonata,” the Vieuxtemps “Ccncerto in D Minor,” and selections by Beethoven, Mozart, Wieniawski, Zsolt, Joachim-Brahms and Sarasate. ELPINE DESIO, well known blind cellist, is being presented in recital this afternoon at 3:30 pm. by the Polylechnic Institute for the Blind, at the Hamilton Hotel. Miss Desio has appeared in recital here before as well as in Boston, New York, Philadelphia and other cities of the East. 3 FJERIL HESS, who is known for her costume programs of folk songs of many peoples, will sing two unusual groups of songs Thurs- day night, when she appears for the first time in Washington as guest soloist with the Eliza- beth Somers Glee Club, in its fourth annual concert, in Barker Hall of the Young Women’s Christian Association. Miss Hess' first group includes folk songs of Latvia, Finland, Russia, Poland and the Ukraine, and her second group offers songs from Czechoslovakia. She will use the taro patch, a stringed instrument, and will translate the songs. Alta Smith, soprano, a member of the Glee Club, will appear as soloist with the club, sing- ing the obbligato, in Cesar Franck's “Panis Angelicus” (O Bread of Life), from the “Messe Sononelle,” for which the choral version used has been made by Victor Harris. The Glee Club, under the direction of Mary M. Burnett, with Helen Middleton as accompanist, will be heard in two Grieg numbers, “Elfin Dance” and “The First Primrose”; a thirteenth cen- tury folk song of England by John of Fornsete, “A Slumber Song,” by Alexander Gretchaninoff, and folk songs of Finland and Russia. ORGAN and choral music from Wagner's opera, “Parsifal,” will be featured in the presentation of the Lenten drama, “Galahad,” to be given three nights this week at Luther Place Memorial Church. The soloist ensemble, directed by Otto Torney Simon, and the Young Peoples’ Unit of National City Christian Church will be heard in the final chorus, taken from the opera. In the opening scenes the soloist ensemble will be heard in several num- bers by Bach, Rachmaninoff and Kastalsky, and in the later scenes the National City Church Choir will be heard in old English plain songs. Walter Nash will preside at the organ for all three presentations of “Galahad,” for which the entire musical setting has been arranged by Gertrude McRae Nash. : At the conclusion of the drama-legend members of the Caroline McKinley Studio will present a symbolic dance on the release of Gal- ahad and the achievement of the grail. Singers in the soloists’ ensemble are Mary Apple, Fran- ces Van Den Bogert, Eva Jane Bright, Rose Bright, Lillian Brousseau, Helen Burton, Louise Cogswell, D’Anna Donnelly, Hazel Gem Hughes, Edna Marle Jones, Lucy Greene Lynch, Jean Ethel Munn, Mary O'Donoghue, Ida Willis Seaton, Mary R, Turner and Lillian Adelaide Watson. Singers from the National City Chris- tian Church are Audrey Dean, Esther Bradley, Elsle Green, Eula Kissle, Gladys Prince, Eliza~- beth Scanland, Frances Smither, Emily Tooley, Margaret Weltner, Janet Jackson, Helen Bur- ton, Alma Allen, Ernest Ropes, David Sandow, E. H. Fortney, Walter Pagan, Evan Wilder, Dallas Battan, Guy Wade and Harold Rusk. TI-I! Washington Hotel Orchestra, under the direction of Abilio Martins, will offer the following numbers in the Sunday evening con- cert beginning at 6:30 o'clock: “Princesse Juane,” Saint-Saens; “Vienna Woods,” Strauss; “Traume,” Richard Wagner; “Adagio Pathe- tique,” Godard; “Girl Crazy,” two Hungarian dances, Brahms; “Fete Arabe,” Berge; “Car men,” Biset, ; ' O M usig’raphs RANCES GUTELIUS will present Walter Drummond Swank, pianist, assisted by Helen Donofrio, soprano, in recital at the Arts Club on Saturday evening at 8 o'clock. Evelyn Scott, violinist, assisted by Marjorie G. Davis at the piano, will present & program of music at the Women’s City Club Thursday at 8:30 pm. A musical progrcm was presented at the St. Patrick’s day dinner at the Women'’s City Club last Tuesday. Among thos: in the program were Mrs. R. F. Couch, Catherine Weber, Ruth Hansford Snodgrass, Gertrude Walter and George Cowles. At a meeting dedicated to Robert Schumann, given by the German Literary Soclety last eve- ning at the home of its president, Anita Schade, the soloists were Frances Gutelius and Dorothy Sherman Pierson. The Friday Morning Music Club will present the National String Quartet and Alice Finckel, pilanist, in the Cesar Franck Quintet next Fri- day. This replaces the program scheduled for Anita Schade, reader; Grete von Bayer, pianist, and Richard Lorleberg, cellist, The Tuesday evening rehearsal of the Wash- ington Choral Festival Association will be held in the armory of the Central -Community Cen- ter March 24. Singers are requested to use the Eleventh and Thirteenth street entrances. The Felicia Rybier Music Club will hold its next rehearsal tomorrow at 8:30 p.m. Mrs. Lunceford Oliver, soprano, a pupil of Dorothy Neff Tyler of the Washington College of Music, sang at a meeting of the Missionary Society of the Church of the Covenani last ‘Wednesday evening. The Nocturne Club of the Washington Col- lege of Music held a meeting last Tuesday eve= ning, at which a discussion of the tendencies of the modernists in music versus the classicists brought out examples prepared by Grace Powell, . Aurlie Beck, Celeste Pelton and Bernadette Barth. Illustrations of modern composers for piano were played by Norman Frauenheim of the piano faculty of the college, Edith Athey has been elected president of . the Washington Alumnae Club of Mu Phi Epsilon, national honorary musical sorority. Ruby Smith Stahl will leave the city tomore row for a 10 days’ concert tour in Michigan. She will give a recital for the St. Cecilia Club of Grand Rapids and for the Colony Club of Detroit. Gene Stewart will give the formal opening organ recital on the new organ recently in- stalled in the Presbyterian Church in Ballston, Va. Ethel Lynn Fast, coloratura soprano, will be the soloist in a Spring fantasy called “The Poet’s Garden,” to be presented by the Wash- ington Readers’ Club Tuesday evening at Pierce Hall. Eva Whitford Lovette will accompany Mrs. Fast. Warren F. Johnson will give an organ re- " eital at the Church of the Pligrims at 7:30 o'clock this evening. He will play “Overture in C Minor” (Mansfield), “Sempre Semplice™ and “Canzona in A Minor” by Karg-Elert and Stanford’s “Epithalamium.” Charles Trowbridge Tittmann, bass, will assist Lewis Atwater, organisf, in the final program of the 5 o'clock serizs, to be held this afternoon at All Souls’ Church, Unitarian. The Capital City Choristers, Dorothy Radde Emery conducting, will give a program of music at Walter Reed Hospital this afternoon at 3 p.m. under the auspices of the American Goid Star Mothers. ‘ Nadine Smith, young radio singer, will sing a solo at the Sunday school service of the Continued on Twenty-second Page BESSIE N. WILD Veoice Culture, Piano and Harmeny Studio, 6824 5th st.. Takoma Park, D. O. PHONE 3233, e PHONE GEORGIA 3233, Miss Ruth Grandstaff Voice Restorer and Teacher THE HIGHLANDS, North 1240 "GEORGE E. MILLER Presents A GROUP OF PUPILS in a PIANO RECITAL Assist y Ina Holtmhei‘tu, Soprano Catliorine Gross, Contralte BARKER HALL Y. W. C. A, BUILDING K St. at 17th . Wednesday Evening, March 25th At Eight-thirty The Public Is Invited