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Show lyMff! - I RECITAL PROVES TO I BE 1 EVENT OE I IMPORTANCE Madam1 Tulla Clausseii. wonderfu! in vocal attainments, stately in fig ure and charming in personality, in-aujrnratf-d a series ot high class mu- Isical recitals for rht- 1014-16 season, a the Ogden Tabernacle last night. The affair may bp said to have marked another epocl) In the lifp ot the Ogden Tabernacle choir and Its musical doings as the effort to in augurate a series of recitals annually, annual-ly, met With complete success. Last night s recital was attended by one of the largest and most cultured cul-tured audiences that ever gathered in the Tabernacle and appreciation of the work of Madame Olaussen, the Tabernacle choir and the acconipan ists (raa made known by enthusiastic jipplause at the close of each number. num-ber. The Belectioti of Madame Claussen ic open the series was an excellent cue for the work last night proved the contralto, ennal to any at present pres-ent before the footlights, or on the concert stage Her singing, too, reminded re-minded one of Schumann-Helnk. in that treat singer's prime. The lower I tones were of the rich deep baritone quality that won fame for Schumann He ink Prom the limit of low regis ter to the expression of highest tones, the elvet qualit never changed. Her breath control was a revelation to the Students of vocal nmslc. as it made possible the portrayal of every type of Interpretative emotion, from the I fines' pianissimo to a display of bril liant dramatic power, without a break 'in the quality of tone. Her posses-1 lon of the remarkable vocal powers pow-ers whn li she displayed last night j hardly surprised her audience after ihe first appearance, for she has all of the physical pre-requisitles of a great singer, and in addition she has had the training thai make the great J urtiM and the personality that makes the popular one She IB eaails approachable and her Impromptu reception to the Ogden i lanernueie rnu.i i. me (.iubu in uio I recital was a most gracious one Madame ClaUBSt ti oiiened her pro-gfam pro-gfam with the Ann from Samson i ami rielllah' by Saint Saens and instantly in-stantly caught the interest of her hearers v. Ith the dignity and finish of her rendition. ' Her Becohd numbers were "Sap-I "Sap-I plsche Ode" (Sappicn ode) bv Brahms; "Traum Durch Die Damm rung' (Dream m the Twilight), I Strauss. Rube Melne Seele.' Strauss land "Leii7. (Spring), Hildach Iri , lie first two. sliced is played the tin lata of the real concert artist, her J great power beiug subdued, and In-I In-I stead tones of exquisite sweetness coming from her lips The third gave opporti;nit for a display of dra-; dra-; matic power and the fourth was I lively number thai delighted every one. .V the cIosp of the groui she was accorded an ovation of applausp that would not be stilled until she j I responded with an encore For thlsl she gave Wagners exquisite "Trau-me," "Trau-me," in a manner that soemed to reach every heart. The Aria from Lp Prophete (Ah, I mons filsi. preceded her second group I of songs, and in the big numbpr, Ma- lame Claussen revealed her power as a grand opera contralto, bringing in-i in-i to display the limits of her wide reg ' ister, suppressed emotion and dramatic dra-matic fire, in a thrilling manner. After t.he applause thr.r. greeted I the rendition died away, she sane a croup of three songs "Molnot" (The 'Cloud) and ".Johrlang Mocht Ieh so i Dlch Halten" (Long Years at the Spring). Sjogren, and 'Rfteraarsstor , me n" ( f iie Autumn Storm), Qrelg These were sung in Swedish, but so ; finished was the interpretation that though but few in the audience understood un-derstood lh words. continued ap plaue at the close of the Grieg number num-ber was eldence that their mean- Ing waB clear. At this point, the singer was again required to respond to an encore call Her response, this time, was made facing the big choir and she sang James B. MacDprmid 'a 1 passionate love song "Sacrament," ; with rare depth of feeling and expression. ex-pression. Her long program was closed with I a group of three English songs and one Spanish. The first English song j was "The Cry of Rachel," by Mary I Turner Salter. The fact that the 1 song was a somewhat familiar one. I made it more deeph appreciated and I its interpretative difficulties wen overcome by the great contralto with startling ease The other two English Eng-lish numbers were "When I Bring to You Colored Toys ' Alden Car-; Car-; penter, and "Little Playmates," Tucj-j Tucj-j field, two charming compositions of a temperamental type. Both were sung with artistic finesse and were well received The closing number !as "Mia Sposa Sara La Mia Ban diera " (My Bride Shall Be My Flag), by Rotoli, and proved so well chosen and sung, that the greater portion of; the audience remained calling for an encore, but the attending confusion caused by others, prevented Madame Claussen from expressing her appreciation appre-ciation in any but the conventional way. j Mr. Larry K. Whipp. Madame Claussen's accompanist, shared In the i success of every number, displaying fine mualclanehip throughout the difficult dif-ficult program and an understanding j of the special art or accompaniment I that has rarely been equaled locally The two accompaniments for the encore en-core songs were played on the pipe ! organ and here Mr. Whipp displayed an especially appreciated knowledge I of hie art, keeping the organ tones in fcubject'.on to those of the singer in a manner that made the renditions exqulBite in perfection The work of the Ogden Tabernacle choir and its reception presages a brilliantly successful season. Upwards Up-wards of 225 members of the organ-izat'on organ-izat'on were In their seats and their singing was evidence that the parts are now as near perfectly balanced as the director could wish for The j director, Joseph Ballantyne. had the j chorus nncier fine control and his di-J rec tlon was masterly. In attack, re-1 lease, phrasing and interpretation, the I j siagers followed his baton with en-I en-I tire confidence and more than this, almost every word sung was clearly distinguished. The numbers sung by the choir were "God Is Our Refuge," from Dudley Buck's "Forty-sixth I'salm," an inspiring sacred chorus; Sleep. Gentle Lady," by Sir H. R. Bishop, a charming lullaby, and The Lord Now Victorious," from the opera Cavalleria Rustlcana. by Mas-cagni. Mas-cagni. Each rendition was received j with an ovation of applause and the last number was repeated in answer to a persistent encore call. In the words of Madame Haussen. I "It Is a Magnificent Chorus When I I heard Its first notes. I thought, 'Ah, here is a great body of singers.' 1 like your choir, to- its ability to give i a big' concert and express 'big' art. ' Mr. Whipp. who is the accorapa- nist of the Houseley chorus of Den- ver, equally delighted with the choir and was unrestrained in his praise. "It is splendidly balanced, its singing is remarkably harmonious attack and release hard to criticise, and possessed pos-sessed of a very unusual power and Quality of tone Had I not known of I'rolV.sHOr Ballantyne, and had seen his work for the first time tonight, to-night, i would have said. 'Here is a brilliant director ' We have all been greatly delighted with xic singing Of the choir and I think It is superior su-perior to most of the mixed choruses in this part of the country. Though all the parts are excellent. I was particularly Impressed with the bass section, which has much real bass in it ..iid not baritone as is usually the case." I he work of Organist Sam P Whit nicer, witn me c noir. was up 10 us usual hif;b standard and to him II due a portion of its success Fred C. Graham, who is working with the choir on the series of re-I re-I Cltals, made a brief addre8S during one of the Intermissions, expressing his appreciation of the co-operation of the- music lovers of the cit. with the choir, himself and Alonzo West, the local manager, for the successful inauguration of the course. At the request of the choir, Madame Ma-dame claussen held an Impromptd reception and after her praise of the choir had been expressed to them by Mr Graham, on account of her not bc-lng very familiar with the English language, Bbje sang "in Bummer Fields," by Brahms, with organ accompaniment ac-companiment by Mr Whipp She was given an ovation by the big chorus and then the accompanist was called for He responded with a few word;-, of appreciation for the choir's sing Ing and then played "Elegy " by Cyril Scott, displaying much ability as a performer |
