Show T MATERNA THE GREAT SOPRANO The Brilliancy Force and ExquIs Ito Effect of her Grand Voice From a criticism inthe San Francisco of Materna in the Post on the appearance Thomas concert we extract the following follow-ing about the noted singer Madame Materna made her bow in the aria from Oberon Ocean Thou Mighty Monster Mon-ster Massive of form and stately Ma terna seemed to fill the stage a she appeared ap-peared dressed in ivorycolored satin lowcut corsage shoulders and arms bare and all ablaze with diamonds Like some mighty gladiator her physical proportions attracted attention at first but when the fiddlers softly led the way and Materna opened her mouth to sing the audience lost their eyes for a time and became all ears Webers music is not easy to understand and is not intelligible to many The few vhs irofess to be able to comprehend its bisrj and bluster and intricacies of noise have invented a cant to express their sensations which is not at the command of ordinary mortals However the piece gave Materna a chance to display the brilliancy force I and exquisite dramatic effect of her grand I soprano voice and it was easy to tee that she at least understood and appreciated the heavy florid music Materna says her chief claim to fame lies in her dramatic matic power Those who heard her last night while admitting the justice of her claim to be considered a great dramatic singer felt that she does herself some injustice in-justice for she is entitled to high fame for that quality generally expressed as sympathetic I is the element of goodness softness and kindness as opposed op-posed to force and strength of passion Her voice superb and it filed the hal last night with noble volumes of sound In some of the passages it was like the rushing roaring sound of the wind through the great pine forests on the mountain sides |