Scan 24
Musical Courier 1897-11-03: Vol 35 Iss 922, 1897
54 lines. Read by computer on 23 September 2026. Printed page 25. See the scan on archive.org.
1Sophia Markee.
3TO portray a living personality with either brush or pen is always a difficult task. Still more difficult is the task when the subject of the sketch possesses a magnetic charm which quite defies portrayal. It was once said of a celebrated woman that in order to describe her the pen should be dipped in sunshine; the remark is particularly applicable to Mrs. Markee, for in order to describe her the pen should be dipped in American sunshine, not German, French or Italian, but American, warm, cheering and inspiring.
5The American public has long believed that it is essential to success for a singer to go abroad to study and absorb the much talked of musical atmosphere, and while abroad to procure a public hearing so as to be surrounded on return with some fancied halo of real or reputed success. THE MUSICAL COURIER has for a long time pointed out that necessary training can be gained at home, and that to preliminary home instruction is frequently due successes gained abroad. The truth of this theory is exemplified in the career of Mrs. Sophia Markee. The list of recent successes indeed is not complete without her name. The West has given to America many superior musicians, but so far none superior to this phenomenal soprano.
7In some respects the career of this artist differs from that of the average singer. Her attention was first concentrated upon instrumental music, and so proficient did she become that she made many highly creditable appearances in concert, her repertory including the compositions of Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Liszt and Chopin. The wide range of musical knowledge thus acquired has been an unmistakable advantage to Mrs. Markee, as it has not only enabled her to play the most difficult accompaniments with ease, but has aided in giving her that poetic insight which is shown with such telling effect in a varied and extensive repertory. After discovering that she was the possessor of a superior quality of voice, with a remarkable range, she devoted her energies to its cultivation, and owing to her previous musical attainments she has advanced rapidly to a foremost place in American musical art.
9Although she has never visited Europe, she already surpasses, in the estimation of critics, many who have studied with masters abroad, and absorbed the so-called musical atmosphere.
11When she went to Boston 'n 1895 she speedily became identified with the best musical circles of that city, her attractive appearance, her talents and her voice winning for her at once the recognition which she deserved. Her voice is a clear, pure soprano, brilliant and flexible in floriture, full, round and sweet in the middle register, and throughout its entire compass evenly developed, the compass extending from low A to E in altissimo.
13In singing the brilliant arias from the standard operas and oratorios she has met with the same appreciation that has attended her charming interpretation of French and English songs. In these latter her ability to paint song pictures is manifest, especially when she gave an entire program of Grieg, Jensen, Schumann or modern American composers, which she has often done without assistance, playing her own accompaniments.
15Mrs. Markee's strikingly handsome appearance upon the concert stage is one undoubted element of her success. She wins the audience before she sings a note, seeming to draw them toward her by the power of her musical temperament and her generous sympathetic nature. These same qualities attract to her in social life, wherever she may be, a host of warm personal friends. She belongs to an old and much respected Indiana family and is a member of the national Daughters of the American Revolution, being a descendant of General Warren, of Bunker Hill fame. Mrs. Markee is well educated, interested in all important questions of the day and in all matters pertaining to general culture.
17Her first concert appearance this season will be under the auspices of the Arion Club, of Providence, R. I., where she has been engaged to sing the Skylark part in the "Swan and Skylark," by Goring Thomas. A tribute to her voice and ability is the fact that she was engaged by Mr. Jules Jordan, conductor and composer, as soon as he had heard her sing the part at Worcester, after it had been sung during the festival. A few press notices are appended concerning her appearance in Boston and other cities.
19The professional début of Mrs. Sophia Markee was eminently satisfactory. She has a clear soprano voice of good range and of high artistic quality.—Chicago Despatch.
21Mrs. Markee appeared with "Chanson Provençale" before her expectant audience. We experienced a pleasant surprise in beholding a tall, stately and handsome woman crowned with a head of really classic beauty. Already prepossessed by her appearance, her singing made a still more favorable impression and aroused the audience to a pitch of enthusiasm. She possesses a soprano voice of great capacity in the lower as well as the upper regis'—a warmth of tone combined with a flowing coloratura technic. At the same time her organ was of bewitching sweetness.
23To judge from yesterday's performance, we can sincerely affirm that in the technical realm of music Mrs. Markee has proved herself a finished singer of the first order.—Chicago Staats Zeitung.
25Sophia Markee, soprano, was introduced to a Chicago audience as the vocal soloist of the evening. It is a matter for local pride that she is a Chicagoan and has never studied abroad. She has a fine presence and a brilliant high soprano voice, which has been highly cultivated, and her notes are clear, sweet, of penetrating power, and brilliant in the upper register.—Chicago Inter-Ocean.
27Mrs. Markee sang the aria from mad scene in "Hamlet" with good vocal effect. Her voice is flexible and her runs and trills true.—Boston Globe.
29Mrs. Markee has a sweet soprano voice of excellent quality and flexibility.—Boston Herald.
31The prima donna, Sophia Markee, possesses a soprano voice powerful in tone, perfect in modulation and of wide register. She received call after call, but the audience was disappointed in the fact that she merely bowed her acknowledgments.—Omaha World-Herald.
33Sophia Markee, a new soprano who has won considerable reputation, appeared in Dell' Acqua's "Chanson Provençale" and the mad scene from "Lucia." She has a remarkably large and brilliant voice, which is at all times musical, and she sings with great ease.—Kansas City Journal.
35Mrs. Markee possesses a voice of singular purity, combined with facile technic, which is very evenly developed and in the upper register enables her to trill with ease. Her aria from "Mignon" brought her enthusiastic applause.—Davenport Demokrat.
37Mrs. Markee, who made her first appearance before a Denver audience, is an American who has never visited Europe to study, yet her remarkable voice, over which she has absolute control, entitles her to stand in the first rank of American prima donnas. Her selections last evening were exquisitely rendered.—Denver News.
39Mrs. Markee has a voice of wonderful purity, full, round and sweet in every note; a voice which gives one the rare satisfaction of feeling that natural gifts have been thoroughly developed, with no suggestion of either immaturity or overwork, and she uses it with intelligence.—Burlington Hawkeye.
41Mrs. Sophia Markee assisted, giving two selections. Never before had this talented artist such an opportunity of showing to a Worcester audience the comprehensiveness of her sweet and rich voice, and she made the most of the occasion, so much so that she scored a distinct success, more especially in her selection from Joseph Haydn's "The Creation." Mrs. Markee has made her mark in Worcester as a soprano of the first class, and last night the audience gave her a deserved compliment in the only encore of the evening.
43Her first number was Hamilton Gray's "A Dream of Paradise," and the audience sat spellbound as the artist portrayed in words and melody the feeling of the one from whose brain the music and words were evolved. But it was in "With Verdure Clad" that her fine range of voice was heard to best advantage. The audience marked its appreciation by the cordiality of its applause, and Mrs. Markee acknowledged the compliment with a bow and smile.—Worcester Telegram.
45Concert of the Jeanne Franko Trio.
47DESPITE the strong counter-attraction of Sembrich's reappearance at the Metropolitan Opera House on the same evening, a large audience greeted the Jeanne Franko Trio at its first concert, in Chickering Hall, on Tuesday, October 26. From an artistic standpoint the playing of the trio was a decided success. The ensemble was well-nigh perfect, the shading and tonal balance left nothing to be desired, and the interpretation of both the Frugatta and the Raff trios was in every respect musically.
49Madame Franko's tone, while not large, is pure and sympathetic, and her playing reveals an artistic temperament. The excellence of the work of Hans Kronold, the 'cellist, is so well known as to scarcely require comment. Especially noteworthy and deserving of the warmest praise was the playing of Celia Schiller. The piano part was never once unduly prominent, yet the delicacy, the precision, and above all the singing legato of the accompaniment, made her work noticeable. The trio in A minor by Giuseppe Frugatta is a somewhat trivial composition, of which the adagio movement is the best. The fugghetta of the presto lent dignity to the final movement, but was not of sufficient strength to make the work either profound or scholarly. In striking contrast was the Raff trio (op. 155), with its rich harmonies, melodious themes and masterly counterpoint.
51Sarah Martin Gribbin, a soprano whose voice is light, but of pleasing quality, sang "Chanson d'Avril," by Bizet, and as an encore "Summer," by Chaminate, rather amateurishly. Carl Bernhard sang two selections from the cycle of the "Trompeter Von Sakkingen," which were announced on the program as a first production. Mr. Bernhard sang smoothly and with expression, but the compositions were a disappointment. The encore, a ballad by Molloy, was not in keeping with the character of the concert.
53Herbert Wilber Greene Lectures.—A lecture on "The Development of the American Song" was delivered by Mr. Herbert Wilber Greene at Grammar School No. 51 on West Forty-fourth street, Thursday evening, October 21. The lecture was one of the regular popular course arranged by the Board of Education of this city. It follows the early history of music in a very interesting manner, and is calculated to awaken the minds of young students to take pride in the music and musical achievements of our own country. Mr. Greene was very happy in his vocal illustrations of songs from the early Puritan period, and Miss Heywood's selections from the modern composers were sung with exquisite taste. The lecture was enthusiastically received by the large audience present.
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.