Scan 8
Musical Courier 1927-06-16: Vol 94 Iss 24, 1927
39 lines. Read by computer on 29 September 2026. Printed page 9. See the scan on archive.org.
1June 16, 1927
3Anna DeCew's Graduation Recital
4An excellent young pianist is Anna DeCew, pupil of Arthur Friedheim at the New York School of Music and Arts, Raffe Leech Sterner, director. She demonstrated this at her graduation recital May 26 at the school, which was filled to hear her play music by Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt and Schumann. There was good taste, beauty of tone and repose in the opening Andante Favori (Beethoven); singing tone and fluent technic in Gondoliera (Liszt), with poetry of expression in his second Love Dream, in E minor, and a final burst of brilliancy in the tarantella. With Arthur Friedheim playing the second piano, she closed her recital with the first movement from Schumann's concerto, playing with elan and feeling. Earnest student, sincere and of unusual balance, the young Miss DeCew (she is but eighteen) certainly has a future, and should occupy a prominent position in her mid-western home, for she has a very good soprano voice, also playing the organ well. She now takes the Teachers' Course, as post-graduate, along with many new pupils, one coming from the Panama Canal Zone.
6The summer course at the Sterner institution has begun, marking the twenty-fifth year, and of the various courses there presented, the six weeks' summer term is very well patronized, the enrollment overflowing the school; additional dormitory accommodations have been provided however. Director Sterner announces that Prof. Riesberg of the faculty will give a special lecture on Technic and Interpretation. June 9, Robert Leibing, pianist, will give a piano recital, playing solos and (with his teacher) works for two pianos; four young singers will assist, they being Dorothy Heyden, Katherine Muldoon, Elizabeth Street and Katharine Taylor.
8Recent school news announced graduating recitals April 29 and May 9 in The College of the Ozarks, Arkansas, where Blanche Kelley and Virginia Poynor, themselves graduates of the New York School of Music and Arts, are instructors in music.
10Critical Opinion of Lillian Gustafson's Art
11Lillian Gustafson returned from her recent appearances at the Halifax Festival with so many newspaper clippings commenting on her success that it would be impossible to reproduce all of them at the present time. However, the splendid impression she created may be summed up in the following salient statement from the Halifax Evening Mail: "We can confidently say that Miss Gustafson is one of the finest sopranos that Halifax audiences have had the pleasure of listening to." Following Miss Gustafson's appearance with the Truro Choral Society in Mendelssohn's St. Paul and other numbers, her success was registered as follows by the Truro Daily News: "Miss Gustafson was heard in the oratorio in some fine recitative work, especially in the description of Saul's recovery of sight; also in the ravishing solo, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets. Miss Gustafson delighted the audience with her charm of voice and manner. Mozart's Alleluia was the 'big' number in her group in the second part and it received a rendering worthy of it. What more can we say? O, No, John—a charming old English folksong—and a Norwegian folksong, Echo Song, found Miss Gustafson in an atmosphere which proved her Scandinavian descent." When Miss Gustafson appeared at the Keene, N. H., Festival in Cavalleria Rusticana, the Keene Evening Sentinel declared that "Miss Gustafson, in the role of Santuzza, immediately made a favorable impression upon her audience, and with her excellent soprano voice superbly sang the difficult part assigned her in this opera. It was plain to be seen that she is a singer of experience and poise and knows how to use her powers so that the music will be interpreted by the audience as a study of character as well as dramatic appeal." Miss Gustafson was equally well received when she appeared in solos on the following afternoon, May 13. "Lillian Gustafson was given much appreciative applause," said the Harrisburg Telegraph on the day after the soprano's appearance with the Ward-Stephens Male Chorus of Pennsylvania. "Her voice is pure and flexible and she made an excellent impression."
13Perfield Teaching Wins Recognition
14Mabel Corey Watt, with studios for normal teaching in Brooklyn and also an exponent of the Effa Ellis Perfield method, found great satisfaction in the success of Janet Neale, eleven-year-old student. Miss Janet, who has been under the guidance of Helen Dorey, associated with Mrs. Watt, won the district and borough contest in piano playing on May 23. She played from memory, thus getting an extra award in the form of a star above the medal. Her selections were the Mozart A major sonata and the Chopin Valse in D flat. The little girl thus was entitled to enter the Interborough contest for the gold medal the week of June 6. There were fifteen children on the program in this class ranging in age from ten to fourteen years, and as they all played very well Miss Janet had plenty of competition. When Mrs. Watt introduced herself to the judge she had the pleasure of hearing him say—"I know you; you use the Perfield method."
16Sigurd Nillsen to Visit Seagle Colony
17Sigurd Nillsen, basso, an Oscar Seagle pupil, is known both in the concert and operatic fields. He sings leading bass roles for the Philadelphia and Washington opera companies and is praised for his fine voice, artistry and impressive personality. Mr. Nillsen always is to be found at the Seagle Colony in the Adirondacks for at least part of each summer.
19if
20—she has charm as well as voice,
21—she be a musician as well as a singer,
22—she can sing important works, and it need be without a rehearsal—then, is she the kind of a singer to linger in the hearts and minds of her audiences and command the appreciation and respect of conductors.
24DICIE HOWELL
25SOPRANO
26has in instant readiness, the following:
27MISSA SOLEMNIS …………………………………………..BEETHOVEN
28NINTH SYMPHONY …………………………………………BEETHOVEN
29B MINOR MASS ……………………………………………..BACH
30ST. MATTHEW PASSION ………………………………….BACH
31REQUIEM …………………………………………………….BRAHMS
32REQUIEM …………………………………………………….VERDI
33DAMNATION DE FAUST ………………………………….BERLIOZ
34ELIJAH — MESSIAH — CREATION — STABAT MATER
35also
36A VERY IMPRESSIVE CONCERT REPERTOIRE
37Available singly, or in conjunction with Lotta Van Buren in a costume program of Tudor music accompanied by old key board instruments.
38DIRECTION—CATHARINE A. BAMMAN, 50 WEST 46th ST., NEW YORK CITY
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