Moulton Concert: 2nd

“Mrs. Moulton’s singing last night only confirmed the first impulsive satisfaction of her friends, and extended their opinion of her brilliant and varied powers. With the greater assurance of a second appearance, her voice was fuller and clearer, and her execution more assured. One or two numbers in the programme happily displayed that singular witchery of style and sentiment which has so long given her celebrity in private circles, and which the public is now enabled, almost for the first time, to appreciate. Massé’s ballad, ‘Ma mère était Bohémienne,’ though sometimes accused of mannerism, is full of a weird, plaintive, fantastic trace which appeals to the imagination even more powerfully than to the technical sense, and to the same, in another line, is true of the arch humor and mocking coquetry of her ‘Beware,’ as charmingly sung by Mrs. Moulton as it is prettily composed by her husband. Signor Sarasate, too, added to the favorable opinion we have already formed of his firm, simple but sympathetic style by his execution of the ‘Faust’ fantasia, and the whimsical grace of the variations on ‘St. Patrick’s Day in the Morning.’ Signor Leon sang his best air, ‘Noel,’ and was warmly applauded.”

“An audience quite equal in size, quality, and appreciativeness to that gathered on the occasion of the debut of Mrs. Moulton, was assembled last evening, at Steinway Hall, where the lady’s second concert was given. In a fresh selection of compositions, Mrs. Moulton’s unsurpassably facile and elegant execution, strengthened by the gifts and the varied attainments splendidly displayed by the previous evening’s entertainment, and written of, yesterday, in this place, wrought an impression pleasantly evinced by repeated outbursts of applause. There were encores for every piece, and Mrs. Moulton was four times upon the bill. She was heard, as the announcements read, in ‘Ma mère était bohémienne,’ an air by Victor Masse, altogether too manieré to deserve a place on a concert programme; in ‘Una voca poco fa;’ in the duo from ‘Don Pasquale,’ and in ‘Caro nome’ from ‘Rigoletto.’ In response to recalls, she sang a quaint Bohemian melody and a song by her husband, ‘Beware,’ to which the composer supplied the accompaniment. It is impossible, we say, summing up the results, to imagine more finished vocal work than Mrs. Moulton’s, and her technique is coexistent with a taste refined in a degree not one artist out of a thousand attains to. Aside from the rare opportunities of enjoying a performance upon which praise of so enthusiastic kind can be frankly bestowed, the Moulton concerts have been made attractive in every respect. No finer exhibition of a violinist’s talent has been offered in our recollection than that which Signor Sarasate has given Monday and Tuesday of this week. For volume and beauty of tone, for a command of the keyboard, shown by wholly legitimate devices and effects as satisfying as they are exceptional, and for vigor and fire of delivery, Signor Sarasate’s violin-playing—that of a young artist too, it should be noted—is not to be rivaled. Signor Sarasate’s writings, we are bound to declare, are not on a plane with his merits as an executant. If his bow is as eloquent as it is tender, impassioned and brilliant, the unsymmetrical potpourris he interprets are not suited to assert a power especially characteristic of M. Vieuxtemps’ noble style. The best points of Signor Sarasate’s productions are the passages in harmonics; in his arrangement of tunes from ‘Martha,’ a long succession of these was sounded with an accuracy of touch sending forth tones of marvelous quality. The other artists, with Mrs. Moulton last night, were Signor Leoni and Ronconi, and Miss Palmer, each and all of whom contributed to the entertainment with credit to themselves and gratification to the public. A full orchestra was also at hand, under the leadership of Signor Carlo Bosoni, whose skill and experience were proven by the orchestral accompaniments which supported the voices and colored the music in a manner worthy of so eminent a maestro.”

“The announcement of the first appearance of Mrs. Charles Moulton before the American public created such an excitement and interest in musical and fashionable circles as has been seldom known in this city. Therefore her first two concerts were graced by all that the metropolis can boast of in the line of beauty, fashion and critical acumen. There is a rich glow of brilliancy and expression about her voice, and an equality through its registers that gives to her singing a rare beauty. She does not astonish or take her hearers by storm, but she leaves an impression of satisfaction that is the highest triumph of an artist. It is not always the sensational furor that proves a singer; it is the fulfillment of everything in voice, expression and art that pleases even the most exacting critic. We have heard singers that electrified an audience by some extraordinary outburst in the middle of an opera, and made the rest a very mediocre performance. Mrs. Moulton never fails to please, although some of her hearers may be disappointed because she does not astonish by some pyrotechnic feats such as made Carlotta Patti the sensation of the hour. She is a true artist in the highest sense of the word, and everything that she sings is characterized by a due appreciation of the spirit of the music and a finish that would give the composer himself the utmost gratification. The flexibility of her voice is something wonderful. In that trying aria, ‘Bel Raggio,’ from ‘Semiramide,’ which is replete with ornate difficulties, her execution was marvelous in its perfect ease and completeness. In Gounod’s ‘Ave Maria’ her voice blended admirably with the exquisite tones of Sarasate’s violin, and its sympathetic emotional character was perceptible. Again, in little French chansons and Spanish songs she displayed an entirely different talent and sang them with a coquettish air and elan that were perfectly irresistible. Her voice has the true Italian school, and although being a mezzo soprano, and circumscribed in compass and power, yet within its boundaries it is capable of doing anything. At her second concert, on Tuesday, she sang, ‘Una Voce Poco Fa,’ that most delicious morceau of Rossini with a wonderful facility and completeness. Then came that exquisite aria of Verdi, ‘Caro Nome,’ a true poem of the heart, which she rendered with soul and feeling such as we would look for only in a great artist, In fine, Mrs. Moulton, within the limits and range of her voice, which will not allow a great breadth of dramatic expression or pyrotechnical displays in the upper register, fulfills all the requirements of a charming concert singer. She must study yet, and study hard and persistently, to show to the best advantage the great talents with which nature has endowed her. For this we would recommend the Italian opera as the best school for her to make a genuine hit. The concert stage, especially in this city, does not command the interest that should invest such an artiste. Let her try her fortune in opera, and a brilliant career awaits her.”