Venue(s):
Steinway Hall
Manager / Director:
George Dolby
Conductor(s):
Lindsay Sloper
Price: $1; $.50 extra, reserved seat
Status:
Published
Last Updated:
31 October 2023
“The concert given at Steinway Hall last evening by Mr. Santley and the remainder of Mr. Dolby’s artists, was enjoyed by a very large and appreciative audience. Mr. Santley was compelled to sing twice, whenever he appeared with intent to contribute but once to the performance. He was heard successively in [see above]. It would be hard to decide which of these pieces Mr. Santley recited best. The admirable phrasing of Donizetti’s music, the bold disinvoltura of Ricci’s tune, the tenderness of the French song, and the expressive elaborateness of the air of Polyphemus, were all rendered equally effective by the charm of a magnificent voice directed with unsurpassable skill. Mme. Patey, Miss Wynne, and Messrs. Cummings and Patey sang with Mr. Santley, and Mr. Lindsay Sloper added two neatly executed solos on the piano to his share, as accompanyist, of the labors of the night. Mme. Patey cannot sing successfully ‘Voi che sapete.’ Nothing but praise can be awarded every other selection.”
“Mr. Santley and his companions have again appeared, and have been listened to with enthusiasm by audiences including the best resident musicians, who have been evidently incited to new exertions by such inspiriting example. We can recall no male artist who has appeared before a New-York audience, who has approached Mr. Santley in felicity of execution. His running passages are as perlé, his diminuendos as fine, his gradations of tone as delicate as it is possible to imagine. The style and delivery of his Italian cavatinas is as admirable, and we may say as national as that of his English songs. For, like every true singer, he is cosmopolitan, and his manner marks the highest point which the art of singing has now reached, viz., emotion as expressed by a gentleman and not by a boor. Mr. Santley embodies the idea which was, perhaps, first conveyed by the great German baritone, Pischeck, that of intense earnestness, covered by an outward calm. With him passion smoulders—it does not blaze. His grief is manly, his sentiment veiled, his love proud. He does not roar at his audiences, but seems rather to repress his power; to recite his poem and deliver his message with as little ado as may be; and then, while you are entranced by the beauty of the music and the loveliness of the singing, there comes one tremendous note, like a flash of light out of a dark cloud, and all is still.”
“The Dolby Troupe have closed their concerts in New York for the present [illegible] an Eastern tour. They gave a fine concert [illegible] at Steinway Hall last Friday, before a fine audience. As usual the glees and the singing of the society were the most notable portion of the concert [The remainder of this review is unfortunately illegible in the America’s Historical Newspapers online database].”