Ballad Concert

“The high appreciation in which Miss Sterling is held by a very large and respectable portion of the community was shown last night by the crowded condition of Irving Hall, on the occasion of her farewell concert. The ladies and gentlemen present were those who are seen oftener in church pews than in opera boxes. In fact, as Miss Sterling is better known as a church singer than as a concert vocalist, it is but natural that her patrons should be chiefly church-going folk. They, however, appreciate good music, and Miss Sterling provided it for them on this occasion.

The lady has probably the noblest voice of all our American contralto singers. It does not possess the richness of Miss Phillips’s well-trained organ, nor the mellifluous sweetness of Miss Cary’s; but it has splendid depth and power peculiarly its own. It is generally heard only in somber music, for Miss Sterling’s taste leads her to prefer either serious old ballads or selections from the German school. She seems to be unaware that the Italian repertoire contains some of the most beautiful music ever written for the contralto voice. We never find on her programmes the florid splendors of Rossini, for which we would willingly spare some of the Teutonic vagaries which she at times inflicts upon her audiences—such, for instance, as the pretentious ‘Forest Witch’ or dreary tuneless ‘Cradle Song’ of Wagner, that she sang last night. But we would not spare any of the old ballads, which she renders with such superb effect. Only Madame Sainton-Dolby can surpass her in the ‘Caller Herring,’ a Scotch song, which has a touch of wild pathos ensuring its vitality for many years to come. No one can possibly sing better than Miss Sterling, Hullah’s ‘Three Fishers,’ a song which is so popular as to be almost hackneyed. This was the gem of last night’s concert, and itself was enough to stamp the singer as an artist of a high intellectual type.

Miss Sterling was well supported. Miss Henrietta Beebe, who is singing so charmingly this season that she has taken a stand as one of our very best concert vocalists, and who gives great hopes for her future, added greatly to the pleasure of the evening. The admirable male quartet, comprising Messrs. Bush, Rockwood, Baird, and Aiken, sang in their best style, only one of the voices being somewhat shaky in the last selection. Miss Mehlig and Miss Toedt played fairly. We have heard them both appear to better advantage, but they seemed to thoroughly satisfy the audience.

Miss Sterling is about to leave for Europe. We wish she would go to Italy and add to her careful, thoughtful, intellectual style of singing some of the rich warmth of southern artistic development. She only needs this to become indeed the Alboni of America.” 

“Miss Sterling had a crowded house at her benefit last night in Irving Hall. Her popularity as a thorough, classical singer cannot be exceeded by any artist at present on our concert stage, and her fine contralto voice has lost none of its pristine charms. Her selections, however, are not always interesting, and even ‘The Three Ravens’ have had their day. The feature of the concert was the exquisite playing of Miss Anna Mehlig. Her rendering of Liszt’s ‘Polonaise,’ which she has made familiar to the New York public, was marked with mingled power and delicacy and colored with poetic feeling. The other artists who appeared were [see above]. It was throughout an enjoyable concert and worthy of the patronage accorded it.”  

“Miss Antoinette Sterling had an enormous audience at her farewell concert on Tuesday evening, and the exercises passed off to the entire satisfaction of her many friends. She sang the Cradle Song of Wagner’s of which we have already spoken, a remarkable descriptive ballad of Rubinstein’s, ‘The Forest Witch,’ and two or three English songs, and was assisted by Miss Mehlig—who played a Nocturne by Chopin and a Polonaise by Liszt; Miss Toedt, Miss Beebe, and Messrs. Bush, Rockwood, Baird, and Aiken.”