Two Concerts By Robeson

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29326, 4 October 1960, Page 13

Two Concerts By Robeson

Paul Robeson, the famous negro I bass who will sing in the Majestic Theatre on October 25 and 27, did not intend to be a singer. The son of a minister who escaped from slavery in 1860, he first studied at Rutgers' University, where he was both a brilliant student and an All-American football star in 1917 and 1918. Then he went to Columbia University,

> I where he studied law. After re- : ceiving his degree in 1922 he , practised for only a short time s before entering the theatre. i He began with the Provincetown t Players, one of America’s most , artistically enterprising theatrical t groups, which was then beginning - to give the public its first taste 1 of the genius of Eugene O’Neill. , In 1924, Robeson had his first

triumph in the leading role in “All God's Chillun Got Wings,” which he followed the next year with his great portrayal of “The Emperor Jones.” It was about this time that his singing voice was discovered and in 1925 he combined both talents in the first production of Jerome Kern’s “Show Boat.” From then, singing began to take precedence in his career, largely because there were few parts a negro could act on the American stage. Robeson's Othello, which was first seen in London in 1931, was not seen by an American audience until 1942. Few artists have had such wideranging appeal, to all classes of society all over the world as Robeson. He has always insisted that he has never been interested in vocal virtuosity. He has designated himself a singer of folk songs, and while he sings songs by the great composers they are usually ones that have become part of the common musical language. His interest has always been in songs in which the melodic line flows naturally out of the speech inflexions of the words, and he has rejected all songs which do not reflect his own feelings. After his first public appearance in Britain for some years—on a television programme—“The Times” wrote: "It is some years since we last saw Mr Robeson and we find with relief that he is one of those whom age shows no signs of withering..... He still talks to us quietly and goodnaturedly, and breaks into a smile that is the quintessence of friendliness: