MISS ETHEL OSBORN

Dominion, Volume 18, Issue 152, 24 March 1925, Page 9

MISS ETHEL OSBORN

There is something flute-like in the clear flexible soprano of Miss Ethel Osborn, something as sexless as art itself, that makes the singer forgotten in the song. Sweet and full, it is like the impossible, an adult boy-soprano. AA’hen to this purity of quality is added the fullest artistry of interpretation. Miss Osborn’s renditions leave little to be desired. She was enthusiastically received by a lamentably small audience at the Town Hall last night, and -recalled again and again. In "The Shadow Song” from "Dinorah” (Meyerbeer) she displayed marvellous technique and the the daintiest of phrasing, and in the encore, "l/o, Here the Gentle Lark.” with flute obbligato by Signor Truda, the mellow purity of her round soprano was heard at its best. Her second bracket, “In Those Soft Silken Curtains,” from “Manon Lescaut” (Puccini), “The Moon is My Sister," and "The Jolly Old Sun” (Herbert Oliver), the singer showed the range and sympathetic quality of her voice, and in the “Hymn to the Sun” (Rimsky-Korsakoff) and "O Patria di Tanti Palpiti,” from "Tancredi” (Rossini), full operatic power was apparent. Encored again and again, loaded with floral tributes, Miss Osborn received an ovation as she finally retired. Str. Tom Williams, the violinist of the company, gave a generous selection of nrtictically treated numbers. The andante and Finale of Mendelssohn’s sonata, "Liebeslied” and "Liebcsfreud” (Kreisler), and "Znpateado” (Sarasate). were all played with tonal beauty and brilliancy of execution, the violinist closing with Sarasate’s "Zergunerweisen.” Mr. A. Stanley Warwick recited "The Secret of lhe Machines” (Kipling), and as encore gave one of the little known AV. AAL Jacob’s tragedies. "The Monkey’s Paw.” a tale of three tragic wishes. Madame Slario Borman contributed two choice pianoforte MacDowell solos, "To a Wandering Iceberg,” and "From an Indian Lodge." and proved an excellent accompanists. A farewell concert has been arranged for Saturday night.