1. Duet. The Moon Has Raised Her Lamp Above
Messrs. Alfred Wilkie and C. Makin
2. Ballad. Old Folks at Home (by request) Foster
Mme. Anna Bishop
3. Quartette for horns. Call Me Thine Own Halevy
Band
4. Song. Vive l'America Millard
(Encore) Uncle Sam's Farm
Mrs. M.R. Blake
5. Ballad. Will o' the Wisp
Mr. C. Makin
6. Song. The Star Spangled Banner
Madam Anna Bishop and the other artists
7. Grand finale, National Melodies of different nations Von der Mehden
Silver Cornet Band
In speaking of these concerts it is interesting to note the number of
fine singers that we had in California in 1874 and how easy it was for
a manager to select the best out of these for any occasion.
Women's Voices: Madam Bishop, Mrs. M.R. Blake, Mrs. A.
Thiesen, Miss Marian Singer, Mlle. Franzini, Mlle. Anna
Elzer, Miss Susan Galton, Madam Babcock, Signora Bianchi,
Mrs. Eliza Boston, Miss Rowley.
Men's Voices: Signor C. Orlandini, Charles Metti, M.A.
Anderson, C. Makin, Henry Baker (tenor of the opera troupe),
Sig. Luigi Contini, Ben. Clark, W. Finkeldey, Carmini
Morley, Alfred Kelleher, Sig. Fulvio Rigo, Sig. E. Bianchi,
Alfred Wilkie, Sig. G. Marra, W.C. Campbell, Mons.
Davidowitz (Russian opera tenor), Geo. Carltos, Sam Booth,
Amos Durant, F.L. Phelps.
Musicians: F. Gilder, Prof. Hartman, Prof. H. von der
Mehden, Ernest Schlott, Mulder Fabbri, Prof. M. Schultz,
C.J.J. Smith (flutist), Louis Boedecker (pianist), Stephen
Marsh (harpist), George L. Blake (cornetist), Bender,
Shepherd, Emerson, Wilson (horn quartet), Miss Rotier
(pianist), Prof. G. Cellarius (violinist), A. Kessels
(pianist), Miss E.M. Burkhardt (Chicago pianist), H.F. Todd
(cornet).
These men and women singers and musicians took part in these series of
concerts given by Frank Gilder in 1874 and were available at any time
when needed. They were only a number of the many fine singers then in
San Francisco. I doubt if you could be so successful today, for these
were genuine tried singers, ready to go at any time and fill the
place, either with sacred, secular or operatic music. There were also
the members of the Loring Club, all good singers, picked and tried,
who sang in choirs, concerts and also in prominent musical
undertakings of the period. I have tried to leave no name out of the
list of singers. Professional jealousy does not exist in any of my
musical life. It never did, and if people will use their good, common
sense and judgment and see a singer in her true light they will find
out very quickly that there exists no grounds for such a feeling with
true artists. In the first place no two people look alike, neither are
they made alike. I have had the strange experience of teaching five
pairs of twins. They were so much alike that it was with difficulty we
could distinguish them apart. Especially the Faull twins, who were
obliged to wear a gold bar pin with "Rose" and "Sophia" engraved upon
them to distinguish them, and yet they were unlike in every
respect. The figures were different; their voices, one a contralto,
the other soprano; one delicate, the other robust. Rose is living and
the other passed out of life. It is so in everything in life. The
petty jealousy of singers and players is a laughable farce. Even our
grandest singers have shown this weakness because a rival was billed
with lettering a quarter of an inch larger. This lowers the singer in
the eyes of the public. No two singers can sing alike, even if they
sing the same song. The interpretation belongs to the individual
singer. It will remain hers forever in the remembrance of the
listeners and no amount of jealousy will remove the fact. When once a
singer has climbed to a place of recognition and can be classed as a
true artist and acknowledged by the public as such, she is entitled to
recognition. "Give honor to those to whom honor is due," is the safest
way.
[Illustration: ORIGINAL MEMBERS OF THE LORING CLUB