Frederic Martin: basso

              Figure



Frederic Martin 
Basso
 Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church 
Oratorio, Concert and Recital



Personal Address
142 West 91st Street
New York City
Phone. 5865-J Riverside





Important Bookings

Season 1906–07


Music Festival, Worcester, Mass.


Mozart Club, Pittsburg, Pa.


Symphony Concert, Newark, N. J.


Susquehanna University, Selinsgrove, Pa.


Concordia Society, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.


Music Festival, Erie, Pa.


Musical Art Society, Springfield, Mass.


Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, N. Y.


Mendelssohn Union, Orange, N. J.


Arion Club, Providence, R. I.


Handel & Hayden Society, Boston, Mass.


Oratorio Society, Lynn, Mass.


Oratorio Society, Trenton, N. J.


Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia, Pa.


Choral Society, Reading, Pa.


Music Festival, Mt. Pleasant, Mich.


Recital, Saginaw, Mich.


Oratorio Society, Baltimore, Md.


Oratorio Society, Amherst, Mass.


Music Festival, Frederick, Md.


Music Festival, Wolfville, Nova Scotia


Spring Tour, Chicago Symphony Orchestra


Festival Chorus, Ocean Grove, N. J.





ORATORIO
HANDEL'S 
MESSIAH.



Mr. Martin 
was particularly good.
  He sang with those 
moving qualities
 which come when singer perfectly feels the meaning of his words and the phrases with which a great composer has clothed them.—


Boston Evening Transcript.




Frederic Martin, the bass, 
for his spirited singing from memory
 of the complicated 
Furiously Rage Together
 solo, 
received a fine tribute from audience and chorus.
—
Messiah,
 with Handdel and Hadyn Society—


Daily Globe,
 Boston, Mass.



Mr. Martin's singing in 
The Messiah
 is we known by nearly everyone.  He sang with 
splendid authority
 and most of the time 
without the score.
—


Pittsburg
 (Pa.) 
Post.




Mr. Martin, the bass soloist, 
is a commanding singer,
 and besides having a 
big voice,
 which he uses with 
great care and respect,
 he has 
an unusual amount of individuality,
 which he throws at pleasure into his work.  He sang the pyrotechnical aria 
Why Do the Nations?
  
in a grand and mandatory style.


The Republican,
 Scranton Pa.




Few bassos heard in oratorio in America during the past decade have been so well equipped for the task allotted them in 
The Messiah
 as is Mr. Martin, who is gifted with a powerful and deep voice, whose tones are so flexible and whose breath control is so firm that he can deliver the long and trying cadenzas without interrupting the flow of tone or dislocating the phrase.  In this respect he is unsurpassed by any basso in oratorio today, and in 
Why Do the Nations So Furiously Rage
 he aroused enthusiasm by his artistry in vocalization, virile energy in interpretation and copious and enveloping tone.—


Newark
 (N. J) 
Evening News.




Mr. Martin has a 
superb voice and sang grandly his 
splendid enunciation and articulation
 being ad mirably shown in the aria 
Why Do the Nations?
—


Orange
 (N. J.) 
Journal.





Mr. Martin, though new to Toledo, was 
well known to many concert-goers
 through his appearances at Ann Arbor and the other neighboring festivals.  
He fairly carried off the honors,
 proving to be the best oratorio singer that had appeared here for a long time.  
He received an ovation
 after 
Why Do the Nations?
  which 
was magnificently declaimed,
 and his other numbers won well merited applause.  
His work throughout was beyond reproach.
—


Toledo
 (Ohio) 
Blade.




The hero of the hour,
 if a great singer can be a hero, was Frederic Martin, 
twice honored
 with a 
festival engagement
 in this city and 
the most successful bass that Worcester had heard for many years,
 more particularly in 
The Messiah.
  It has been stated on good grounds that Mr. Martin has a 
voice that cannot be compared with any other in the country
 for its suitability for the bass role in 
The Messiah.
  This statement was well borne out last night.  It would be a difficult matter for any singer to bring 
more pleasure and satisfaction to an audience
 than did Mr. Martin.—


Worcester
 (Mass.) 
Daily Telegram.





VERDI 
MANZONI REQUIEM.



Mr. Martin's work more than justified his reputation as one of the best oratorio bassos heard in many years.—


Baltimore Daily News.




In Mr. Martin, the Music Committee succeeded in selecting 
a basso who charmed his audience with his rich, full voice.
  Especially satisfactory was his rendition of the solo 
Confutatis Maledictis,
 which he 
sang with sincere warmth.  His fine enunciation
 is especially to be commended.—


The Herald,
 Milwaukee, Wis.





HAYDN'S 
CREATION



Mr. Martin's splendid bass
 accomplished great things in the role of Raphael in Haydn's 
Creation,
 and he had a 
triumph most marked
 in the airs 
Roaming in Foaming Billows
 and 
Now Heaven in Fullest Glory,
 in which he achieved the 
phenomenal low note
 with apparent ease.  His voice is 
sonorous, rich and of great beauty.
—


The Argus,
 Albany, N. Y.






MENDELSSOHN'S 
ELIJAH



Mr. Martin's voice is of just and proper calibre
 to interpret the difficult passages.  
He increased the reputation he established two years ago
 by his work in 
St. Paul.
  
The excellent quality and ripe culture of his voice
 were forcibly shown in 
his fine rendition of the aria
, 
Is Not His Word Like a Fire?
—


Allentown
 (Pa.) 
Chronicle and News.




Mr. Martin took the title role of 
Elijah,
 in which he was so excellent throughout that it is difficult to specialize on any single number.  He seemed to excel himself, however, in 
It Is Enough.
  It would have been hard for even the unmusical not to have enjoyed his artistic and emotional rendering of this gem.  A prominent musician, who has recently returned from Europe, stated he had never heard a better rendering of the role.—


Daily Beacon,
 Wichita, Kan.





HANDEL'S 
SAMSON.



Mr. Martin, the basso, did 
excellent work
 in his two great solos, 
Thy Glorious Deeds
 and 
Honor and Arms.
  These are 
excellent tests for a bass-baritone artist,
 as they require 
fine flexi bility of voice and excellent sustaining power
 t render the long roulades.  He stood the tests wel and rendered both arias in 
excellent style,
 winning earnest applause.—


Baltimore,
 (Md.) 
American



Mr. Martin's basso work has seldom been sur passed in this city,
 and he was 
the recipient o repeated ovations.
  His lamentation in the firs part as Manoah, sorrowing over his son Samson' affliction, was among his finest efforts.  Anothe was his challenge to Samson, as Harapha, th Philistine giant in part second.  
His voice is on of the largest and most admirably trained an controlled bass voices ever heard in this city.
—


York
 (Pa.) 
Daily Press.





GUONOD'S 
FAUST.
 

The most trying role of the performance fell t Frederic Martin, as 
Mephistopheles,
 and wit 
much success he essayed to meet the dramatic re quirements of the part.
  In a musical sense, 
his interpretation of the score challenged admiration
 and beyond that he gave the audience 
a satisfa

 tory glimpse of the impish humor and sardonic purpose
 of the satanic villain of the opera.  
His voice is deep, round and melodious
 and well adapted for the cavernous intonation of 
Faust's,
 diabolical Nemesis.  A generous share of the honors of the evening must be accorded to Mr. Martin.—



Daily Herald,
 Syracuse, N. Y.




Was a great favorite,
 and did the 
most dramatic work of all the soloists,
 his part of Mephistopheles calling for work of this kind in an unusual degree; but it was fully met, and the generous applause which greeted his work showed the general appreciation.  
His voice is very full and clear and under perfect control.
—


Evening News,
 Lynn, Mass.





CONCERT



The offerings of the soloist were 
unusually dignified and of fine quality.
  Wilkes-Barre so seldom hears a basso (
a genuine basso in quality and range
) that Frederic Martin, bass soloist in the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, of New York, and in much demand as a concert singer, was welcome.  
His voice is ponderous in quality, not only very deep, but wide,
 and reaching from the depths even into the realm of the baritone.  
His tones are so well forward
 that they have a quality that 
carries with authority
 and without losing their large breadth.  Moreover he has for such quality, 
a remarkable flexibility and agility.
  He exploited a rather extended realm of effort from Meyerbeer's 
The Monk
 to the lieder and the ballad realm.  
His work throughout was of even quality and excellence and was most gratifying.
—


The Wilkes-Barre
 (Pa.) 
Daily Record.



Mr. Martin's first number, 
Si Tra I Ceppi,
 was 
a very difficult one, with many scales and turns,
 written as only Handel could write them, and sung by Mr. Martin with a 
smoothness and ease that showed years of hard study and brains to supplement it.
  In 
Der Wanderer,
 by Schubert, 
he demonstrated his ability to interpret
 and make his hearers understand and feel what the composer intended them to feel.  His low 
D
 at the end was indeed a surprise.  
A Toast,
 by Salter,

 was given in a very satisfactory manner.  
Mr. Martin is the most artistic bass we have ever heard in Peoria.
—


Peoria
 (Ill.) 
Herald-Transcript.




Mr. Frederic Martin, a basso with a full, rich voice, which carries well, delighted his hearers with his songs—one from Mozart's 
Magic Flute
 and one from Gounod's 
Philemon et Baucis.
  So enthusiastic was the audience, when the singe bowed himself off the stage, that he was compelled to sing an encore number.—


Richmond
(Va.) 
Times Despatch.




Frederic Martin, of New York, who has a 
won derful bass voice,
 sang a scene and aria from Verdi's opera of 
Don Carlos.
  Mr. Martin' voice is 
truly a basso;
 it is rarely that a bass of s much 
depth, strength and artistic ability
 has bee heard in this city.—


Springfield
 (Ill.) 
Stat Register.




Mr. Martin has a big, powerful bass voice o great depth and capacity,
 sings with 
feeling an abandon, and impresses by the very power of h interpretation.
  After this group he was recalle and sang an encore in a smooth and charmin style.  He sang the aria 
Chanson de Vulcain, by Gounod, in a 
masterful manner.
—


Galesbur (Ill.) 
Daily Republican.




It is due to Mr. Frederic Martin to award hi the palm of most favor with the audience.  H admirable control of a bass voice of singula musical quality and smoothness won instant recog nition, which he rewarded with the old Englis 
Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes
 as an e core, after singing his programme numbers.—


Norwich
 (Conn.) 
Bulletin.




Mr. Martin is the fortunate possessor of a 
excellent basso-cantante voice, well trained an excellently managed.
  His rendition of Meye beer's aria, 
The Monk,
 was 
dramatic, forcef and sombre,
 while in 
Vision Fair,
 from Ma senet's opera 
Herodiade,
 he showed 
imagin tive power of a keen and superior order.
—


Fr Press,
 Burlington, Vt.






RECITAL



Mr. Martin is a singer concerning whom there can be no 
two opinions.
  He possesses a voice of excellent range, of unlimited power and of rare flexibility and quality.  Combined with these is an artistic temperament which insures a delightful interpretation.  He is thoroughly at home in all styles of music, from the powerful recitative, 
Thus Saith the Lord,
 and aria, 
Who May Abide,
 of 
The Messiah
 to the delicate 
Hark!  Hark!  The Lark!
  of Shubert, or the plaintive 
Malgre Moi
 of Pfeiffer.  The old and modern Italian selections furnished an effective opening for the program.  Of these the delicate 
Nissun lo sa
 proved especially delightful.  The peculiar lightness of the Italian music was exquisitely brought out.  This number was followed immediately by the powerful selection from 
The Messiah,
 which gave every opportunity to the force and flexibility of the singer's magnificent bass voice.  This was followed by Shubert's reverent 
An Die Musik.
  This arrangement, by the way, was characteristic of the entire program, which possessed the greatest variety of music.  One of the most spirited selections of the evening was Bizet's 
Air de Ralph,
 which is really a drinking song.  The gay carelessness of the music was admirably brought out.  In the modern English and American selections some excellent songs were presented.  Mr. Martin's work throughout the evening was of the very highest order.  Certainly he earned many friends here who will be extremely desirous of an opportunity to hear him again.—


The Saginaw
 (Mich.) 
Courier-Herald.

 

Frederic Martin's 
charming personality and magnficent voice
 completely captivated the large audience which gathered last evening to hear his recital under the auspices of the Apollo Club.  
The recital was a rare musical treat,
 and the audience was not slow in showing its appreciation.  Mr. Martin has what is so rarely to be found nowadays, 
a real bass voice, but so well trained and under such excellent control,
 that his hearers forget at times that they are not listening to a tenor or baritone.  It is seldom that such 
flexibility and accuracy of intonation
 is found in a voice of such size and depth.  The program was divided into

 four groups, consisting of three old Italian airs, three classical German songs by Shubert, three songs in French and eight modern songs in English.  Only a voice of the wide range of Mr. Martin's could have handled such a program successfully, and the scope of his powers is shown by the fact that 
light and tender songs were given in the same perfect and satisfying manner
 as the heavier numbers.  
Mr. Martin is a master of expression and interpretation
 and the feeling which he throws into his singing 
impresses his hearers even more than his wonderful technique.
  This quality was more noticeable in the French group than in any other portion of his program, and the spontaneous outburst of applause at the conclusion of the last number brought forth one of the two encores.—



Davenport
 (Ia.) 
Daily Times.




Possesses a voice of wide range, smooth, even quality and sympathy.
  His program included all styles, from the Handel aria to the modern song and 
he interpreted each style of composition with much temperament and musical understanding.  It is seldom that so satisfying an artist has been heard here.
—


Raleigh
 (N. C.) 
Daily News.