Myrna Sharlow: prima donna soprano

              1915
Myrna Sharlow Prima Donna Soprano



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Myrna Sharlow Prima Donna Soprano
Chicago Opera Company Boston Opera Company Royal Opera, Covent Garden, London Anglo-American Opera, Paris


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Myrna Sharlow Engaged for Chicago Opera Season 1915-16




Myrna Sharlow
MAESTRO CAMPANINI Before sailing for Italy engaged the brilliant young American Soprano for his reorganized Chicago Opera.  M. Campanini has announced that he will give the finest opera in America.

In view of this, and the fact of the great number of foreign operatic artists now available, the engagement of the young American is most gratifying.  It is only another chapter in the brief history of this young Soprano's meteoric rise in the Operatic World.

Miss Sharlow was engaged for the Boston Opera Season 1914–15, but with many other artists, because of the war now raging in Europe, devoted the Winter to concert work.

A resumé of her career in Opera, and in the concert field during her seasons of concert, follows:




Her Training Entirely American
Born in Jamestown, North Dakota, July 19, 1893, Miss Sharlow attended school in St. Louis, whither her parents moved in 1897.  It was there that she attracted the attention of Marcus Epstein, one of the Directors of the Beethoven Conservatory of Music, who volunteered to provide her with free vocal instruction.  Her first vocal instructor was Mr. Ferdinand Jaeger, son of Mrs Aurelia Jaeger.  In 1909 she secured an engagement with an amusement company which gave performances in St. Louis and Louisville.  She was befriended by the family of M. H. Smith, who offered to assume the expense of a further musical education on condition that she refrain from public singing for a year.  To this she consented, and studied piano, theory etc., at the Beethoven Conservatory in St. Louis, dramatic art at the Perry School of Oratory, and languages at the Berlitz School.  At the end of the first year it was agreed that she would not make a public appearance for another year, during which time she received vocal training from Frederick E. Bristol, with whom Clement and Fremstad have coached.


Mr. Bristol's interest was quickly stimulated by the evident gifts of his pupil and her notable progress.  In consequence she spent a second year under his guidance, varying her vocal work with further dramatic and linguistic studies.  She sang for a time in the production of Kismet, and in 1912 passed her vacation in further study with Mr. Bristol.



Becomes Member of Boston Opera Company
Meanwhile Mr. Otto H. Kahn, who had consented to hear her, was much impressed by her gifts and advised her to sing for a while in German and Italian Opera Houses, previous to entering the Metropolitan Opera House.  Instead of following Mr. Kahn's advice to the letter she contrived, by virtue of the introductions he had given her to Messrs.  Gatti-Casazza, Dippel, and Henry Russell, to associate herself with the Boston Opera Company in October, 1912.  Small parts at first, and then somewhat more important ones, fell to her share.

At the close of the season she undertook a Concert Tour of New England with a number of members of
 the Boston Opera Company, winning considerable success, as shown by the following press reports:


New Haven Courier-Journal, April 3, 1913:
Miss Myrna Sharlow, who sings 'Marguerite' in the Boston Opera Company's production of 'Faust' at the Hyperion this evening, is the youngest prima donna singing in the big company.  She is scarcely nineteen years of age and has sung many of the most demanding roles in the repertoire of the big Boston company.  More than this she is a bona fide American singer by training and birth.
For New Haveners her appearance has an added interest because she was trained exclusively by Frederick E. Bristol, the former New Havener who brought out Olive Fremstadt and other notable singers.  It was in Mr. Bristol's New York studio that Henry Russell heard Miss Sharlow, and immediately engaged her for his opera company, in which she will continue to sing next year.



Portland Press, April 8, 1913:
It was a new experience for Portland to have a concert program just of the sort which was presented last evening in the City Hall by some of the stars of the Boston Opera Company.
'Faust' was beautifully sung, Myrna Sharlow finding the role of 'Marguerite' a most happy one in which to display her beautiful voice to advantage.  Miss Sharlow was exceedingly captivating to look upon in her dainty gown and cap of blue and white, and she sang with thrilling effect all the well-known and well loved arias that came to her in the garden scene.  Lovely in tone and of exquisite expression was the spinning song, while in splendid contrast the jewel song was full of fetching grace and abandon.  Her voice is of the rarest quality and is used with delightful art.  In her solo of the second part, 'Elsa's Dream,' of Wagner, she sang again with a noble breadth and power that intensified the deep impression of her former renditions.




Bangor Daily Commercial, April 9, 1913:
It was a gala night at the Bijou, Tuesday, to hear grand opera presented by an all star cast.  The familiar scenes in the second act of 'Faust' were enacted with Myrna Sharlow as 'Marguerite.'  Miss Sharlow sprang into favor at once in the delicate typical blue and white costume of the German maiden, and a voice at once sweet and appealing, and of a quality and range that bespoke the artiste.
Myrna Sharlow as a concert singer pleased the audience with the aria from 'Madame Butterfly' as well as her rendering of 'Marguerite,' and was recalled going to the piano and playing her own accompaniment to 'My Laddie.'



Hartford Daily Times, April 16, 1913:
The garden scene from 'Faust' was sung by Myrna Sharlow as 'Marguerite.'  Miss Sharlow won laurels in the leading role, and her rendition of the celebrated jewel song was really noteworthy.  Her voice is dramatic in quality and possesses a rare sweetness and purity of tone.


Hartford Courant, April 16, 1913:
The opera season in Boston is over and a company of artists from Mr. Russell's organization is now on tour.  The singers were at the Parsons Theater last evening and a large and most friendly and enthusiastic audience was there too.
Miss Sharlow chose the 'Vissi d'Arte' from Puccini's 'Tosca' as her concert number.  The rendition was excellent, the singer's high tones being particularly good.  The dainty 'All on a Summer's Day' was sung as an encore.


The following summer Miss Sharlow spent in study and the enlargement of her repertoire.  In October she gave a Recital at the Woman's Club, Louisville, and that she succeeded in pleasing a large and select audience is evidenced by the following comments of the press:



Louisville Courier-Journal, October 9, 1913:
To have earned the title of prima donna in the Boston Opera Company at the age of 20 means a great deal in the career of Myrna Sharlow, who was heard in recital yesterday under the auspices of the Woman's Club Music Committee.  But, significant as this appellation is, it contains less promise than another which is applied to the gifted young singer by those who know her well.
'She is an indefatigable worker' was whispered in the well-filled seats of the auditorium and in the circle of club members and guests who gathered around the heroine of the hour after the concert.  It is indeed apparent to all hearers that Miss Sharlow has been gifted with the 'art of taking pains,' for she has the confidence which comes only with absolute surety of one's ground.  She has consequently a poise and control quite unusual in one so young.
This is not to imply that any of the infinite pains of art are apparent in Miss Sharlow's singing, which appears, on the contrary, absolutely effortless.  Her voice is as free and natural as a bird's, with splendid volume in the high notes and a clear, sweet lower register.  The quality is light, penetrating and even.  It is, altogether, a beautiful soprano and one especially suited for opera.
The programme of yesterday was for the most part modern and dramatic, including well-known selections from the operas of Massenet, Puccini and Wolf-Ferrari.  Two airs from 'Manon,' with which the programme opened, afforded the young singer opportunity for an effective contrast of style.  After the coquetry of the Gavotte, the 'Adieu to Our Table' was sung with a gentle, girlish pathos which was very appealing.  Freshness of voice and gracious, youthful personality lent charm to 'Elsa's Dream.'  Miss Sharlow's voice, however, is rather light for Wagner, and she will probably find her happiest medium among the Latins, with whom she seems even more at home than with the Anglo-Saxon lyricists.
The Smoking Song fr m 'The Secret of Suzanne, the Prayer from Tosca,' and the favorite air from 'Madame Butterfly' all challenge comparison with the famous stars Farrar, Gluck, and Caroline White, and the application of such standards still leaves the impression that barring youth and the ripening of life experience, Myrna Sharlow has all the qualities for the making of a successful opera singer—how successful one would hardly dare to predict.




Louisville Times, October 9, 1913:
MYRNA SHARLOW AT WOMAN'S CLUB.
The Concert Calendar was given a most welcome opening Wednesday afternoon at the Woman's Club when the Music Committee of that institution, of which Miss Caroline Barbour is chairman, presented Miss Myrna Sharlow, of the Boston Opera Company, a prima donna of powers and resources which, with but a little ripening, will justify the most ambitious expectations.
Miss Sharlow's offerings were various in character, such as to display her as mistress of the art of song in technique and imagination both and as especially delightful in the lighter and less emotional forms, in those operatic airs of which Puccini, Massenet, and Wolf-Ferrari are the modern producers.
Charm of voice and of presence, a manner without a trace of affectation, more roundness and suavity of tone than one would expect in one so young, these are assets of great value and can not but add to a reputation budding, perhaps, but with undeniable promise of the glorious flowering to come.



Louisville Herald, October 9, 1913:
The seating and standing capacity of the auditorium and halls of the Woman's Club was tested yesterday afternoon by the large audience which assembled to hear Miss Myrna Sharlow and Mrs. Newton Crawford in a concert of well-selected music.  It must have been as gratifying to the young singer as it was to the members of the Music Committee of the Woman's Club, under whose auspices she appeared, that so large and discriminating an audience was present to hear Miss Sharlow, who has been heralded as the youngest prima donna in the world.
It is no exaggeration to assert that Miss Sharlow has every requisite for a great singer and although word had come from music critics of the East and West expressing approval and praise of her work, her audience yesterday afternoon was not prepared to hear a voice of such volume, range and tone.  More than anything else, one is conscious of the singer's poise and keen intelligence.  Miss Sharlow is very young, just out of her teens, and with the riper experiences of life, everything seems possible for her as a great artist.



The first two numbers of her program were from 'Manon' and she interpreted the songs with beautiful feeling.  Especially in the 'Adieu Notre Petite Table' was the sympathetic quality of her voice noticeable.



Shows Fine Appreciation.
'Elsa's Dream' from 'Loghengrin,' given with understanding and poetic appreciation but the full dramatic power of the singer's voice was more fully felt and expressed in Puccini's 'La Tosca' and in the aria from 'Madame Butterfly.'  In the latter number Miss Sharlow gave evidence of the finest artistic perception and again one marveled at the splendid poise of the singer.

Perhaps the greatest of Miss Sharlow's ability was in Hallett Giberti's 'Ah, Love but a Day,' from Robert Browning's poem.  Her rendition of the music and her interpretation of the spirit of the poem, revealed the soul and temperament of a true artist and after hearing her give the song, one feels everything possible for the young singer.  The Smoking Song from the 'Secret of Suzzane' was given with grace and charm and in the lighter numbers 'The Dove,' by Louis Saar and Thayer's 'My Laddie,' Miss Sharlow gave further evidence of the quality of sweetness in her rich voice.



Jewel Song Calls for Applause.
The Jewel Song from 'Faust' brought forth enthusiastic applause and Miss Sharlow graciously responded with one of the 'Bandana Ballads' by Sidney Homer.  As an encore to the Puccini number she gave a delicious bit of a song entitled 'Philosophy.'


Louisville Post, October 9, 1913:
MISS SHARLOW HEARD AT THE WOMAN'S CLUB.
The audience that came to hear the song recital of Miss Myrna Sharlow, of the Boston Opera Company, at the Woman's Club yesterday afternoon, filled every chair in the auditorium.  Additional chairs were brought from other parts of the building to accommodate those anxious to hear Miss Sharlow sing.
 The audience was most enthusiastic, and Miss Sharlow received many flowers.
Miss Sharlow's voice is of the brilliant and flexible type.  The singing was without effort, and at the end of the concert her voice had the same buoyant, youthful freshness that was evident at the beginning.  There was, in addition, unusual richness for so young a voice, and true dramatic power.
A voice to have dramatic power must be able to express in close proximity emotions of a conflicting nature.  It was here that Miss Sharlow's achievement was highest.  In both of the selections from Massenet's 'Manon' and in the contrast between the two selections her dramatic power was clearly indicated.


Miss Sharlow was again with the Boston Opera Company during the season of 1913-14, and the quality of her work steadily won her admirers.

On January 31, 1914, she appeared in La Boheme, of which the Boston Press said:

Saturday was a big day at the Boston Opera House.  A new and extremely promising prima donna, Myrna Sharlow, made her debut in 'La Boheme.'

Miss Sharlow is not only American-born, but American-trained, which makes her exceptional.  She is only 20 years old.  Her voice is beautiful and she uses it skillfully, and, to judge by her success in 'Louise' and 'La Boheme', she will slowly but surely go to the front rank of prima donna.  The development of gifted young singers like Miss Sharlow is one of the most creditable chapters in the history of the Opera House.  The performance of 'La Boheme', and especially Miss Sharlow's delightful singing, gave pleasure to the audience Saturday night.

Miss Sharlow already had attracted attention to her beautiful voice by her singing as Irma in 'Louise' and as the Priestess in 'Aida.'  The future should hold for her a career of distinction.  She is blessed with a voice of uncommon beauty and has learned to sing well.  A voice now equal to the role of 'Mimi'—and Mr. Schiavoni was needlessly boisterous with his orchestra—it should grow steadily in power as in range of emotional expression with the years.


As an actress Miss Sharlow preserved simplicity and sincerity.  She refrained from the nervous tenseness that is an unfortunate indication of the desire to act.  The third act in the scenes with Marcello and Rudolfo had true poignancy of feeling.  Older singers on the Boston opera stage have done less well.  She should always regard it as the first of her successes.  The audience applauded her warmly.

On the night of February 16, 1914, she won added laurels when, at short notice, she replaced Alice Nielsen, who had been announced to sing but owing to indisposition was unable to appear.  Miss Sharlow creditably filled the vacancy, and sang arias from Madame Butterfly and I Pagliacci in which her clear soprano voice was heard to advantage.  She also interpreted a group of Scotch folk songs with rare charm.

But the greatest opportunity presented itself at the close of the season, when, virtually at the twelfth hour, she was called upon by Mr. Russell to substitute for Mme. Melba as Mimi in La Boheme, without opportunity for as much as a single rehearsal.  With perfect assurance and the self-possession of a veteran, Miss Sharlow interpreted the role in so finished a fashion as to win the heartiest approbation of the most exacting critics.

Imagine the embarrassment and difficulty of having to unexpectedly face a large and fashionable audience, who had assembled purposely to hear the great Melba, and whose dissappointment was unmistakable; then read the praises of the Boston critics:



Boston Transcript, March 9, 1914:
To fill the place left vacant by Mme. Melba's sudden withdrawal from the cast of 'La Boheme' Saturday afternoon Miss Sharlow, on very short notice, sang Mimi.  It was her 'chance,' Saturday afternoon, and the close of the first act must have warmed her heart.  She was called before the curtain nine times by an audience that was suffering the first pangs of disappointment at missing their beloved Melba.  She well deserved it.  With her markedly sweet light voice (not a weak voice, however), she sang with perfectly true intonation and fine phrasing.  The first act of 'La Boheme' is an excellent test of a singer's artistry.  It requires a sort of zephyr-like half-voice, that is still full and pure and without breathiness; in it the subtleties of the singer's control become easily evident.  Miss Sharlow was able to manage much of the more delicate shading with deftness and taste.  If she did not characterize in her tones or show light and shade of character interpretation in her acting to the same extent as a more experienced singer might, she was sound in all the fundamentals of her art, and the refinement of it may be confidently expected with time and experience.  She was a lovely, scared little Mimi (though not at all a scared opera singer), and her voice admirably stood the test, in that it was able to give sincere pleasure to thousands of people in a large auditorium.


Boston Post, March 8, 1914:
This was Miss Sharlow's first appearance at a subscription performance in a principal part.  Her voice is of unusual range; it is fresh and sensuously beautiful, and it is a voice of sufficient power and opulence to be suitable for more than purely lyrical roles.
Miss Sharlow met a sudden situation with unusual readiness and resource.  It was to be expected that she would use good sense in proceeding carefully in her first act, even to the extent of dragging the tempo a little in order to be more sure of her lines.  She kept her self-possession, and made use of her brains as well as her voice.  Her phrasing was musicianly.  Her action was appropriate, and neither stiff nor exaggerated, though it will undoubtedly gain variety and conviction to a greater degree than could reasonably have been expected yesterday.
She sings freely; the tonal emission is not in any way forced or unnatural.  More finesse and emotion that lies deeper than song should be Miss Sharlow's in the future.  The audience was quick to recognize the courage and the talent of the singer, and at few performances of the season have artists been called before the curtain as often and as cordially as Miss Sharlow and Mr. Lafitte after the first act.



Boston Herald, March 8, 1914:
Miss Myrna Sharlow, who took the part of Mimi at a Saturday night performance of 'La Boheme' on January 31, replaced Mme. Melba.
The audience yesterday, kindly disposed from the moment of her entrance, encouraged her in every way.  It soon realized that she had a voice of her own a voice of fine and appealing quality, a voice well suited to the music of Mimi.  The beauty of her tones led one to forget easily the absence of nuances for dramatic expression, and the modesty of her bearing and her unaffected simplicity atoned for the lack of emotional acting.  This, too, may be said, that her natural taste and sound sense kept her from any too deliberate attempt to act.  She is certainly a singer of much promise.
She deserved the generous applause.  It required courage to face the disappointed audience.  Her pluck, voice and personality put the spectators in good humor and saved the day



Boston Globe, March 8, 1914:
Fortune brought opportunity to Miss Mryna Sharlow yesterday out of the disappointment that denied Mme. Melba to the great audience.  The young soprano sang Mimi for the first time several weeks ago on a Saturday evening, and showed then the rich promise in beauty of voice and skill in song which already assures her a career.  The honor bestowed upon her yesterday was an incentive to inspire any young singer to her best, and the cast was preferable to the former one.  The result was a performance that gave the audience unmistakable pleasure, and declared still more positively the high natural gifts and the skill acquired by study which Miss Sharlow fortunately possesses.
Undoubtedly the most promising of the younger women in the house, her success of Saturday forecasts a great future.




Boston Advertiser, March 9, 1914:
Myrna Sharlow undertook the task of filling the heroine's role, and it soon became evident that she would do it unexpectedly well.  She has been heard chiefly in small parts, but she sang Mimi's role in remarkably easy and effective style.  Her voice proved fresh and agreeable in quality, and altogether appealing in sympathetic charm.  Her life story to Rodolfo became a signal for marked applause.  Her reconciliation with him in the third act gave her another chance to win appreciation, and she carried out the death scene of Act IV with ample feeling.  Her voice, as a whole, is refreshingly free from tremolo; it is strong enough to carry well, even without the power that she obtained on high notes; and her intonation was pleasingly true.

After the close of the Opera Season, Miss Sharlow accompanied the Russell Company on their visit to Paris, and was engaged for the opera at Covent Garden, London.

During her engagement in Paris, the repertoire of the Company was limited to the German and a few old Italian operas, no French opera being given.  Miss Sharlow sang many of the roles she had sung in Boston.

Directly at the close of the season in Paris, she went to London for the first production of Zandonai's new opera, Francesca de Rimini.  She had the honor of creating the role of Samratina.  The London press was most enthusiastic about her work.


The music critic of the London Globe wrote:
Another individual success was won by Miss Sharlow as Samaratina.  Miss Sharlow sang with an amount of charm that proved her to be a very valuable acquisition to the Covent Garden Sopranos.



The London Times said:
A special word of praise seems due Myrna Sharlow who as Samaritana sang the duet with Mme. Edvina in the first act.

Queen Alexandra and the Dowager Empress of Russia lent the necessary brilliancy to the audience.

At the close of the Covent Garden season, Miss Sharlow returned to America, and the illness of Helen Stanley gave her another opportunity.  With but one rehearsal the young Soprano sang Micaela with the Century Opera Company in September, revealing herself to discriminating musicians as an artist of the truest stamp, by the deftness of her impersonation and the beauty of her voice.  Miss Sharlow was engaged to sing at the first Sunday night concert of the opera.  The New York critics, as have all others, praised the young singer.  Pitt Sanborn, in the Globe, said:

Miss Helen Stanley was cast for 'Micaela' last night, but the old story of operatic indisposition repeated itself, and Myrna Sharlow hurried into the part at almost no notice and pleased the audience with her fresh voice and her agreeable air of youth and simplicity.


W. B. Chase, in the New York Evening Sun, writes:
There were new comers in the cast.  Chief of these was a young Dakota girl, who sang with the Boston Opera.  She sang 'Micaela' with an unaffected simplicity that won favor from the start, and quite brought down the house in the third act.



The New York World said:
Another new singer who appeared at short notice in 'Carmen,' and whose lovely soprano voice and finished style won her a success, is Myrna Sharlow.

During the holidays Miss Sharlow sang with the Century Opera Company in Chicago.  She sang Gretel for the first time, having learned it in five days.  That the Chicago critics were pleased, the following notices testify:


Ed. Moore, in The Journal:
Miss Sharlow displayed youth and good looks and thus lent considerable pictorial charm to the role 'Micaela'.  Her voice is of pleasing quality and when raised on high is clear, certain, and possesses the thrill of vitality.  Her first appearance gave evidence that she is a pleasing and welcome addition to the Company.

Mr. Felix Borowski of Chicago wrote:

The 'Gretel' of Miss Myrna Sharlow left a pleasing impression on the house.  Miss Sharlow has been endowed with, or she has acquired, a voice that is attractive as to its tone and timbre, and it is on the whole well used.  Her performance was distinguished by engaging touches of art.

Miss Sharlow spent most of the season of 1914–15 in the concert field, where, being quick to appreciate the great difference between the concert art and the opera, she soon established herself to the realization of the most sanguine expectations of her admirers.

Blessed with a living imagination, which she has developed to a remarkable degree, and with an extraordinary amount of tone color at her command,
 she has been able to go to the heart of her songs, or rather to the heart of the composer, and seems merely to be the medium by which his thought is given to her audiences.  She has succeeded in the subtle art of atmosphere creation which is so necessary in a successful concert singer.  This is especially difficult for singers who have had only an operatic training, for, as is well known, many opera singers fail as concert singers.  In opera, the atmosphere is created by the scenery, costumes, acting, and chorus.  In concert, the artist is alone, and it is here that imagination and soul must reign.  It is this quality that creates the successful concert singer; and this, combined with Miss Sharlow's rare voice, youth, and joyousness in living, makes her concerts irresistible.

During the season, she filled the following engagements:

Special Engagement—guest performance—Micaela in Carmen, Century Opera Co., New York.
Recital, Western College, Oxford, Ohio.
Recital, Woman's Club, Louisville, Ky.
Arion Club, Webster Grove, Mo.
Private Musicale, St. Louis, Mo.
Arion Club, New York City.
Recital, Red Cross Benefit, Bridgeport, Conn.
Colony Club, New York City.
Mendelssohn Glee Club, New York City.
Recital, Columbia University, Columbia, Mo.
Recital with Mrs. Beach, Granberry School, New York City.

Recital with Mrs. Beach, Tuesday Musical, Detroit, Mich.
Special Engagement—guest performances—Gretel and Micaela, Century Opera Co., Chicago.
Joint Recital, David Bispham, Tremont Temple, Boston, Mass.
Recital, His Majesty's Theater, Montreal, Ont.
Soloist, Elgar Chior, Hamilton, Ont.
Recital, Philomusian Club, Philadelphia.
Soloist, Orpheus Club, Cincinnati.
Recital, Louisville.
Recital, University Club, Lexington, Ky.
Recital, Centennial Club, Nashville, Tenn.
Soloist, Orpheus Club, Corning, N. Y.
Soloist, Arion Club, Newark, N. J.
Soloist, Keene Festival, Keene, N. H.


Some of the many notices of her concerts follow, and it is surprising to find, from so many places, the same character of praise for the young singer.


New York Dramatic Mirror, September 23, 1914:
The Century Opera Company on Tuesday evening followed 'Romeo and Juliet' with Bizet's 'Carmen.'
Really the brightest spot in the performance was the 'Micaela' of Myrna Sharlow, who substituted for Madame Melba at the Boston Opera House last March.  Miss Sharlow has an agreeable voice, which she handles with facility.



Musical Leader, September 30, 1914:
Tuesday evening 'Carmen' received a truly splendid performance.  Helen Stanley, who was to have sung the 'Micaela,' was in the grip of a bad cold, in consequence of which the part
 was sung by Myrna Sharlow, the young soprano who jumped into sudden note when she replaced Mme. Melba as 'Mimi' in one of the performances of 'La Boheme' in Boston.  She later joined the company in Paris, where she had several successful appearances.  Miss Sharlow is slight and charming in personality; she has a voice of sweet musical quality and she sings well.  She should have great success when experience will be added to what she already has in her favor.


Musical America, October 3, 1914:
First of the Century Opera Company's weekly concerts was given last Sunday evening.  Myrna Sharlow, the young soprano, delivered the 'Pagliacci' Ballatella delightfully, with freshness and beauty of tone, and with brilliancy.  Subsequently she added 'The Year's at the Spring' to even better purpose.


Louisville Courier-Journal, October 30, 1914:
Surely Fate, like other givers, gives twice when she gives quickly.  Myrna Sharlow is in her early twenties, yet she sings, as she did not last year, with the assurance of past successes, with the confidence of continuous experience in opera, of training with Clement in Paris.  And yet how true it is that Fate knocks at those doors whose steps are garnished and whose latches are made ready.  When Melba was suddenly indisposed on that night of opera in Boston which Louisville still memoralizes why was Myrna Sharlow chosen to substitute and why was the audience delighted with the performance?  Those who attended the concert at the Woman's Club last night are in a position to explain.  The two arias from 'La Boheme,' sung in costume, revealed a charming 'Mimi' who interpreted by voice, looks, and gesture the dramatic story and the flowing music which clothes it.  Miss Sharlow's versatility enables her to present successfully even so widely varied a programme as that of last evening, but she interprets some things better than others, and those that she sings best she sings exquisitely.  In everything that was sung last night there was the evidence of an admirable technique.  Her breath control is beyond criticism, her tone ample, her execution confident, easy.  Every detail has been prepared and polished; there are almost no flaws.  Some were more highly polished, more brilliant, than others and some were sung with greater inspiration, and among those were the Puccini arias.
It would be difficult to find an Antonia to give the 'Turtle Dove' song with daintier or more poetic effect than did Miss Sharlow.  Her personality and her style, as well as her youth, aid in the appeal to the imagination.  Back of all this is that sure technique holding her tone firm and ample, her legato secure, so that the difficulties of that tricky aria vanish and only its beauty, its arresting grace, appear.
The Prayer from 'La Tosca' was sung by Miss Sharlow in her previous recital here and she gave it last night.  It showed, as did the entire programme, again in confidence, in spirit, in subtle shading.  Not that Miss Sharlow failed to please on the previous occasion, but she has developed naturally, if rapidly.  The former promise has been fulfilled, the slight stiffness has become ease, the erstwhile pale passages are couleur de rose.  These fulfillments were most apparent in the arias mentioned, in certain recondite discoveries in the form of folk song, in such modern gems as Campbell Tipton's 'The Spirit Flower,' Rachmaninoff's 'Lilacs,' Laroux's 'The Nile,' The hearty, homely sentiment of 'Mein lieber Schatz' was unexpectedly congenial to Miss Sharlow, who gave it with the gusto of a Schumann-Heink in German humoresque.  The 'Manan, dites moi' of Weckerlin was delicate, tripping, naive, dainty—all, in short, that it should have been.
The group of American songs included Frank Bibb's 'Rondel of Spring,' new, interesting and a little Mrs. Beach-y; Walter Kramer's 'Allah,' with a fine climax for Miss Sharlow's splendid high tones; Frank La Forge's engaging love song, 'To a Messenger,' and 'The Year's at the Spring,' delightfully, thrillingly sung.
It was an unqualified triumph for Miss Sharlow, even trailing Bostonian clouds of glory.  The audience was large, representative and responsive; they loved the singer—their singer—glowing in young pleasure and sweetness.  No wonder the Bostonians were willing to forego Melba.



Louisville Herald, October 30, 1914:
MYRNA SHARLOW'S CONCERT AT WOMAN'S CLUB DELIGHTFUL.
The concert given last evening at the Woman's Club under the auspices of the Music Committee of the club, with Miss Myrna Sharlow as the singer, was in every respect delightful and notable, both as to the importance of the concert as a
 musical event and for the discriminating audience present, an audience genuinely interested in hearing the young singer who has returned to Louisville after an absence of two years.
The program was arranged with the view to offering an opportunity to Miss Sharlow to demonstrate the full range, quality and power of her voice no less than to give an idea of her dramatic power and artistic temperament and that Miss Sharlow more than met the demands made upon her is unquestionable.
Since her concert at the Woman's Club two years ago, Miss Sharlow has developed wonderfully and for so young a singer she has admirable poise and reserve; in fact, at times, she is somewhat too restrained in her singing, but whatever faults may be found in her manner of singing, there is not one which we feel will not be overcome with a little more experience.  Everything seems possible for her and even now, when only a few years out of her teens, she is a brilliant singer and an artist to her fingertips.
She has a marvelous range, her tones are full, clear and even and, above everthing, her voice possesses the quality of resonance to a marked degree.
Her first number last evening, 'Batti, Batti' from 'Don Giovanni,' showed to the audience at once her development in in the last two years.  This development was shown even more markedly in her splendid singing of Antonia's Aria from 'Tales of Hoffman.'  The richness and purity of her voice and her dramatic appreciation were well demonstrated in her singing of the aria.
In the group of modern songs, English, French, German, Russian, and Norwegian, Miss Sharlow was charming in the varied interpretations she gave.  She sang Xavier Laroux's 'Le Nile,' with great subtlety and appeal and her singing of Grieg's 'Ich Liebe Dich,' was brilliant and stirring.
In every number she gave Miss Sharlow unconsciously makes it evident that she has the dramatic instinct in a great degree.  Her rendering of the prayer from 'La Tosca' illustrated this strongly.  Her singing of Mrs. Beach's 'The Year's at the Spring' was a splendid outburst of the joyousness of youth, spring and delight in life, and the applause that followed the song was no less spontaneous than Miss Sharlow's singing.
The two arias from 'Boheme,' 'Mi Chiamano Mimi,' and 'Addio,' which Miss Sharlow sang in costume, were further evidence of her possibilities as a great artist.
It will be very interesting to watch Miss Sharlow in her career and it will also be very gratifying to have the prediction that she is to be recognized as one of the great American opera singers realized.




Louisville Times, October 30, 1914:
MISS MYRNA SHARLOW'S TRIUMPH.
In a widely varied program, which not only afforded scope for unusual talents, but put versatility to a severe test, Myrna Sharlow at the Woman's Club last night proved fully equal to the difficult task which she had set herself and rendered her selections with such consummate artistry that her hearers were moved to the highest pitch of enthusiasm.  It was a distinct triumph for Miss Sharlow, for it not only revealed the heights which she has already attained, but it opened a new and faraway vista of possible achievements in the future.  Her audience was responsive to an unusual degree and at the conclusion of the brilliant recital the gifted little singer, scarcely beyond girlhood's years, was acclaimed an artist who had 'arrived' in the fittest sense of the word.  So flawless was her technique and so confident and charming her manner that her hearers forgot that they were listening to what might be called 'a slip of a girl.'
In the 'Turtle Dove' song Miss Sharlow realized every phase of its poetic beauty, touched every finer vibration with something of her own sympathetic soul.  Youth and imagination infused the whole rendition, which was exquisite.  She repeated 'The Prayer' from 'La Tosca,' a number which she sang in her previous recital here, and gave it even more delicate shading and subtle interpretation.  The two arias from 'La Boheme' were given in costume and revealed a dramatic poise, a mastery of effect, which was truly superb.
Miss Sharlow was especially happy in the group of modern selections, embracing Campbell Tipton's 'The Spirit Flower,' Rachmaninoff's 'Lilacs,' Laroux's 'The Nile' and 'Mein lieber Schatz.'  The offering of American songs included Bibb's 'Rondel of Spring,' Kramer's 'Allah' and La Forge's 'To a Messenger' and 'The Year's at the Spring.'



Louisville Post, October 30, 1914:
MISS SHARLOW'S RECITAL.
Under the auspices of the Music Committee of the Woman's Club, Miss Myrna Sharlow gave a song recital last night.  The program was made of operatic selections, folk songs and modern songs of the French and American schools.
The training that Miss Sharlow has had has fitted her especially for operas, and it was to be expected that her singing of the operatic selections would have been on the whole superior to her singing of the songs.  The remarkable fact concerning the recital was that, in so young a singer, both types of selections on her program should have been done so well.  A young singer is likely to specialize either in songs or in opera almost to the exclusion of the other branch of vocal music.  Yet last night Miss Sharlow sang Laroux's 'Le Nile,' as beautifully as she sang the prayer from 'La Tosca.'
'Le Nile' was peculiarly suited to Miss Sharlow's style.  It demanded resonance, power, a suave legato, dramatic power and beauty of tone.  These are qualities which Miss Sharlow has above all others.  The numbers that required lightness and delicacy of tone, such as the 'Batti, batti,' from Mozart's and delicacy of tone, such as the 'Batti, batti,' from Mozart's 'Don Giovanni,' were not given in as satisfactory a manner.  Miss Sharlow's voice has great volume and she has been accustomed to sing in larger halls than the Woman's Club, which may explain why she did not achieve a single pianissimo during the course of the evening.  And delightful as the tonal quality of her voice is, it varied but little from song to song, and never acquired the delicacy demanded by Mozart.
Miss Sharlow's voice is decidedly that of a dramatic soprano.  All of the richness and the dramatic power of Antonia's aria from 'Tales of Hoffman' were brought to the audience as Miss Sharlow sang it last night.  Grieg's 'Ich liebe dich,' Bibb's 'Rondel of Spring' and Mrs. Beach's 'The Year's at the Spring' were all noteworthy for the same qualities.  Miss Sharlow's voice was constantly rich in color, of that rare, indefinable lustrous quality, filled at the same moment with light and shadow, which makes the voice seem alive, even independently of the personality of the singer.
Best of all was her singing of the Puccini arias, in which just such a voice is needed.  She sang two arias from 'La Boheme' in costume, acting them at the same time.  These were carefully done, memorable, appealing.  Yet never for a moment were they exaggerated.  Miss Sharlow sang these portions of the role of Mimi with a dramatic power, restraint and finish that would rejoice singers of many times her years could they acquire them.
R. G. K.



St. Louis Republic, November 27, 1914:
While the fine singing of the Apollo Club is still ringing in our ears along comes the Arion Club of Webster Grove and enters the lists as a rival …
The chief interest of the evening centered in Miss Sharlow, whose talent and pluck have made for her a place among the well-known grand opera singers.  She gives more encouraging evidence that America can produce an artist capable of sustaining the leading role in an opera, for Miss Sharlow is American trained.  Her first number was Antonio's aria from 'Tales of Hoffman,' by Offenbach.  Mimi's aria from 'La Boheme,' by Puccini, was so well received that the young singer was forced to respond to two encores.  The same rare event took place after a group of English songs.



Translated from N. Y. Herold, November 30, 1914:
In the selection of last night's soloist the Arion was particularly happy.  In Myrna Sharlow the New York concert platform has been enriched by a particularly bright, shining star … The young and highly talented artist, who possesses a phenomenal, glorious voice, and whose training and technique justify the most sanguine hopes, has fully made good the reputation which preceded her from the opera houses.  Last night she scored a pronounced artistic success.  She maintained the high standard of her art most convincingly, by her rendering of Micaela's aria from Bizet's 'Carmen'—one of her favorites—and in a group of well chosen songs, each of which was a veritable treat.


N. Y. Staats-Zeitung, November 30, 1914:
Arion concert … The soloists of the evening were excellent, especially so Myrna Sharlow.  This young lady who has already scored great successes with the Boston Opera at Boston and Paris, and London, and recently as guest at the Century Opera Company, is the possessor of a bell-like, pure soprano voice.  Yesterday she made her New York debut as a concert singer, and, as was expected, came out with flying colors.  Her rendering of the Micaela aria from 'Carmen'; her songs by Grieg, Schmidt, LaForge, and Mrs. H. H. A. Beach, brought her a succession of stormy ovations.


Bridgeport, Conn., Telegram, January 15, 1915:
Miss Sharlow, the young soprano of the Boston Opera Company, captivated her listeners instantly.  Endowed with a voice of wondrous power and richness and a charm of
 personality all her own, she held her audience spellbound, entranced with the beauty of her voice.  Miss Sharlow selected as her first offering the Bird Song from 'I. Pagliacci,' by Leoncavallo.  The young singer is the possessor of a voice, which, while marvelously rich and resonant in character, has underneath it a vein of mellowness which is clearly manifest in the softer tones.
At the conclusion of Miss Sharlow's first selection she was recalled by an audience which had been developed to the highest pitch of enthusiasm, and gracefully responded with an encore, which was sung in English.



Bridgeport, Conn., Standard, January 15, 1915:
Myrna Sharlow, who has been heard on various occasions in this city, has combined with her soprano voice of great beauty a most charming personality, which permeated her whole audience upon her first appearance.  Miss Sharlow looked so very young and girlish as she stood before that great audience in the daintiest of pink frocks that it was indeed a great surprise to note the power and finesse with which she sang.  Miss Sharlow has learned that art of tone coloring which holds an audience breathless with delight.  The bird song from 'I. Pagliacci,' Leoncavallo, and 'Mi Chianinio Mimi' from 'La Boheme,' Puccini, and 'Addio' from 'La Boheme' were the brilliant work of an artist.  The English songs which Miss Sharlow sang as encores were most delightful and were 'Year's at the Spring,' Mrs. H. H. A. Beach, and 'To a Messenger,' Frank LaForge.


Musical Courier, February 10, 1915:
The Mendelssohn Glee Club, of New York, Louis Koemmenich conductor, gave the second private concert of its forty-ninth season on Tuesday evening, February 2, at the Astor Hotel.  On this occasion Myrna Sharlow, soprano, was the soloist.  Miss Sharlow's voice was clear and beautiful and her phrasing wholly admirable.  She was enthusiastically applauded after each number.
Miss Sharlow sang Micaela's aria from 'Carmen,' Schumann's 'Wenn ich in deinen Augen seh,' 'Intermezzo' and 'Auftrage,' Staub's 'L'heure Deliecuse,' Leroux's 'Le Nil,' Bibb's 'Rondel of Spring,' and LaForge's 'To a Messenger.'  A large and fashionable audience was in attendance.




Musical America, February 13, 1915:
In the Mendelssohn Glee Club's second concert at the Hotel Astor, New York, on February 2, there was virtually nothing at which the critically minded observer could cavil, and there was much that evoked warm praise …
So charming was the singing of Miss Sharlow as to lead to the belief that as the young soprano's fame becomes increasingly widespread the Mendelssohn Glee will take great pride in having given her a New York concert hearing thus early in her career.



Montreal Daily Star, February 15, 1915:
Myrna Sharlow is a young American girl with a soprano voice of wide range, penetrating sweetness, welcome freshness, and full of color.  She sings with her brains as well as with her voice—a fact to be noted in these days of mechanical interpretations and showy technical display.
It was in a group of little songs that she had most success, from an artistic point of view.  'L'heure Deliceuse' (Straub) is typical of the best modern  … Miss Sharlow revealed its fragile sentimental charm with admirable restraint.  'Le Nil' by Xavier Leroux, a veritable study in atmosphere, she rendered with equally charming effect.
In Bibb's 'Rondel of Spring' she gave herself up to the riotous exultation of words and music, and as an encore number she sang Mrs. Beach's thrilling setting of Browning's glowing verse, 'The Year's at the Spring,' with genuine poetic feeling.  LaForge's dainty fragment, 'To a Messenger,' was instinct with humor.
Miss Sharlow's operatic numbers were Antonio's aria from Offenbach's 'Contes d'Hoffman,' and the balatella from 'Pagliacci.'  The latter suits her voice admirably, and she realized all its melody.



Musical Courier, March 24, 1915:
On March 15, Myrna Sharlow, the young soprano, gave a highly satisfactory recital at the Philomusian Club in Philadelphia, Pa.  By special request Miss Sharlow sang two arias from 'La Boheme' in costume.  It was in this opera that she first attracted wide attention.  The purely accidental circumstance of Mme.  Melba's sudden indisposition before a
 scheduled appearance at the Boston Opera House last spring, abruptly lifted Myrna Sharlow to the position of unexpected but gratifying prominence which she now holds, and the Philomusian Club members were determined to hear as much of her interpretation of the role of 'Mimi' as possible.


Cincinnati Tribune, April 23, 1915:
Bad weather notwithstanding, the usual capacity house greeted the last concert of the season of the Orpheus Club under the direction of Edwin W. Glover at the Emery Auditorium last night.  An exceptionally interesting program, presented with the artistic understanding and good voice quality which distinguish this club, made the evening one of the most enjoyable musical events of the winter.
The soloist, Miss Myrna Sharlow, more than fulfilled anticipations and proved herself a singer of decided charm and ability.



Louisville Courier-Journal, April 27, 1915:
'My dream was not a dream' sings Charpentier's 'Louise,' in that exquisite air so exquisitely sung by Myrna Sharlow last night at the Woman's Club.  So might Miss Sharlow sing of her dreams of success; she must have had them, though she has been rather a worker than a dreamer.  Returning to Louisville at intervals of a year or more, during the past three or four years, she has shown, on each successive visit, so marked an advance in her art that there has scarcely been a dissenting voice from the general admiration.  Her rise in the world of opera has confirmed the local verdict, and she has now, as a signed prima donna of the Chicago Company, arrived at a goal, if not, indeed, for the unresting artist, the goal.
Those who heard Miss Sharlow last night needed no echoes of her career to understand that she had succeeded.  Someone has said that we carry the future in our hearts; this singer carries hers in her throat.  One does not forget, in saying this, the girlish charm—'youth and beauty, for once,' as some cynic remarked—which makes everything so completely right with the world of Miss Sharlow's hearers.  These, however welcome and important, are never the heart of the matter.  The voice which can thrill and satisfy, which can
 pour out a great, glowing, steady tone, perfectly controlled, that is what Miss Sharlow has achieved—no, it does not come down from the skies!
Miss Sharlow, who has been heard heretofore in programmes largely composed of operatic airs, as was natural, proved her versatility and her wise inclination to broaden her art by devoting this programme, with one exception, to the pure song form.  Her success in interpreting such lyrics as Wolf's 'Verborgenheit' and Schumann's 'Dein Bild' established her title as a lieder singer.  Youth is not an asset in this form of art, which, above all forms, needs mellowing; to pass muster here youth must be aided by real talent and the best training.  Miss Sharlow met the test admirably, though the gaiety of the Schumann 'Auftraege' and the dramatic opportunities of the 'Loreley' asked less restraint and offered more grateful material to that girlish charm which, after all, is not to be despised.
It would be necessary to itemize the programme to indicate the variety of mood and style which were included in its three groups.  The pleasing novelties included a folk song by Cecil Sharp, Mrs. Beach's 'Lotus Isles' (which is, at least, not familiar in Louisville), and a splendid song by Horsman, 'The Bird of the Wilderness.'  'Pierrot,' by Mrs. Newton G. Crawford, not only a novelty, but in manuscript, must have a separate place, as it had an especial interest for the audience.  Mrs. Crawford has added so much to so many notable concerts in her home city, as she did to last night's as a model accompanist, that the opportunity afforded a grateful public to express its immediate and cumulative admiration was seized with avidity.  The beautiful and interesting setting of Sara Teasdale's poem, 'Pierrot,' was greeted with such a storm of applause as is rarely accorded to either composer or artist, and Miss Sharlow repeated the song.



Louisville Herald, April 27, 1915:
MYRNA SHARLOW'S RECITAL PLEASES HOST OF ADMIRERS.
Miss Myrna Sharlow, who was heard by a most appreciative audience in her recital at the Woman's Club last evening, is a young artist with a great future; not that her present achievements leave anything to be desired but,
 having arrived so far at her youthful age, one first thought almost after hearing her sing, is that everything seems possible for her attainment.
Since her last concert in Louisville, given in the autumn, Miss Sharlow has gained in her music perceptibly.  Her poise is remarkable and in delicacy and shading of her phrases she shows marked advancement.
Her program was well arranged and offered a pleasing variety of composition, consisting for the most part of songs, old English, two Russian, French, German and a group by American composers.
In listening to Miss Sharlow sing there is the sense of a high order of intelligence back of her abundant talent, and the assurance of an ever satisfying performance.  Her voice is one of exceptional purity and power and sweetness, her notes are full and rounded, and she possesses a remarkable restraint even in the most dramatic passages.
Much of the success of last evening's concert was due to the perfect accompaniment of Mrs. Newton Crawford, whose response and sympathetic qualities fit her to adapt herself to the singer.  One of the most enjoyable numbers on the program was a composition of Mrs. Crawford's, 'Pierrot,' which Miss Sharlow sang from manuscript and which was appreciatively encored.  The song is a plaintive thing, poetic and appealing, with a rippling accompaniment, delicate and fanciful.
Miss Sharlow's most important number was the aria from Charpentier's 'Louise,' and to even her most ardent admirers, her singing of the aria was a revelation of her breadth of interpretation and execution.  'Bonjour Suzon' and 'L'Adieu de Matin,' by Pessard, were given with beautiful feeling.
Bachmanioff's 'Floods of Spring' was sung with the joyousness and exuberance of the budding season, and in response to prolonged and enthusiastic applause Miss Sharlow gave Mrs. Beach's 'The Year's at the Spring.
A folk song from Somerset, another old English song, 'Oh!  No, John; No!'  gave further demonstration of Miss Sharlow's restraint, while her interpretation of 'The Lotos Isles,' by Mrs. Beach, was beautifully artistic.  The program closed with Horsman's 'Bird of the Wilderness,' in which the tones of the singer's voice were splendidly brought out.
It is not often given to a young singer to possess so generous a share of pleasing qualities as Miss Sharlow, for
 not only in her voice, which is of the rarest and finest, but in her unaffected manner, her poise, her evident but calm appreciation of appreciation, her youth and the bounteous share of good looks with which she is blessed and with her intelligence and her evident good studentship, one feels that the highest place in her chosen profession will be hers.
M. W. C.



Louisville Times, April 27, 1915:
MYRNA SHARLOW'S TRIUMPH.
The audience which heard Myrna Sharlow at the Woman's Club last night was quick to recognize the fact that she has made a long stride forward in her art, even in the short time which has elapsed since she last sang here.  She has gained a more harmonious poise, a more facile command of expression, and is developing the magnetism so essential to success.  Of her voice there could never be any question.  That, too, gave evidence of the work she has done, in the ease with which tonal effects were managed and in the smoothness of the legato passages.  Naturally, in a program covering so wide a range of musical literature as the one she presented, it was scarcely possible that every number should be of equal merit.  There were moments—as no one more surely knows than the young artist herself—when she did not reach the highest standard of possibility; but contrasted with these were those other moments when she carried her hearers entirely with her and stormed their minds as well as their hearts.
A very remarkable piece of vocalization was the 'Depuis le jour' from 'Louise.'  If it lacked something of that imaginative quality which the real Louise must have infused into her delicious memories one must remember that life has many lessons to teach before the soul can quiver in response to such a retrospect.  Miss Sharlow's voice is eminently adapted to this romantic school of music, and the exquisite purity of her tone in the Charpentier number left absolutely nothing to be desired.  Her enunciation, too, has improved as well as the variety of tonal contrasts she can produce.  This was especially evident in the two songs concluding the program, Mrs. Beach's 'Lotos Isles' and Horsman's 'Bird of the Wilderness.'  It would be
 difficult to find two songs more entirely opposite in character, and Miss Sharlow achieved one of the triumphs of the evening in her transition from the first to the second of these.  Of course, a very special interest attached to Mrs. Newton Crawford's song, 'Pierrot,' which Miss Sharlow sang from manuscript.  It is a song written by a singer for singers, with a fascinating melody and an ingeniously harmonized accompaniment.  It gives just the opportunity for such a voice as Miss Sharlow's, and the storm of applause with which it was received was no more than a merited tribute.
As a whole, the recital was one of the best given here this season, and more than justified the expectations of Miss Sharlow's friends.  With a voice of such beauty and endurance—for her last note was even more rich and free than her first; with a personal loveliness of a rare type; with a determination that recognizes no obstacles, and with a brain which nobly commands all these, Myrna Sharlow has the future at her feet.
K. W. D.



Louisville Post, April 27, 1915:
MYRNA SHARLOW IN SONG RECITAL.
Miss Myrna Sharlow made her second appearance before a Louisville audience this season at the Woman's Club last night.  Comparisons of her singing last night with her concert last fall seem unavoidable, and they are especially interesting upon this occasion because of the remarkable advance in her art that Miss Sharlow has made in so short a period of time.
Miss Sharlow's voice has always impressed, won and held its audience because of its rare quality.  The tone is warm, rich in texture, shot through with light and shade The very quality alone seemed inspiring to the audience.  Last fall the tone quality was not often varied; yet last night one of the features of the recital was the variety of tone at Miss Sharlow's disposal.  To each song Miss Sharlow had sought to give its individual tonal trait.  There was a rich repose in Wolf's 'Verborgenheit'; there was a lustrous vibrant quality for Mrs. Beach's 'The Year's at the Spring'; the variety of tone in Liszt's 'Die Loreley,' from the smoothness of the Loreley song to the dramatic climax, was too wide and too delicate to enumerate.
It was this increased control of tone that so greatly aided Miss Sharlow in the singing of the two folk songs on the program.  Nothing is more difficult to sing well than a folk song.  Like all simple music it makes great demands upon the interpretative capacities of the singer for variety that will suit the words and yet not violate the unity of the music.  Consider Miss Sharlow's singing of 'Oh!  No, John; No!'  With the same melody, stanza after stanza, Miss Sharlow made the audience feel it as a song of the greatest liveliness and variety, through her dramatic ability, through her varied tone, and through innumerable other means that the artist acquires.  It was a triumph of art—a triumph a young singer rarely achieves.
It was interesting to note, too, the growing distinction that Miss Sharlow is making between operatic and recital singing.  Last fall the entire program was given in a style that was operatic, both songs and operatic arias.  Last night there was but one operatic selection—from Charpentier's 'Louise'—and this served to emphasize the fact that Miss Sharlow was giving each song its own individuality and that she was reserving the more vivid but less delicate methods of opera for the operatic selections.
But all of these comments are comments on details.  It is the recital as a whole that is of consequence.  Miss Sharlow made it clear that she can win her audience and keep it enthusiastic not merely through personal charm, but through the personality of her singing.  The recital as a whole was artistically arranged and given, full of power, of variety, of color.



Lexington Herald, April 28, 1915:
MISS MYRNA SHARLOW PLEASES IN CONCERT.
Ambitious Program Ably Handled by Young Musician—Technique Splendid—Folk and American Songs are Most Popular with Hearers.
It has been said the genuine musical person sings or plays because her or she cannot refrain from it.  Music is life itself to such a person.  If this be the standard by which we judge the musician, then surely Myrna Sharlow belongs in the top rank.  Rarely has a singer been heard here who seems to enjoy her work as thoroughly as she does.
In spite of the extreme youth of this soprano she has already attained an enviable reputation.  She is primarily an operatic soprano, having taken up concert and lieder singing only this season.  Her concert last night was under the auspices of the University Club and for the benefit of the Associated Charities.
It was of great interest not only as a musical event, but because Miss Sharlow is a niece of Mr. Milton H. Smith, of Louisville, who has many friends here.




Singer's Voice Fresh.
Although she gave a rather heavy program Monday evening in Louisville, the singer's voice was fresh and full throughout her program.  Noticeable features of Miss Sharlow's singing were the purity of her tones and the exquisite shading.  Never once was there the slightest hint of a loss of breath control and the tones flowed from her lips with apparently no effort on the part of the singer.

Miss Sharlow's interpretation was at all times excellent, showing a fine appreciation of the moods of her songs.  Going from the purest and most bell-like high notes, there was wonderful richness in her lower voice which is indeed rare.

In her first group Miss Sharlow sang French and German songs, perhaps the best of which were 'Le Nil,' by Leroux, and 'Auftrage,' by Schumann.  These were directly opposite in style and were handled with excellent taste.



Folk Songs Please.
In the next group the lighter numbers, folk songs from Somerset, were in evidence and it seemed the singer was equally at home in these.  'Oh, No, John; No!'  which is a favorite with local audiences, was vital and full of color.  The 'Slumber Song,' by Gretchaninoff, was one of the most beautiful selections of the entire program.  As a substitute for the fourth number of this group a splendid 'Madame Butterfly' aria was sung.

In group three English songs were heard, three of them by American composers.  Miss Sharlow may be said to excell in the songs by Mrs. H. H. A. Beach, and has sung them with the composer, who is a Boston woman.

Probably the zenith of Miss Sharlow's art was reached in her last offering, the 'Prayer,' from 'Tosca,' by Puccini.  This showed the singer's superb ability in operatic work.




Encores Well Received.
As encores, 'The Year's at the Spring,' by Beach, and 'I know Where I'm Going,' an Irish air, were finely sung and well received.

Throughout her program Miss Sharlow displayed a simplicity and sweetness of manner which completely captivated her audience.

The accompaniments were excellently played by Mrs. Newton Crawford, of Louisville, who is a composer and a vocal solist of ability as well.  This talented woman believes it is highly essential that an accompanist study vocal as well as piano work, and to this she attributes her success in her chosen field.  She is one of Louisville's most prominent musicians.

From here Miss Sharlow returns East for study and it is safe to predict that a wonderful career is in store for her.



Personality is Strong.
In addition to Miss Sharlow's ability as a singer, she has that wonderful charm which is so exceedingly important and which is lacking in many who are far more advanced in their careers; that is, a strong and attractive personality.

She is truly beautiful and, as someone expressed it, so thoroughly human.  During her brief stay here opportunity was afforded of knowing her 'off the stage' and she has made many warm friends here.  After seeing the races yesterday this charming singer said:

'Both my grandmothers were Kentucky women, and is it any wonder I enjoyed the races and am having such a delightful time here'?

Miss Sharlow is entirely American in her training and she is also a thorough patriot in her tastes.  She says that never before has this country faced the musical opportunity it does at present and in the future she believes this will be the world's greatest field of musical endeavor.  She believes the war, with its influence in sending leading musicians of the world to this land, has caused and advance in this country of at least fifty years.

Although Miss Sharlow much prefers grand opera work and has contracted for the entire season next year with the Chicago company, it is hoped the Lexington people will sometime have the opportunity of again hearing her in concert.

By Elizabeth Byers.





The Nashville American, May 4, 1915:
BRILLIANT PROGRAM BY LYRIC SOPRANO.
Miss Sharlow's Appearance at Centennial Club Greeted by Enthusiastic Audience.
Not in recent years has any singer so completely sung themselves into the hearts of the Nashville public as did Miss Myrna Sharlow yesterday afternoon at the Centennial Club.  She was received enthusiastically by her audience, especially so after her first selection, Un Bel Di, 'Madame Butterfly' (Puccini), which proved to them her knowledge of music and its interpretations, her exquisite lyric soprano voice of power, quality and range, and her gracious personality.  That her critics have called her a successor to Melba was not surprising to her hearers.  Her qualifications as a singer are primarily operatic.  Miss Sharlow has already appeared with great success with the Boston Opera Company, Covent Garden, London, and the Anglo-American Opera Company of Paris.  For next season she is engaged to appear with the Chicago Grand Opera Company.  Her program was most artistic, and was given with equal art.  It is also well to note that the diction and pronunciation of the foreign tongues, and her own language was excellent.  Her interpretations of the 'Madame Butterfly' number, the advantage it gave her in showing the wonderful qualities of sweetness, purity, clearness, and her sustaining and dramatic ability, was wisely chosen as the first number.  There were many, however, who preferred her singing of the aria 'Depius le jour Louise' (Charpentier), which was indeed very operatic and dramatic.  This might be called her most important execution.  In appreciation of her tremendous applause of this selection, Miss Sharlow answered to her first recall, giving La Forge's 'To a Messenger,' which also charmed her audience.
At the close of the program she answered a request and sang an aria from 'La Boheme,' and this, with 'La Tosca,' the last number of the program, made a brilliant climax to a most unusual recital.  The entire numbers having been given with the greatest composure and ease, each hearer having been impressed with the art of this beautiful young singer.




Nashville Banner, May 4, 1915:
BRILLIANT RECITAL.
A musical event, which will rank as one of the most interesting of the season at Centennial Club, was the brilliant recital of Miss Myrna Sharlow yesterday afternoon.  The audience was large and enthusiastic and the singer's gracious personality and beauty added to the effect made by her exquisite lyric soprano voice and her artistic interpretations of difficult and beautiful numbers.  Many qualities are necessary to achieve success in grand opera, and this charming young Southern singer possesses them all.  Although very young she has already appeared with great success with the Boston Grand Opera Company, the Covent Garden Opera Company of London, and the Anglo-American Opera Company of Paris, and critics have called her the successor to Melba.
In her program yesterday, which showed her remarkable versatility, her rendition of the aria, 'Depius le jour Louise' (Charpentier) was especially noteworthy.  Her voice possesses wonderful sweetness and purity of tone, together with wide range and sustaining power.  At the close of the program, by request, she sang an aria from 'La Boheme,' which served as a brilliant climax to the beautiful recital.


Miss Sharlow will be available for Concerts during October and the early part of November.  After her Opera Season in Chicago, she will make an extended concert tour of the United States.

At all her appearances in the United States and Canada her audiences have been most enthusiastic, with the natural result of great success for the Clubs and Miss Sharlow.