Irene Stolofsky and Company

              Irene Stolofsky and Company





Redpath





Irene Stolofsky, Violinist



A
RTISTIC merit, rather than unwarranted exploitation, has been responsible for the phenomenal rise of Irene Stolofsky from comparative obscurity to musical prominence.  Less than ten years ago this Chicago violinist, of Polish descent, made a professional debut that brought enthusiastic paragraphs from metropolitan critics.  Today she has thousands of devotees who declare that she has no superior among the women violinists of America.  And one of the beauties of her art is that the ovations which she has received in Chicago and Cincinnati, New York and Columbus, have been rivaled in sincere enthusiasm by smaller, but no less appreciative audiences in Van Wert, Bellville, Mt. Vernon and hundreds of other widely distributed communities where she has appeared under Redpath management.




Unquestionably, Irene Stolofsky is a marvel violinist.  In her audiences have sat some of the most severe and competent critics, and the universal comment has been superlatively complimentary.  She seems to hold her audiences under a spell of musical wizardry and enchantment.  Her numbers are played with masterly touch, and her violin evokes remarkable tone pictures.  Her playing is much like a man's in its strength and virility, but her art puts into her renditions the delicacy that only a woman can attain.




Miss Stolofsky is capable of giving not only the great sonatas and concertos, but also the smaller and frequently more popular numbers.  Her descriptive pieces have been the subject of frequent comment.  
Her classical music is played deftly,
 remarks one critic, 
but it is when in the encores she gives the old familiar numbers, that she steals into the innermost recesses of one's soul.




No one rejoices more thoroughly in Miss Stolofsky's success than does Director Harry Dimond of the Metropolitan Conservatory in Chicago.  To him she gives much of the credit for the success which she has attained.  For several years he was her teacher, and this one-time concertmaster of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra was among the first to acclaim her one of the real musical sensations of the present generation.




Appearing with Miss Stolofsky are Mr. George B. Imbrie, baritone, and a capable piano soloist and acccompanist.






SUPPLEMENT
Condensed Newspaper Comments Taken at Random from Hundreds of Enthusiastic Reports on the Irene Stolofsky program:



Poughkeepsie, N. Y., Eagle-News:


For tonal beauty of playing, Irene Stolofsy surpasses any violinist heard in Poughkeepsie since Thibaud.  Her playing was thoroughly enjoyed, not only by technical musicians, thoroughly schooled in the best music, but also by the laity.




Lexington, Ill., Journal:


It would be impossible to praise too highly Miss Stolofsky and her assisting artists.  She is without doubt one of the outstanding virtuosos of the present generation.  Her playing is masterly, and her tone is sweet and beautiful.




E. G. Gillett, 524 Temple Club, Cincinnati, O.:


The Irene Stolofsky Company is the best balanced organization that we have ever had.  They are all artists.  Miss Stolofsky is the best ever, and is well worthy of all the compliments she receives.  The violin is a part of her soul and a natural gift from Divine Providence.




Terre Haute., Ind., Tribune:


She is a tiny pocket edition, is Irene Stolofsky, the marvel violinist, but she has tons of personality.  And after you have heard the first strains of her violin you believe every word the press notices state.  She has made a number of records for the international department of the Columbia Record Company—lovely old songs such as 
Annie Laurie
 and 
Forsaken,
 revealing the very soul of her violin thru her skillful touch.




Mt. Vernon, O., Republican:


Irene Stolofsky fairly took away the hearts of Mt. Vernon music lovers with her wonderful playing.  There were in the audience many people who had heard her before, and they pronounced her musicianship greater than ever.  Her program was picked from here and there in the long history of music.  And who can forget how she brought the bagpipes to town on her violin!




Orlando, Fla., Reporter-Star:


Miss Stolofsky is very charming in person, having the wide-open brown eyes which, when she plays, light up her face in a rapture of music worthy of St. Cecelia herself.  Her bowing shows some of the little touches used by Elman and also by Kreisler.  She was very generous in her program and gracious in responding to encores.




Columbus, O., Dispatch:


One of the recent finds who promises to be a star of the first magnitude on the Redpath list, is Irene Stolofsky, Polish violinist, who was heard in Columbus for the second time within a week.




Delphos, O., Herald:


Irene Stolofsky's playing, from the most intricate and difficult classical selections to the simple songs of the people, was exquisite and evoked great admiration and applause.




Ottawa, Ill., Journal:


Miss Stolofsky seems to do everything with her violin except make it talk.  She and her associate artists were enthusiastically received.




Athens, O., Messenger:


It was her third appearance in Athens, and the concert fulfilled every expectation of those who had previously been delighted with her playing.  The pleasing strains of her instrument seemed to unite composer, violinist and audience into one great soul.




Bellville, O., Leader:


The program of the Irene Stolofsky Company was extraordinary in every detail.  Miss Stolofsky plays with remarkable ease, executing the most intricate compositions with the confidence and finesse of a thorough master.  With pleasing contrast she intersperses the sweet, soft strains of folk songs with wild, weird harmonics, trills and cadenzas from classical masterpieces.  Her violin bow and fingers move at times with a rapidity that baffles the eye.




Moline, Ill., Dispatch:


Irene Stolofsky drew more encores from her audience than any other performer in the series this year.




Van Wert, O., Bulletin:


With clear, bell-like tones, with low, minor, sobbing notes and with beautiful harmonies Miss Stolofsky shows her mastery of the violin.




Logansport, Ind., Tribune:


Never before in our experience has a violin sounded so sweetly.  Artists may come and go, but Stolofsky and her violin will long be remembered by her Logansport friends.




Lorain, O., Times-Herald:


The Stolofsky Company was given a tremendous ovation.  The auditorium was crowded to capacity.  Miss Stolofsky is one of the greatest artists who has ever appeared in concert here.




Sullivan, Ind., Times:


Miss Stolofsky, who is of the brunette type, with soulful brown eyes and magnetic personality, played many selections from the great composers, but it is believed that her rendition of 'Ave Maria' cast the strongest charm over her audience.




BY THE CHICAGO CRITICS



Edward Moore in Chicago Journal:


Irene Stolofsky's talent is genuine.  She has a well developed technique, an accurate intonation and an excellent tone.




Music News:


Miss Stolofsky presents a very charming picture on the stage.  She is sincere and unaffected, and has a most careful preparation for the concert stage.




Glenn Dillard Gunn in Chicago Tribune:


She has a command of the tonal possibilities of her instrument that includes purity, accuracy as to pitch and an excellent scheme of qualitative contrasts.




Felix Borowski in Chicago Herald:


Many an artist of much greater maturity might well envy the ease with which Irene Stolofsky negotiates the mechanical difficulties of her music.




The Violinist:


We heard Irene Stolofsky at a Ballman concert, on which occasion she played a Hubay Scarda in a way that we believe would have pleased Hubay himself.







George B. Imbrie, Baritone



A
S an associate artist with Irene Stolofsky, the Redpath Bureau takes justifiable pride in offering George B. Imbrie, baritone.  His talent came to the attention of the Redpath Bureau thru frequent appearances in recitals in Carnegie Music Hall in Pittsburgh.  Bureau representatives who heard him there were enthusiastic over his work and he was secured for a tour which is to extend from coast to coast.




Mr. Imbrie has had a unique career.  Primarily he is a student of law and municipal government.  He entered politics at an early age and served for a time as mayor of Wellsville, an Ohio city of 10,000 population.  For another term he was Director of Public Safety in Wellsville.  During all this time his services were in great demand thruout the Ohio valley as a baritone.




As a result of his Scotch-Welsh parentage, there is in Mr. Imbrie's voice that characteristic human appeal which never fails to win an audience.  And this gift which came to him naturally has been developed by vocal instruction, first at Beaver College and later with James Stephen Martin and the well known J. L. Rodrigues of Pittsburgh.




Off the platform, Mr. Imbrie is a young man well met and thoroughly congenial.  On the platform he is a vocal idol.





In President Harding's Home Town



Among those who heard the Stolofsky Company in Marion, Ohio, in November, 1921, was President Harding's sister, who personally complimented the artists, following the concert.  In reporting the program, President Harding's paper, the Marion Star, spoke of the spontaneous applause which was frequent throughout the concert.  
In Paganini's D Major Concerto,
 said the Star, 
as well as in its encores, Miss Stolofsky played some of the most difficult violin music with wonderful grace and tone.  The program was of a nature seldom heard in Marion.  Miss Stolofsky and her accompanying artists received such recognition of their splendid work that it seemed as if even more of the generous program would have been enjoyed.




In connection with this same engagement at Marion, the principal of Harding High School wrote the Columbus office of the Redpath Bureau:  
Miss Stolofsky is a real artist, of very great ability.  I have never heard more masterly renditions than those of this artist.  Her ability to reach the hearts of her audience and carry them with her, even in the interpretation of her most difficult selections, is remarkable indeed.





Another Angle of Praise



Roscoe Gilmore Scott, widely known lecturer and magazine writer, recently heard Miss Stolofsky in a Pennsylvania city.  
I am prepared to say without reservation,
 he reported, 
that I frankly consider her the one greatest musician in the lyceum and chautauqua world.  Her technique is sound and her personality pleasing.  At the close of her concert I heard an educator say, 'Miss Stolofsky should have had the name Kreisler, for she is in his class.'  From the simplest melodies to the great concertos she moves with perfect ease, and plays both with unusual appeal.  Her associate artists are worthy supporting musicians.





George B. Imbrie Baritone