The Italian Maestro Who Captivated Walla Walla
A visiting Italian band, led by a charismatic conductor, becomes the unexpected highlight of the local Fruit Fair.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The record-breaking attendance which has so far been the rule at the fruit fair is due no doubt to the stellar attraction which the management has presented: namely, Ellery's Italian band. It is so seldom that a musical organization of this excellence is played at an affair of this kind that the people of Walla Walla were immediately ready to take advantage of the opportunity of hearing the famous organization. The music played by this superb organization of foreign artists has been of the most brilliant character. The leading of Chiaffarelli, the band's new director, is a most wonderful demonstration of the baton's effect on the artists. Chiaffarelli, while quite a large man, is very graceful, and his poses are a thing of joy and beauty forever; the enthusiastic pitch of musical passion which he works himself up to in the big selections is most interesting and glorious to behold. His smile of recognition of the applause he has been receiving nightly is quite in contrast to the icy glare of indifference which the former leader, Rivela, gave the audience.
“His poses are a thing of joy and beauty forever; the enthusiastic pitch of musical passion which he works himself up to in the big selections is most interesting and glorious to behold.”
Local festivals have long served as a stage for both community identity and high-culture imports. The excitement over Ellery's Band mirrors the enduring regional enthusiasm for touring professional entertainment in Walla Walla's vibrant arts scene.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.