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Musical Courier 1891-02-18: Vol 22 Iss 574, 1891
69 lines. Read by computer on 19 September 2026, twice; the two readings disagreed in places. Printed page 155. See the scan on archive.org.
1HOME NEWS.
3A MUCH MARRIED COMPOSER.—San Francisco, Cal., February 11.—Richard Stahl, author of the comic operas "Said Pasha" and "The Sea King," is in custody of the chief of police of Portland, Ore., awaiting a requisition from Governor Markham, of California.
5Stahl has been married no less than five times. His last wife was Bertie Crawford, of the Patti-Rosa company. To his ex-life partner Stahl is paying an amount in alimony every month that would drive a less brainy man crazy in a short time, and to wife No. 4 in particular there are several dollars due. Just before the arrival of the fair Bertie Richard was leading the "Natural Gas" orchestra at the very theatre in which wifey was to appear the following week, and to a loquacious friend he told a story about "laying low" in San Francisco until "The Sea King" was produced at the California Theatre, when he would slap an injunction on Manager Harry Mann. Long ago Stahl sold the rights to the opera to Kirally Brothers, and he knew his friend would tell what he had told him. Monday was the date set for the throwing of Stahl's bomb.
7In the meantime Stahl was putting space between himself and pretty Bertie and working toward Oregon, where he expected to be joined by the "Natural Gas" company. He would have been all right but for one mistake. Some time ago he sold to the Krelings all his rights to the opera of "Said Pasha," scores and all. He forgot to remember that and made use of the music of that operetta. The Krelings were not pleased with this, and when they heard of Stahl's proposed attack on Harry Mann they quietly got out a warrant for his arrest on a charge of embezzlement. Stahl did not show up and Chief Crowley's forces made the wires warm telegraphing all over the State to ascertain his whereabouts. Just before the Oregon train pulled out last night it was heard that Stahl and his new wife would soon reach Portland.
9The remainder of the tale is told. A dispatch to the chief of police at Portland caused the musical author to be met at the station and taken in charge until a requisition from Governor Markham could be secured. This document was procured this morning and Stahl will be here next Saturday to face both the Krelings and pretty wife No. 4.—"Times."
11AMERICAN OPERA.—The announcement is made that the third regular season of grand opera in English at popular prices will be given at the Grand Opera House, beginning May 24 and continuing six weeks. The management has made arrangements for the production of the following operas, which will be given in the order named: Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor," Auber's "Fra Diavolo," Bizet's "Carmen," Verdi's "Il Trovatore," Flotow's "Martha," and Gounod's "Faust." Among the artists who have been engaged for this season are Pauline l'Allemand, Louise Natalie, Miss Bella Tomlins, Miss Fanny Meyers, Miss Stella Beaumont, Mr. Chas. Bassett, Mr. Frank Baxter, Mr. Montegriffo, Mr. Tagliapietra and Mr. George Edwards, basso, from the Carl Rosa English Opera Company. It is probably that Mr. Ludwig, the basso of the Carl Rosa Company, will also appear.
13MR. MANSFIELD'S CONCERT.—Washington, February 10, 1891.—On Friday afternoon Mr. Richard Mansfield is to give a concert at Albaugh's Opera House, consisting of songs written by himself, &c. There will be an enlarged orchestra, a chorus of forty voices from St. John's Chapel, New York, and solos by eminent singers. The feature is to be a new national anthem dedicated to the President by his permission. The boxes are to be occupied by the President's family, Vice-President Morton and members of the Cabinet. The orchestra seats are set apart for the large number of invited guests, who are prominent in official life.
15MISS EMMA HECKLE.—Miss Emma Heckle, a young soprano, just returned from Europe, will give a concert in Steinway Hall, on the evening of Tuesday, February 24, when she will be assisted by excellent artists. Miss Heckle was formerly one of the leading sopranos in the West, but concluded to make New York her future home.
17ERNEST R. KROEGER.—Ernest R. Kroeger, of St. Louis, composer of "My Darling" (that is, it's really his darling), gave his fifth annual concert at Memorial Hall, in that city, on February 9, and it began "promptly" at 8:15 sharp.
19HARMONIE CLUB'S CONCERT.—The Harmonie Club of New Haven gave a concert on February 13. The club consists of Mrs. S. B. Shoninger, first violin; Albert Steinert, second violin; Rudolph Steinert, viola, and Morris Steinert, violincello.
21CHICAGO SYMPHONY CLUB ORCHESTRA.—The Chicago Symphony Club Orchestra, under the direction of S. E. Jacobsohn, gave a concert at Central Music Hall, Chicago, the evening of February 10, and this is what the "Times" has to say of it:
23The playing of the orchestra was in most respects an agreeable surprise. It is made up entirely of amateur players, and, of course, lacked the steady swing of the veteran and the finish that rarely come to any except those who devote their whole time to the art. But the breadth and intelligence of the shading and the musicianly style of interpretation were a constant surprise, and still more a constant gratification. The degree of steadiness and precision and the general finish were highly creditable to both conductor and band. Indeed, professional bands have been heard here more than two or three times whose playing was inferior to that of last night in these latter particulars, and not at all to be compared with it in the others named.
25The first movement of the "Heroic" symphony of Beethoven was a little heavy for the players, but was given with considerable breadth and better technical mastery than anyone could have expected, while the degree of delicacy and feeling attained in the "Lohengrin" Vorspiel—which without these interpretative qualities is meaningless—was very surprising. One would feel little disposed to find fault had it been so played by a professional orchestra of some pretension. The gay little Polish dance of Scharwenka was played with dash and spirit and much executive crispness. Mr. Jacobsohn has obviously kept his players well in hand, has convinced their intelligence of the value of discipline, has himself shown the grasp and executive force of the conductor and achieved good results correspondingly.
27LIEDERKRAHNZ CONCERT.—The program for last Sunday night's second concert of the German Liederkranz was of a most variegated, pleasing character, the selections as well as the plethora of soloists showing almost an embarras de richesses. The male chorus as well as the mixed distinguished themselves under Mr. Zollner's energetic conducting, the former in some well chosen a capella numbers which elicited an encore and the latter in the "Loreley" finale of Mendelssohn. In this beautiful fragment Mrs. Antonio Mielke, of the Metropolitan Opera House, sang the soprano solo with magnificent voice and dramatic as well as musical expression. Mrs. Ritter-Goetze sang two braces of German Lieder for contralto with much success, as she was each time encored. Prof. Xaver Scharwenka, our genial Berlin guest, roused the audience to enthusiasm with his broad and musicianly delivery of Beethoven's "Emperor" concerto, and later on he played a Liszt etude and two of his own charming Polish dances with virtuosity and elan. The audience was both numerous and enthusiastic.
29THOMAS SUNDAY CONCERT.—The Lenox Lyceum was last Sunday night crowded to its utmost capacity with a delighted audience, who enjoyed one of the best of the few concerts which Theodore Thomas is yet to give here before his departure for Chicago. One of the principal orchestral attractions was the finely scored, sonorous and musicianly "Introduction and March" from Frederic Grant Gleason's opera, "Montezuma." Of the soloists Campagni and Miss de Vere are old favorites, and they were not only individually encored, but they had also to repeat the beautiful duet from Berlioz, "Benvenuto Cellini." A young violinist, Miss L. Florence Heine, is a newcomer, and she created a most favorable impression with the finished performance of Moszkowski's "Ballade." She is a thorough musician in conception and phrasing and her tone is both broad and sympathetic. She was of course encored.
31THE "EVENING SUN'S" "CARMENS."—In a reference to some of the "Carmens" heard here, the "Evening Sun" refers to Hauk, Lehmann, Patti and De Lussan. To this list we may be permitted to add Clara Louise Kellogg, Zelda Seguin (by the way, a most admirable "Carmen"), Trebelli, Marie Roze and Anna de Belocca, the Russian. Minnie Hauk, considering age, voice, histrionic defects, &c., must do well to equal some of the "Carmens" of the past.
33MR. KENNEDY AT WORK.—We have received a program of a vocal musicale given at Worcester by Mr. Kennedy's pupils on February 16, from which it is manifest that this teacher is striving to accomplish the best possible results for his pupils in particular and the community in general, for the pupils are Worcester people, whose influence will sooner or later affect the character of the festivals in that city and improve their tone and general make up. Delibes, Schumann, Lassen, Gounod, Ambroise Thomas, Bizet, Saint-Saëns, Brahms and Wagner figured on the program. Good for Mr. Kennedy.
35The Paris Opera House.
37THE budget of the Paris Opera House varies from a little under 3,000,000 frs. to a little over 4,000,000. Salaries are paid to no less than 700 persons. The enumeration is interesting and curious. Artists—which means singers—30; ballet dancers, 150; chorus, 80; orchestra, 100; at the booking offices, 30; carpenters, 80; gsmen, 15; dressers, 20 of each sex; ballet masters, stage managers, prompters, &c., 15; so the list runs on till we get the full number. The claque only get their admission—from sixty to ninety tickets for the pit—some of which they may dispose of. one of two readings
38THE budget of the Paris Opera House varies from a little under 3,000,000 frs. to a little over 4,000,000. Salaries are paid to no less than 700 persons. The enumeration is interesting and curious. Artists—which means singers—30; ballet dancers, 150; chorus, 80; orchestra, 100; at the booking offices, 30; carpenters, 80; gusmen, 15; dressers, 20 of each sex; ballet masters, stage managers, prompters, &c., 15; so the list runs on till we get the full number. The claque only get their admission—from sixty to ninety tickets for the pit—some of which they may dispose of. one of two readings
40Every artist has a right to a dresser, who has charge of his wardrobe and conducts his toilet, but the artist may have his own valet if he prefer it. The chorus get each about 1,500f. a year, but they combine the opera with singing in the choirs of churches and also of the conservatoires, and have their special employments during the day.
42The leader of the orchestra gets 12,000 frs. a year, and the lesser lights from 1,500 frs. to 3,000 frs., but they stand out for their status. Meyerbeer used to call them "Messieurs les Professeurs," and the tradition remains. Then there are the dancers—the corps de ballet—who, starting with 1,800 frs. a year, get an annual increase of 200 frs., and sometimes rise very high indeed. Miss Mauri at present receives 40,000 frs.—"Pall Mall Gazette."
44FOREIGN NOTES.
46THE MUNICH CRITICS ON "CAVALERIA RUSTICANA."—As Voltaire replied to Leibnitz's optimistic dogma by the sneering question, "If this is the best of all possible worlds, what must the others be," so A. von Mensi, in reviewing the first performance in Munich of the much advertised one act opera "Cavaleria Rusticana," by Signor Mascagni, exclaims, "If this short, noisy opera, with its partly original, partly copied, hot blooded instrumentation, and its insignificant vocal parts won the first prize among seventy-three operas, what must the other seventy-two have been like?" The critical opinions about this opera differ widely, but all agree in this, that the orchestral part is of more importance than the vocal. Von Mensi asks: "How was it possible that all Italy, after the first performances of this opera last May, was plunged into a sea of ecstasy, that the citizens of Leghorn coined a special gold medal, and all the military bands played selections from 'Cavaleria Rusticana' till the thing became tiresome—how was all this possible with music which could never have been written without Richard Wagner's precedence, and which, with the exception of a few details, has nothing that is national about it?"
48MORE WAGNER LITERATURE.—Edmond Evenepoel, a Belgium Wagnerite, has just published at Brussels a pamphlet entitled "Le Wagnerism hors d'Allemagne" ("Wagnerism outside of Germany") in which the progress of the master's cause, especially in Belgium, is treated at length.
50A HEBREW CONCERT.—On the 23d ult. at Rome, at the Sala Dante, a rare concert was given by Aristides Franzeschetti, aided by several prominent musicians who performed a number of old Jewish compositions. The concert was preceded by a lecture on Hebrew music delivered by the Marquis Gino Monaldi, the music critic of the "Popolo Romano."
52BERLIN WAGNER CONCERT.—The concert by the Wagner Society of Berlin given in commemoration of the master's death on the 13th inst. was announced to have the following program: Prelude and close of the third act from "Parsifal," "The Love Feast of the Apostles" and the "Kaisermarsch."
54BEETHOVEN IN COLOGNE.—Professor Wüllner, the energetic director of the Cologne Conservatorium, proposes to perform, in May next, and on three successive days, the whole of Beethoven's symphonies, with the aid of the Municipal Orchestra of Cologne, and, in the ninth symphony, that of the Gurzenich Choir. The proceeds of this interesting undertaking are to be devoted to a charitable object.
56SPANISH OPERA COMPOSERS LIVELY.—Spanish operatic composers have been displaying an unwonted activity of late. At the Royal Theatre, Madrid, a new opera, entitled "Trafalgar," the libretto by Xavier de Burgos, and the music by Jeronimo Jimenez, was brought out last month and very well received. A similar success was scored at the Liceo, of Barcelona, by a new opera "Zabra," a Spanish subject of the ninth century, the composer being Felipe Espino. Again, at Valencia, an opera in three acts, entitled "Sagunto," by Salvador Giner, has just met with a highly favorable reception, the music being described as highly characteristic and effective.
58"Brunswick" on Damrosch.
60THE New York correspondent of the Boston "Transcript," known to the newspaper world as "Brunswick," has the following to say in that paper of February 14:
62After all, we are to have a permanent orchestra in New York, but Theodore Thomas is not to be its leader. An effort was made by a number of people who have the cause of music at heart to raise a guaranty fund which would enable Mr. Thomas to stay in New York and keep his orchestra together, but the effort failed. I am pessimist enough to think that it failed because it was an effort in the direction of music, pure and simple, and had nothing social or personal connected with it.
64The orchestra that we are to have is to be under the leadership of Walter Damrosch. Mr. Damrosch himself has raised the amount of money sufficient to carry on this orchestra among the millionaires of New York, who are his personal friends, and naturally it is to be entirely his organization. Musicians and music amateurs are not particularly enthusiastic over the outlook. I have never met a person who had made music a study or who knew anything about it who had any opinion of Mr. Damrosch as an orchestra leader. He has a large following, but it is among the fashionable people and young girls, the former admiring his energy and enterprise and the latter the classic beauty of his face.
66That he should be the leader of a great orchestra seems to be something of a farce. The organization and conducting of a body of musicians is no child's play. A man must not only be a musician himself, but he must know how to command men and how to get their best work out of them. Mr. Damrosch is a musician up to a certain point, but the contrast between his leading and that of Mr. Seidl is ludicrous to any but his most enthusiastic admirers. If our millionaires put their hands into their pockets and pay for an orchestra they have a right to select their own leader, and they selected him for friendship's rather than music's sake.
68Fortunately your Boston millionaire who gives his money for music has the wisdom to select the best musician that can be got for the leader of his organization. If we were to have such a man as Nikisch or Richter we would have reason to expect great things from an orchestra as handsomely endowed as this new one is to be, but I cannot say that I expect any great musical treat from Mr. Damrosch's band. I will not say that in the course of time he may not become a good leader, but I do not hesitate to say that he is not one now, and I feel rather gloomy than elated when I think of what might be done with the money that has been guaranteed for this orchestra.
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