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Musical Courier 1892-06-15: Vol 24 Iss 643, 1892
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1ances of Wagner's works in the opera house at Bayreuth states that this year's performances will take place between July 21 and August 21. "Parsifal" will be performed eight times, and "Tristan and Isolde," the "Meistersinger" and "Tannhäuser" four times each. Director Levi, of Munich; Director Mottl, of Karlsruhe; Hans Richter, of Vienna, and Richard Strauss, of Weimar, will act as conductors.
3The distribution of the principal parts is as follows: In "Parsifal" the title rôle will be taken by Van Dyck and Grünig, of Hanover; "Kundry," by Mailhac, of Karlsruhe, and Malten, of Dresden; "Gurnemanz," by Grengg, of Vienna, and Frauscher, of Bremen; "Amfortas," by Kaschmann, of Milan, and Scheidemantel, of Dresden; "Klingsor," by Liebe, of Berlin, and Planck, of Karlsruhe, while the solo flower girls will be represented by Misses Hartwig, of Dortmund; Hedinger, of Breslau; Mitschiner, of Stettin; Mulder, of Utrecht; Welschke, of Breslau, and Wiborg, of Schwerin.
5In "Tristan and Isolde" the part of "Tristan" will be taken by Vogl, of Munich; "Isolde," by Sucher, of Berlin; "Marke," by Döring, of Mannheim, and Gura, of Munich; "Kurwenal," by Planck, of Karlsruhe, and "Brangâne," by Staudigl, of Berlin.
7In "Tannhäuser" the part of the "Landgrave" is allotted to Döring, of Mannheim; "Tannhäuser," to Grünig, of Hanover; "Wolfram," to Scheidemantel, of Dresden; "Walther," to Gerhauser, of Bayreuth; "Biterolf," to Liebe, of Berlin; "Heinrich," to Zeller, of Weimar, and "Venus," to Mailhac, of Karlsruhe.
9In "The Mastersingers of Nuremberg," the part of "Sachs" is given to Gura, of Munich; "Pogner," to Frauscher, of Bremen; "Beckmesser," to Müller, of Leipsic; "Kothner," to Bachmann, of Halle; "Walther von Stolzing," to Anthes, of Dresden; "David," to Hofmüller, of Dresden, and "Magdalena," to Staudigl, of Berlin.
11The management will be in the hands of Fuchs, of Munich, as in former years; the choruses and the musical management on the stage are intrusted to Director Julius Kniese. The orchestra and choir will be practically the same as in previous seasons. The dancers in "Tannhäuser" will be under the superintendence of Virginia Zucchi, of Milan, and are mostly the same as last year, consisting of members of the corps de ballet of the Court Theatre of Berlin. The general rehearsals will commence on June 19.
13As before announced in this series of cable letters, all the tickets for the festival have been sold. As every seat represents £1 and as 28,000 tickets have been sold for the twenty performances, being the full capacity of the house, £28,000 is the limit of the total gross receipts which the festival can yield. This at once exposes of the absurdity of the statements made last year about the fabulous profits of the undertaking. As a matter of fact, there was actually a deficit of about £1,000 last year. This season the Bayreuth committee will probably be enabled for the first time to put aside a substantial sum as a reserve fund for future festivals.
15Breitkopf & Hartel.—Messrs. Breitkopf & Härtel, of Leipsic and New York, have become the American agents for the publications of Ricordi, of Milan, and of Constantin Wild, of Leipsic and Baden-Baden.
17Sang before the Queen—Says the London "Figaro": "Mr. Tosti, the well-known song composer, has been three days last week at Balmoral Castle as guest of the Queen. Each evening after dinner he sang before Her Majesty.
19Parisian Operatic Statistics.—At the Opéra (the Académie Nationale) there were only three "new" works produced—"Lohengrin" (about which so much opposition had been made and which has proved a mine for the directors), "Le Mage" of Massenet, which proved a quasi-success, and "Thamara," an opera which had been accepted in 1865, and whose composer, Bourgault-Ducoudray, had grown gray in waiting for its performance. From September 16 to January 1 "Lohengrin" had been performed thirty-six times, "The Sigurd," of Reyer, twenty seven times, "Le Mage" thirty two times and "Faust" twenty-four times. The remainder of the season was devoted to the old repertory.
21At the Opéra Comique "Le Rêve," by Zola and Bruneau, a musical curiosity, had twenty performances. The only other new work brought out was "Les Folies Amoureuses," by Pessard. There was a revival of "Manon," and the performance of thirty-one operas, the usual repertory.
23THE FAMOUS
24New York Conservatory of Music,
25ESTABLISHED 1863—CHARTERED 1865.
26Removed from Fourteenth Street to the Large and Elegant Building,
27112 EAST EIGHTEENTH STREET,
28Between Fourth Avenue and Irving Place.
29THE EMERSON PIANO IS USED.
31BOSTON NEWS.
33BOSTON OFFICE OF THE MUSICAL COURIER,
34157 TREMONT STREET, June 4, 1892.
36A NEW opera by an American composer and author should and usually does command and receive special attention from the American people.
38The efforts, however, of native composers have been neither over numerous nor phenomenally successful; in fact, the failures have so far outnumbered the successes that we, as a nation, have been unable to claim the creation of a work of extraordinary merit.
40The reasons are many, chief among which are the utter worthlessness of both music and text.
42At the Tremont Theatre last Tuesday evening a new comic opera by Mr. C. M. S. McLellan and Edgar Stillman Kelley, entitled "Puritania," was produced for the first time upon any stage by the Pauline Hall Opera Company, and if the verdict of that most critical of all—the Boston audience—may be accepted, we have at last an original opera, deserving more than evanescent fame.
44The composer, Mr. Kelley, is, we believe, a native of San Francisco, while Mr. McLellan made his terrestrial début in that suburban retreat of shade trees and plank sidewalks, Bath, Me.
46Both are young men, perhaps thirty years of age, and are at present residents of New York.
48The scene of the first act is laid in Salem, Mass., and the sixteenth century the period. In the second act the scene changes to the court of Charles II. of England.
50The "Gazette," in giving the plot, says:
52The story chosen by Mr. McLellan for his book deals mainly with a young maiden of Salem, who is maliciously accused of witchcraft. She is arrested and is about to be led away to prison when she is rescued by the young Earl of Barrenlands, who falls in love with her at first sight and is as speedily beloved in return. Then appears the Witch Finder General, who has come over from England to rid the colony of witches. He causes the young woman to be arrested again, and she is again rescued by the imperative and impulsive earl, and is taken by him to England in order that Charles II. may judge her case for himself and pass upon her guilt or innocence. This forms the substance of the first act. In the second act the earl and the maiden appear at the court of the English king, and followed by all of the principal characters of the first act, who go to England in order to give evidence in this important business. The king pardons her, but the young girl's troubles are not yet over. There is a professional conspirator, who resolves on setting fire to a barrel of gunpowder that he has deposited under the palace for the purpose of blowing up the king. While waiting for the auspicious moment to accomplish his purpose he seats himself on the keg of gunpowder, lights his pipe and falls asleep. In the meanwhile the young girl overheard, for some unexplained purpose, confesses that she is a witch and indulges in an incantation in which she summons Asmodeus. At that moment, and in the very nick of time, an explosion is heard from under the palace, and the professional conspirator is shot up through the floor. A spark from his pipe has fallen on the gunpowder, and the catastrophe named is the result. It is, however, attributed to the incantation of the Maid of Salem, who is again arrested, this time by the order of the king. It then turns out that the conspirator is her long lost father; her innocence is proved, and all ends happily.
54Mr. Kelley's music is by far the best that has yet been given us by an American composer.
56The melodies are original and tuneful, the choruses bright and richly harmonized. The orchestration is full, and, excepting a slight tendency to overuse of the wood-wind, is highly colored and continually varied. In fine, there is not one number in the opera which even suggests the commonplace, and nowhere through the opera can Mr. Kelley be charged with poor musicianship.
58Among the numbers which created the most favorable impressions may be named the chorus "She says she's possessed," in fugue form; the song, "A Maiden's Art," "Elizabeth"; the "Test Song," "Smith"; the "Chorus of Cavaliers"; "Vivian's" song "What Would You Do?" "My Mother Said Don't," "Elizabeth," and more than any the finale (farewell) to the first act, which is one of the most effective finales we have ever heard.
60The opera is mounted in a most elaborate fashion. The scenery, particularly the "throne room" in the second act, excelling anything of the kind ever seen in Boston. The same may be said of the costumes, which were tastefully designed and expensively gotten up.
62As space forbids comment in detail upon the individual performance of those taking part, generally speaking, all did praiseworthy work, while Miss Hall and Mr. Solomon excelled all previous efforts here.
64Following is the complete cast:
65Vivian George Trevetley, Earl of Barrenlands…….. Miss Pauline Hall
66Elizabeth, the Maid of Salem…….. Miss Louise Beaudet
67Abigail, a woman hater…….. Miss Edith Sinclair
68Charles II., King of England…….. Mr. John Brand
69Jonathan Blake, Chief Justice of the Salem Court…….. Mr. Arthur Ryley
70Killisin Burgess, a conspirator from habit…….. Mr. Edward Favor
71The Lord Chamberlain…….. Mr. Arthur E. Miller
72Skimmilk Softly, Chief of the Practical Explosionists…….. Mr. W. Marriott
73Paul, a young villager of Salem…….. Miss Irene Verona
74The Hon. Percy Bunkum, a courier…….. Mr. Phil. Robson
75Smith, the Witch Finder General…….. Mr. Fred. Solomon
77The performance was conducted by the composer, and it is with every good intention that we advise Mr. Kelley to secure for that important office the services of an experienced man. It seems difficult for Mr. Kelley to adopt himself to the situation and its requirements. There were therefore several instances of imperfect unanimity of conductor, orchestra and singer. Allowances must, of course, be made for a first performance, and undoubtedly smoother work will be done in a week's time.
79HOME NEWS.
81Thallon's Farewell Concert.—The thirty-eighth and farewell recital of the season given by Mr. Robert Thallon's pupils, assisted by well-known artists, took place at his residence, 900 St. Marks avenue, Brooklyn, last Saturday morning. Here was the program:
83Overture, "Rosamunde"……………………………………………..Schubert
84(Two pianos, eight hands and organ.)
85Mamie Preston, Florie Hill, Laura Steins, Ida Thallon.
86"Im Herbst"………………………………………………………..Franz
87"Du Bist Wie Eine Blume"………………………………………Colyn
88"Agnus Dei" (by request)………………………………………Bizet
89Mr. Powers.
90Rondo for two pianos……………………………………………..Chopin
91"Where e'er you walk" ("Semele")……………………………Händel
92Serenade………………………………………………………..Schubert
93Mr. Lloyd.
94Romanza………………………………………………………..Chopin
95Allegro…………………from concerto in E minor………….Chopin
96Miss Lottie Pitcher.
97"In Questa Tomba"……………………………………………..Beethoven
98"Meine Liebe ist Grün"…………………………………………Brahms
99Miss Scharmann.
100Romanza………………………………………………………..Venth
101Prize Song (by request)……………………………………….Wagner
102Second Rhapsody (two pianos, eight hands and organ)……..Liszt
103Misses Annie and Jessie Hodgson, Lottie Pitcher and Florence N. Thallon.
105The Heyman Violin Recital.—A very large and fashionable audience assembled in Odd Fellows' Hall, San Francisco, recently, to witness a violin recital given by the pupils of Mr. Henry Heyman, assisted by Mr. Sauvlet, pianist; Mr. G. M. Minetti and Mr. C. Baumgartel, violinists; Mr. F. Knell, violinist; Mr. R. Patek, 'cellist, and Mr. G. Keil, contrabass. The affair was a musical and social success and was very creditable to Mr. Heyman and his pupils. The following excellent program was presented:
106Andante Religioso (four part violin)……………………………Kohler
107Mr. Mo. Adler, Mr. Sidney Bernstein, Mr. Ernest Cabrera, Mr. Jabish Clement, Miss Dottie Collier, Miss Emmelyn Guild, Miss Gertrude Gruenberg, Mr. Charles Haake Jr., Mr. Sol. Hyman, Miss Florence Lewis, Mr. Mortimer Leventritt, Mr. Harry Levinson, Miss Helen Macgregor, Miss Clara McConnell, Mr. Lee Rosener, Mr. Harry Samuels, Mr. Leo Sussman, Mr. Benjamin Tuttle, Mr. Oscar Tobriner, Miss Mary Whitney, Mr. Jack Walter, Mr. A. Weisbleeth.
108Cavatine, op. 9…………………………………………………Lauterbach
109Miss Florence Lewis.
110Concerto in E minor, op. 10, first movement (with piano and string orchestra accompaniment)……………………………David
111Mr. Charles Haake, Jr.
112Duet, "Slumber Song," op. 11 (with string and orchestra accompaniment)……………………………………………..Ersfeld
113Miss Mary S. Whitney and Miss Emmelyn T. Guild.
114Concerto in G major, No. 11, op. 70, adagio and first movement (with piano and string orchestra accompaniment)……………………………Spohr
115Mr. Benjamin Tuttle.
116"Elegie," op. 35, Minuetto………………………………………Papini
117Miss Helen Macgregor.
118Second concerto, op. 22, romance and first movement (with piano and string orchestra accompaniment)……………………………Wieniawski
119Mr. Harry Samuels.
120Quartet, "Le Retour," op. 178, No. 3……………………………Dancia
121Mr. Mo. Adler, Mr. Mortimer Leventritt, Mr. Ernest Cabrera, Mr. Oscar Tobriner.
122Legende, op. 15…………………………………………………Holländler
123Miss Clara McConnell.
124Sonata in A major……………………………………………..Händel
125Mr. Jabish Clement.
126Ninth concerto, op. 104, first movement (with piano and string orchestra accompaniment)……………………………De Beriot
127Miss Gertrude Gruenberg.
128Hungarian Airs, op. 29…………………………………………Ernst
129Mr. Harry Samuels.
130Song without words, op. 53, No. 1……………………………Mendelssohn-David
131The violin part played in unison by Mr. Mo. Adler, Mr. Sidney Bernstein, Mr. Ernest Cabrera, Mr. Jabish Clement, Miss Dottie Collier, Miss Emmelyn Guild, Miss Gertrude Gruenberg, Mr. Charles Haake, Mr. Sol. Hyman, Miss Florence Lewis, Mr. Mortimer Leventritt, Miss Clara McConnell, Mr. Lee Rosener, Mr. Harry Samuels, Mr. Benjamin Tuttle, Mr. Oscar Tobriner, Miss Mary Whitney and Mr. A. Weisbleeth.
132—"Argonaut."
134"Robin Hood's" Gala Night.—To-morrow night will be the second anniversary of the production of "Robin Hood" by the Bostonians, and the occasion is to be made a festival at the Garden Theatre. Reginald De Koven, the young composer of the opera, will personally conduct the orchestra, and Mr. Barnabee's eagle eye will be more potent than ever. The opera has proved the most successful artistically and financially of any work of the kind ever produced by American brains, and there is no doubt of the nature of the reception which will greet Mr. De Koven when he appears in the conductor's chair.
136The Neuendorff Concerts.—Felicita Koschoska has been engaged to appear on the vocal nights which occur every Wednesday at the Lenox Lyceum during Mr. Neuendorff's season there. A miscellaneous program will be given on Mondays, the works of American composers will be heard on Tuesdays, classic compositions will be played on Thursdays, instrumental solos will be given on Fridays, selections will be heard on Saturdays and request programs will be given on Sundays.
138Toronto College of Music.—On June 2 and 3 the Detroit Philharmonic Club—William Yunck and L. F. Schultz, violins; Walter Voigtlander, viola, and Alfred Hoffman, 'cello—gave three chamber concerts at Toronto under the auspices of the Toronto College of Music, F. H. Torrington
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