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Musical Courier 1892-09-14: Vol 25 Iss 655, 1892
98 lines. Read by computer on 19 September 2026. Printed page 7. See the scan on archive.org.
1blunderer; you, who fancy yourself cunning; you, the slave of Wotan the one eyed Mormon. Slave—do you hear?—slave!"
3Loge became serious.
5"What do you mean?" he said gravely.
7"Never mind," said the wise little cigarette in a sententious manner, "I know more than you think. You laugh at my vanity, eh? I have just as much right to a motif in a Wagner music drama as the silly forest birds, as Grane, as ugly Alberich, as those stupid mush mouthed Rhine maidens who can't say anything but 'Wiggles, waggles, woggles;' as the bear, as the 'Walkuren,' who can't ride worth a cent; the old magic lantern frauds, as the tarn helm, as you with your old property fire, which the gas man can kill in a moment. Why didn't Wagner give me a chance, I say? Am I not as potent a factor in modern civilization as you silly lot of outworn myths and mesdames? As for you, Loge, you are a mere creature. Wotan just stamps his heavy feet (No. 12 Fischers) and yells: 'Loge, Loge Hieher,' and out you flicker, flutter and flame, and when the curtain falls and Tony Seidl salutes the house, the gas man dumps you back into the pipes—a mere smell in the dark. Gas, Loge, that's all you are, or perhaps an electric spark with a button and a thumb that does your rest. Oh, if I only, only had a spark of your eyes coupled with my intelligence, I would settle this opera house in a minute!"
9Loge looked dazed a moment. The idea that such a tiny instrument as a cigarette could effect such changes that Italian opera could be sent up in a blaze! These ideas set his heart thumping furiously against his fiery ribs. Visions of Walhalla and the twilight of the gods, of Schopenhauer's extinction of the will to live, all, all surged through his clever cranium. The cigarette hopped to his chin and watched him eagerly and maliciously. It was too much!
11"For Finck's sake," said the fire god reverently, and his glance set the tiny cigarette ablaze. That morning the stage of the Metropolitan Opera House went up in flame and with it the Waldvogel, Fafner, Fasolt, the Walkuren, the Rhine maidens and the whole Wagnerian ensemble. The cigarette had its virgin smoke and was avenged.
13THE RACONTEUR.
15The Arion Trip—VIII.
17VIENNA (Concluded).
19MONDAY morning was given over to a visit of that beautiful hill in the environment of Vienna, the Kahlenberg. The Arion went by steamer up the Danube and then by rail up the mountain. I had the benefit of Mrs. Materna's carriage, which later on turned up to be a God send and a blessing. When that lady called for me at the Central Hotel it was still a beautiful, nearly clear day, but by the time we had reached the top of the hill the sky had changed; the view, which from this altitude is usually magnificent, was so obscured that very little of the scenery, and almost nothing of Vienna, could be seen, and pretty soon it began to drizzle, and then to rain, and at length to pour.
21The weather did not spoil anybody's good humor or appetite, and the good cheer which Director Conried, of New York, had provided as his special treat for the Arion, and which did honor to the Kahlenberg restaurant, was amply done justice to.
23The obligato toast to Mrs. Conried was of course not forgotten, and the band played—not "Annie Laurie," but the Austrian national hymn and other delightful "tunes."
25Lunch over, everybody rushed pell mell as best they could to the cogwheel railroad, while the ever youthful Materna took me down to her house at Heiligenstadt, in the suburbs of Vienna. It is an elegant, lavishly furnished and genuine artist's home which she now inhabits solo, poor Friedrich, her late lamented husband, having died about eight months ago. By the by, Materna thinks seriously of returning to the United States once more next spring to sing in a few first-class concerts and to take part in the musical festivities connected with the Chicago exhibition. Here is a chance for some enterprising manager.
27The afternoon I spent again in the musical and theatrical exposition, devoting my time solely to the numerous and most interesting manuscripts of Bach, Beethoven and Mozart which are exhibited there. I stumbled over Wilhelm Kienzl, the Graz composer, now conductor at Hamburg, and whom I had not seen since Bayreuth, three summers ago.
29In the evening was the festival Commers in the Tonhalle, given by the Vienna Männergesangverein. It was a very gemütliche, truly Viennese affair, and must have been enjoyed by everybody present.
31The Commers opened with a few numbers played by Czibulka, the composer's excellent military band. The Arion was at hand, nearly complete, and so were the members of the Vienna Männergesangverein and of the Vienna Arion, as well as delegates from all the other Viennese singing societies. The galleries of the large Tonhalle were also crowded, the ladies mostly taking in the show from this point of vantage.
33Ritter von Olschbaur, whom I mentioned several times before, greeted the guests with a few hearty and well meant words.
35Then silentium was called for our respected and much beloved secretary of the Arion, one of the busiest men in the whole society. Urchs had set himself a somewhat ticklish task, for he, as a born republican, responded to the toast to the Emperor of Austria. It must be confessed that he did it with a good deal of credit to himself and the Arion and that his speech was throughout in good taste and to the purpose. Here is about what he said:
37HIGHLY HONORED FESTIVAL ASSEMBLY, DEAR BRETHREN IN SONG OF VIENNA—The highly flattering mission was intrusted to me to-day to toast a man who in the way of furthering art and science has gained most extraordinary deserts—a man whose name is not only deeply inscribed in the heart of every Austrian but also of every German American. It is your honored ruler Emperor Francis Joseph I. [long applause], a ruler whose praise as a noble and knightly prince has resounded also among the citizens of all nations which are represented in the United States. As a born American who for the first time places his foot upon European soil I deem it an especial favor to be allowed to bring this toast, all the more so as I, a representative of a peace loving republic, have to speak of a sovereign who through his whole life work has shown that he holds the palm of peace in higher esteem than the laurels of war. May the blessings of peace, granted to you through His Majesty Emperor Francis Joseph I., continue to shield your country for many years to come! [Stormy applause.] Every one of my dear brethren in song, every member of the Arion will from all his heart join me in the call: God bless, God protect the house of Hapsburg [great applause], your much beloved Emperor! He, the preserver of peace, the faithful Macenas of the arts, the protector of science; he, who with enthusiasm furthers everything that is great, beautiful and good—long live His Majesty Emperor Francis Joseph I.!
39The hurricane of applause that followed this noble speech lasted for several minutes; the assembly rises, joins in the Hoch calls, and the band again plays the national hymn.
41Dr. Jaques, a silver haired, venerable member of parliament, a polished speaker and a distingué gentleman, replies with a noteworthy toast to the United States, after which all Americans present, standing up, sing the "Star Spangled Banner."
43Journalist Carl Ahrendt, special correspondent for the Baltimore "Correspondent," an experienced newspaper man, a charming colleague and a speaker of verve, speaks of the Germans in America, their influence for the good and the ever increasing esteem in which they are being held by their fellow citizens, especially the native born Americans.
45Alderman Dr. von Billing toasts the Arion members as the epigones of German song across the ocean.
47In a very humorous and much applauded speech our Reisemarschall, the all beloved Richard Weinhart, praises the world wide reputation of Vienna's hospitality, which in this instance had outshone itself and gone far beyond even our highly pitched expectations.
49Telegrams of congratulation were then read, sent by the Princess Metternich and by the Badischer Volksverein, of New York, 10,000 of whose members had joined in a Hoch to the Arion.
51Then the singing began, in which the Vienna Arion took the lead. It was followed by the Vienna Männergesangverein, which celebrated male chorus (perhaps the best one of all the European organizations of the kind) was heard under Kremser's direction in Esser's "Morgenwanderung," Schumann's "First Ritornell," which they had to repeat, and Nessler's "Leave of the Day," all of which were greeted with spontaneous and well deserved applause. They sang well, very well indeed, but—I don't want to make any comparisons!
53Katzenmayer then stepped upon the podium, and as a gift of the Arion to the Wiener Männergesangverein handed to President Olschbaur a beautiful laurel wreath of American silver, working into his dedication speech an invitation for the Männergesangverein to return the visit and come to the United States next year as the guests of the New York Arion. It was received with cheers and shouts, "Yes, we'll come!" and there seems now some prospect of a realization of this visit.
55Vice-Consul of the United States Otto Maas spoke of the union that the Deutsches Lied bound around all civilized nations among whom Germans live.
57Then Olschbaur presented to the Arion a beautifully embroidered silken band as a trophy to be attached to the Arion flag and in remembrance of the united singing societies of Vienna.
59Van der Stucken in a short but pithy speech praised the merits of the genial composer conductor, Edward Kremser, and the Arion male chorus sang two of that master's charming vocal quartets amid thunders of applause.
61The Udel Quartet followed with some very funny solo performances, accompanied at the piano by Kremser, and they evoked no end of hilarity. Some of their best numbers ought to, and will be, reproduced at one of the Arion carnival evenings in New York.
63At last Music Publisher Gutmann addressed a few words of greeting to the singers of the New World in the name of the exhibition committee.
65The Commers lasted until the wee hours of the morning; still the flow of beer and general good feeling did not give out.
67The entire Tuesday was again given up to the exhibition, and in the evening took place the second or popular concert of the Arion at the Tonhalle, in which part of the floor was taken up by tables with eatables and drinkables. The latter circumstance, while it made the affair more gemütlich and quasi characterized it as a Volksfest, had the serious disadvantage of not unfrequent disturbances caused by the waiters, and, moreover, the tables took away so much of the available space which might have been used to better advantage that long before 8 o'clock the hall was crowded to suffocation and further admittance was refused by the police.
69The program contained of Arion contributions nearly the same numbers that had pleased the Berliners so much at the Tivoli popular concert. It goes without saying that an equal lot befell them in Vienna, where, as I have several times mentioned heretofore, the general enthusiasm was even greater than at Berlin, and where in many instances it went beyond what I ever witnessed in a concert hall.
71When F. Mair's "Wie die wilde Ros'" was sung the aged conductor of the Schubertbund was hauled upon the platform and much applauded and the same happened to Kremser after the magnificent, dashy singing of his "Jolly Poverty," which proved by all odds the most popular part song of the entire tournée.
73The soloists were also overwhelmed with applause on this occasion and most deservedly so. Miss Powell played the Mendelssohn concerto gloriously and gave as an encore her own transcription of that little gem of a song, Massenet's "Crépuscule."
75Rummel was in extra fine trim, and as it was his turn this time to appear twice on the program he was also in good humor, a fact which always influences his playing favorably.
77He first gave the Saint-Saëns G minor concerto with great finish, and later on the perennial Liszt "Hungarian Fantasia" with éclat, after which, as an encore, he was heard in the Chopin D flat nocturne.
79The short vocal solo duet in Schulz's "Mondnacht" was tastefully sung by Messrs. Wm. Rieger and Oscar Saenger, and Frederick Gillette did himself proud in the tender "Old Folks at Home."
81When the group of American folksongs was finished Gutmann, of the exhibition committee, handed Mr. Van der Stucken a fine baton of ebony, inlaid with gold, for which distinction the conductor thanked in a few well chosen words. The public, however, was not yet satisfied, and the favorite "Das deutsche Lied" had to be sung and was received with acclamation before the Viennese were willing to disperse.
83After the concert the colleagues of the Vienna press had invited their American confrères to a little love feast at the Italian restaurant in the exhibition park.
85The compliment was returned by Mr. Urchs and the writer, who had the pleasure of receiving the before mentioned gentlemen at a luncheon in the Central Hotel, in which also Mrs. and Miss Powell, Mr. and Mrs. Franz Rummel, Mrs. Urchs and her sister, Miss May, Mr. Heinrich Conried and wife, Mr. Morris Steinert and his youngest son from New Haven, Conn., and Mr. Salzmann, the amiable special correspondent of the New York "Staats Zeitung," joined.
87The affair was a highly enjoyable one and the utmost good feeling and conviviality prevailed. After Mr. Urchs had welcomed the guests in fine rhetorical style, the writer had the honor to toast the ladies, Dr. Hirschfeld, of "Die Presse," toasted the American representatives of the press, Mr. Salzmann drank the health of Director Conried and wife, to which the former responded with thanks, and the great collector and connoisseur of ancient instruments, Mr. Morris Steinert, in a profuse and witty speech, brought the toast to the artists present.
89For Wednesday, 12:30 P.M., the committee of the exhibition had arranged a déjeuner dinatoire in the Tonhalle to which about three hundred people were invited. The committee was present, completely and Mr. Matscheko presided. The menu of this farewell dinner was excellent, the music furnished by the band of the Sharpshooters no less so, and the wines and speeches that accompanied the proceedings were of equal value.
91Dr. Jaques was the first speaker, who again praised the merits of the Arion in warm and unstinting terms, called Miss Powell a girl blessed by the Lord and the Jeanne d'Arc (no pun intended) of the fiddle, and lastly wished all of us a safe and happy return.
93After the band had joined in the general hurrah with the "Star Spangled Banner" and the flood of applause had subsided a little, President Katzenmayer thanked in deeply felt words and "with deeply moved heart," keeping the Princess Metternich and Mr. Conried well in the foreground as the promoters of the Arion's trip to Vienna, and lastly proposing a telegram of thanks to the princess, which proposition was received with cheers and was forthwith put into action.
95Conried replied that it gave him the liveliest satisfaction to know that the Arion was as pleased with Vienna as Vienna was pleased with the Arion.
97Imperial Councillor Dr. Auspitzer in a very telling speech thanked in the name of the exhibition promoters for the
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