Scan 13
Musical Courier 1893-01-04: Vol 26 Iss 670, 1893
75 lines. Read by computer on 22 September 2026, twice; the two readings disagreed in places. Printed page 14. See the scan on archive.org.
1therefore correspond to the conditions of the prize competition, which asked for an opera in one act, the "Cavalleria Rusticana" had to be given the preference. Musically Leoncavallo's work is by far stronger and nobler than Mascagni's, and dramatically it is, if a trifle more spun out, at least equally as interesting. Moreover, Leoncavallo, like Wagner, was his own librettist, and the excellent German translation of his lines which was made by Ludwig Hartmann, the Dresden critic, shows him to be almost as good a dramatic writer as he is a composer.
3The action is not a very complicated one. The prologue is given over to a monologue in which "Tonio" the "Taddeo," or "wicked young man" of a traveling comedy show, tries to convince the public that true sentiment can also lodge in the breast of a public actor. It is somewhat curious that the somewhat high flown speech should be given just to this character. He, however, develops his "villain" ship in the course of the next act. He makes love, unsuccessfully, to "Nedda," the Columbine of the troupe, who, although married to "Canio," the "Bajazzo" and head of the company, is loved by and returns the love of "Silvio," a young peasant. "Tonio," in his fury about his unrequited love turns traitor and tells "Canio" of "Nedda's" unfaithfulness with a person he knows not. "Canio" tries to surprise the guilty pair, but "Silvio" makes good his escape before the "Bajazzo" has seen him.
5In the second act Shakespeare's device of a comedy in a comedy is applied. "Taddeo" is screened by "Nedda," who then entertains in a charming tête-à-tête the "Harlequin" of the troupe. Suddenly the "Bajazzo" enters, whereupon "Harlequin" escapes. The "Bajazzo" insists upon knowing his name, and at this point the reality of the play, as distinguished from the comedy within the comedy, begins. At first neither "Nedda" nor the public are supposed to know this. But they soon become aware of the intensity of "Canio's" feelings, which find a dramatic climax when, upon again refusing to disclose the name of her paramour, "Nedda" is killed with a knife which the "Bajazzo" picks up from the table. Then "Silvio," who is among the peasant audience who attended the performance by the "Paggliauci," rushes upon the scene of action and is killed with the same knife that took "Nedda's" life. The "Bajazzo" falls down in a swoon and the curtain with him.
7It cannot be gainsaid that this is a strong libretto, and I can assure the reader that the music is in point of invention, intensity and orchestral color on a par with it, nay, often times surpasses it. The work since Monday of last week, when the première took place in presence of the composer, who, together with the chief artists concerned in the performance, was repeatedly called before the curtain, has several times since been repeated at the Royal Opera House, and each time with equal success. Sucher, who conducted, is evidently in love with his task, and the tenor, Sylva, he of the iron voice, remembered from the defunct American Opera, sang "Canio" finely, although his acting of the part of the "Bajazzo" was as coarse as ever. Bulso was an excellent "Tonio" and Mrs. Herzog a pleasing "Nedda."
9The Italian novelty was preceded by a German novelty which is now only 130 years of age. It is the little Singspiel of "Bastien and Bastienne," written by the then twelve year old Mozart and now supplied with a rewritten libretto by Max Kalbeck, of Vienna. The bagatelle contains some pretty, sweet and already characteristically Mozartian music; but otherwise, as my radical friend Henry T. Finck, of the "Evening Post," would—in this instance almost justly—say, "it is of only an historic interest."
11On Friday night Emil Götzé appeared at the Royal Opera House as "Lohengrin," when the large building was absolutely sold out. Miss Hiedler was an indifferent "Elsa," and Rosa Sucher, although an artist of the very highest rank, did not quite satisfy as "Ortrud." She should never undertake such parts as do not lie well within the compass of her voice and dramatic abilities; for it is far better to be an incomparable "Isolde," "Elisabeth" or "Sieglinde" than not to be able to do one's self justice as "Ortrud" or "Brünnhilde."
13Götzé himself met with most pronounced success, although his voice has lost considerable of its former charm. Still, good tenors are rare, and he is such an one at least in a purely vocal sense. His permanent engagement therefore by Count Hochberg, which now seems assured, must be termed a good move on the part of the titled intendant of the Royal Opera House.
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17The concert stage has proved hardly less interesting last week (I always count from Wednesday to Wednesday, as probably most of The Musical Courier's readers do) than the operatic one. The number of concerts, however, is so great that with the best of intentions, and even with the valuable assistance of "von Eschenbach" the field cannot entirely be covered. In fact, it is far more extensive even than that of New York during the height of the season, which up to the time of my residence here I used to consider hors de concours as far as quantity was concerned.
19To proceed chronologically I have to confess to a sin of omission, as on account of the aforesaid "Paggliauci" performance I was unable to attend last Wednesday to Mrs. Carl Feininger's concert at Bechstein Hall. The "Vossische Zeitung," however, in the person of its excellent critic, Urban, greatly praises the lady's cultured soprano voice and her well trained coloratura. She sang arias by Glück, Händel and Mercadante, and lieder by Jomelli, Brahms, d'Albert, Rubinstein and Yradicu, as well as two compositions by her husband, a prayer from his opera "The Brothers," and a bolero which Urban praises as being "of characteristic vivacity." That the concert was a success in every way will be gratifying news to that charming lady's many New York admirers.
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23Thursday evening brought an event to which I had looked forward with something more than even a keen interest. It was the orchestral concert of one August Ludwig, the "finisher" of Schubert's immortal unfinished symphony. The concert took place at the Philharmonic, the permanent orchestra of which hall was engaged to "render" Mr. Ludwig's lucubrations, for such his compositions proved to be, at least for the greater part, and their pretentiousness can only be explained on the score of megalomania, or, in plain English, "swollen head," from which quite fashionable illness their author seems to be suffering. Outside of the professional critics only a handful of people attended the concert, and this is to be regretted, as they could have heard some pretty good orchestration of the Wagner type, and here and there an acceptable "tune" of the Garden concert denomination.
25As such, for instance, the opening number of the program, an overture with the high sounding title "Ad Astra," disclosed itself. It is an overture neither in form nor in contents, but a passable march in F major, orchestrated with more than average skill. All throughout the program this same style predominated, with the exception that here and there a three beat rhythm varied the monotony of the prevalent common time. This was the case with the "Double Menuet," which the composer prefaces with a ridiculous program and which is evidently nothing but a conservatory study. A trifle better is a "characteristic Polish intermezzo" in A minor, op. 5, but the next following intermezzo sostenuto, entitled "Delivery," deserves its title only with the very last F major chord. An overture in F sharp minor, entitled "March Wind," is lacking in everything but a pretty second theme, which, however, is boldly taken from Mendelssohn.
27So it goes on wearily through the second half of the program, which contains a symphonic poem, "Ocean Surf," "Dreams in the Woods," a German comedy overture, and a pretty little string quartet movement entitled "Child's Caresses." Finally we reach the two movements de resistance with the high sounding denominations "A Philosopher's Scherzo and March of Fate, intended as a completion of Schubert's unfinished symphony in B minor." Further program to a symphony which, if any, is absolute and no program music, is appended by the composer, but his own explanations of his music are even more stupid than the music itself, and certainly not worth translating.
29The first thing one would have expected Mr. Ludwig to do would have been an attempt to write at least in the style of Schubert. Nothing of the kind, however, is even essayed, and his scherzo in B minor, which, without its title and destination, would not have been so bad as a scherzo, became shallow and unsatisfactory when one thought of what it was intended to represent; and as for the march movement it was simply ridiculous. Imagine a Liszt Hungarian rhapsody theme of the most commonplace kind orchestrated most obstreperously and repeated ad nauseam, and you have Mr. Ludwig's idea of the last movement of Schubert's lovely torso. It is too bad that people will persist in composing who are incapable of inventing thematic material. As a conductor and an orchestrator Mr. Ludwig, who seems quite a young man yet, has a future before him; as a composer, never.
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33On Friday night Götzé's "Lohengrin" kept me from attending the combination concert of Mrs. Lillian Sanderson, Marie Soldat and Bernard Stavenhagen. This traveling trio drew quite an audience to the Philharmonic, and the critics seem to agree as to the limited but pleasing vocal means of Mrs. Sanderson, as well as to the excellent qualities of Mrs. Soldat-Roeber, whom one paper denominates as facile princes among female violinists. As for Stavenhagen I had already heard him on the occasion of the Wiesbaden Tonkünstlersversammlung, when he also, as he did here, played that musical monstrosity, Liszt's "Danse Macabre," for piano and orchestra. I then came to the conclusion that he had more technic than touch, and fleeter fingers than fine feeling. This opinion seems to be shared by most of the Berlin critics.
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37Saturday evening I spent ten minutes at the Bechstein Hall, and stayed just long enough to satisfy myself that Miss Auguste Hohenschuld, a contralto who gave a concert there and who butchered a beautiful Rossi aria, was still as poor a singer as she proved herself in New York several years ago, when I heard her as one of the supports (?) of Patti in Italian music. one of two readings
38Saturday evening I spent ten minutes at the Bechstein Hall, and stayed just long enough to satisfy myself that Miss Auguste Hohenschid, a contralto who gave a concert there and who butchered a beautiful Rossi aria, was still as poor a singer as she proved herself in New York several years ago, when I heard her as one of the supports (?) of Patti in Italian music. one of two readings
40Then I left for the Singakademie, where half an hour later Mr. Max van de Sandt gave a piano recital with the following interesting program:
42Fantasie, C-moll…………………………………………………J. S. Bach
43Zwei Rhapsodien, op. 79………………………………………J. Brahms
44No. 1 H-moll, No. 2 G-moll………………………………….
45Sonate op. 101 A-dur………………………………………L. van Beethoven
46Barcarolle Fis-dur……………………………………………..F. Chopin
47Ballade As-dur…………………………………………………F. Chopin
48Tarantelle aus "Venezia e Napoli"………………..F. Liszt
49Valse impromptu As-dur………………………………….F. Liszt
50Spanische rhapsodie (Folies d'Espagne und Jota aragonesa)…………………….F. Liszt
52Van de Sandt, who is of Hollandish origin, is an excellent pianist, a genuine pupil of Liszt, who thought a great deal of him, and a modest, unassuming young fellow who comes before the public but rarely, as he spends a good deal of his time in teaching at the Stern Conservatory. His audience, among whom probably were many of his pupils, was both large and appreciative, and he deserved the hearty applause he received, and to which at the close of the concert he responded with Chopin's A flat waltz in double rhythm.
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56By far the most important concert of the week, however, was the Fifth Philharmonic, which at the Philharmonic took place last night under Raphael Maszkowski's direction. I must confess that I somewhat underrated his conducting after the previous concert. The manner in which he interpreted the Rubinstein "Ocean" symphony made me overlook somewhat his rather eccentric, selfish and altogether too showy display in conducting. To me the genius, or more correctly the creative talent, of Rubinstein has always been particularly sympathetic on account of the fertility and beauty of his musical ideas, and I must say that I have rarely heard them set forth to better advantage than in Maszkowski's careful and evidently con amore reading of the four original movements of his best orchestral work, which Bülow in his impotent spite struck from the program as "music by long haired pianists." Well, the "Ocean" symphony, as well as Rubinstein, can stand it, and the composition was received with genuine enthusiasm after each movement.
58Outside of the symphony the program contained of orchestral numbers only the third Leonore overture, which was played in a technically flawless manner, but which on account of Maszkowski's personal peculiarities was somewhat lacking in dignity of reading.
60Between these two works Mrs. Amalie Joachim was heard in Brahms' rhapsody (fragment from Goethe's "Winter Journey in the Harz Mountains") for alto solo, male chorus and orchestra, and in two songs with orchestra, by Mahler. As novelties these two latter excerpts from the "Balladen and Humoresken" of the Hamburg conductor did not strike me favorably. It is all Wagner with the Wagner left out; and the artistic result attained is by no means commensurate with the technical apparatus called into service. Mrs. Joachim sang as we all heard her do in New York last season, with only a fair remnant of her once glorious vocal organ. Her intentions are good, but she can no longer emit them in a way satisfactory to the listener, and I wonder therefore why she persists in singing. In spite of the sympathetic audience she only succeeded in gaining a succès d'estime and this, in the Brahms' rhapsody at least, may have been meant for the Berlin Teachers' Male Chorus, who sang their share both with discretion and purity. I wonder how Mrs. Joachim will fare in New York when presently she will return there! Why was not last year's fiasco a "sufficient evil" for her?
62The other soloist at this concert was of the many pianists whom I heard here the best one. His name is Joseph Slivinski, and he plays with magnificent technic, great finish and with that strong coloring which is the characteristic of his Russian descent. Moreover, he played the Tschaikowsky B flat minor concerto, in which he was evidently more at home and in his element than Adele Aus der Ohe, by whom I heard it last interpreted under the composer's baton.
64Of unaccompanied soli he gave Paderewski's charming B flat nocturne (which the composer sang for us so repeatedly last year and which has been only lately published) and Listz's F minor study.
66Both efforts, as well as the concerto, were received with
68EDMUND PAULUS,
69MARKNEUKIRCHEN, SAXONY,
70MANUFACTURER OF
71All Kinds of Musical Instruments and Strings.
72NEW YORK OFFICE:
73BREITKOPF & HÄRTEL,
7415 EAST 17th STREET.
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