Scan 31
Musical Courier 1894-10-03: Vol 29 Iss 760, 1894
77 lines. Read by computer on 22 September 2026. Printed page 32. See the scan on archive.org.
A town on its own line is one of the directory's headings. That is where the town on a maker's page comes from.
1houses or firms depending upon it in many other places. Ricordi, the publisher, has no relations in business matters with the Ricordi & Finzi firm, who carry a large stock of German and French pianos and American organs, chiefly Story & Clark organs, and the Aeolian, which was placed with them when Mr. Toledo made his Continental trip, and it would not be a bad idea to send him over again, for there is room in Europe for Aeolians and Symphony instruments.
3Their pianos are the Bechstein, Berlin; the Schiedmayer & Soehne, Stuttgart; the Bluthner, Leipzig, and the Erard, but they also carry a large assortment of cheap pianos, filling a half dozen large rooms with them. Their renting business is very large and in Italy no piano is rented unless the party brings a written order from the landlord in which he acquiesces in the rental. If the landlord says "No," why then no piano, and if he says "Yes," why then the piano can go in and he cannot touch it for rent, and consequently all landlords do not say "Yes." Ricordi & Finzi stand very high and are a firm full of energy and hard push and intelligence.
5There is a piano man at Turin of whom I may be able to say considerable if he can be impressed with the necessity of retiring his modesty for a time in the background and come forward and let the world know what he is doing. But some of these people are so averse to publicity, and conscientiously opposed to it, that nothing can move them, and hence the Turin piano man may never be known beyond the taxed walls of his taxed town—and even not there, for a piano man in Turin is not an important municipal figure.
7At Genoa the Stradivarius violin of Paganini is on exhibition at the Municipality on payment of a very small Italian fee, which is indeed small. In fact one can see the wonders of the renaissance for a few cents, thanks to a liberal spirit, which I commend to some American institutions. The violin and bow are in a glass globe, kept in a recess of a wall, which is also encased in heavy French plate glass, the whole of it closed by a heavy door. Every two months the seals are broken, the violin and bow taken out and played for a half hour by a maestro in the presence of city officials, and then replaced and again put under municipal seal. This is done to keep the instrument in good condition, as it is always strung, and the task is now done by one Signor Rossi. I learn that an English institution recently offered the Genoa city government £10,000 for the violin, but the offer was not considered.
9Sivori, who died recently, also bequeathed his Guarnerius violin to the city of Genoa, and it is in the same niche and lies directly under Paganini's, which is held in an upright position in the glass globe. A medallion given to Paganini, and seven crosses representing "orders" given to Sivori, are kept in the same inclosure, together with a small enameled portrait of each of the two virtuosi. Paganini died poor at Nice, not far from Genoa, but Sivori left an estate.
11In Genoa Maestro Verdi resides during some seasons of the year, but at present he is at Busetto, his country seat. I visited the Doria "Palace," half of which he occupies. Several hundred years ago it might have been most appropriately designated as a Palace, but to-day it seems incomprehensible that Verdi could find contentment in such a big barrack, next to the depot and the railway tracks, with a quasi-Doria museum next to his rooms, a shipping office below and a commission merchant on the other side, in the same building. It may be the historical association that attracts him to this unhealthy, I might say, unclean place, but otherwise it does seem as if almost any spot, even in Genoa, would be preferable to the Doria "Palace" as a private residence. The rolling of trains all day and night, and the tooting of the conductors' horns and the whistle of locomotives right opposite a composer's windows, as it occurs with Verdi, might be an inspiration with others, to whom, however, I should not recommend it.
13Before closing I should say one word regarding a crying shame for the Italian people, and that is the condition of the house in which Galileo was born at Pisa. It looks as if one of the greatest minds Italy ever produced is not sufficiently venerated to-day to prevent the house that is so thoroughly identified with it from going into decay. The place looks like a stable about to be condemned.
15M. A. B.
17Mason & Hamlin in Boston.
19MASON & HAMLIN are now located in their new and elegant building, 146 Boylston street, Boston. The building is opposite Boston Common, and the view is very beautiful. The effect of the front of the building grows on one the more it is seen. The interior, now that the instruments and offices are in, is very effective. The ground floor consists of a series of rooms, a most desirable arrangement, as one room may be entirely separated from another. With the magnificent pianos and organs, and with Mr. David McKee at the head of the piano department, and Mr. J. E. Trowbridge, who has been with Mason & Hamlin for 28 years, at the head of the organ department, Mason & Hamlin may well expect to do some large business this fall.
21MERRILL PIANOS
22165 TREMONT ST., BOSTON.
24GEORGE BOTHNER,
25MANUFACTURER OF
26GRAND, UPRIGHT AND SQUARE
27Pianoforte Actions,
28135 & 137 CHRYSTIE STREET, NEW YORK.
29(FORMERLY 144 ELIZABETH STREET.)
31Weaver Organs
32Easy to sell,
33Hard to wear out,
34Always satisfactory.
35INVESTIGATE…
36Weaver Organ and Piano Co.,
37YORK, PA.
39K&RANICH
40Grand, Square and Upright
41PIANOS.
42Received Highest Award at the United States Centennial Exhibition, 1876,
43And are admitted to be the most Celebrated Instrument of the Age. Guaranteed for Five Years.
44Illustrated Catalogue furnished on application. Prices reasonable. Terms favorable.
45Warerooms, 237 E. 23d Street.
46Factory, from 233 to 245 E. 23d St., New York.
48G. O'Conor
49Manufacturer and Carver of
50Piano Legs,
51LYRES and
52PILASTERS.
53IN A VARIETY OF
54STYLES.
55Orders from dealers promptly attended to.
56FACTORY:
57610 & 612 West 38th St
58Bet. 9oth and 11th Aves.
59NEW YORK.
61THE CUNNINGHAM PIANO
62PHILADELPHIA, PA.
63A FIRST CLASS INSTRUMENT IN EVERY RESPECT. WRITE FOR CATALOGUE & TERRITORY.
65WESER BROS.,
66MANUFACTURERS OF
67PIANOS.
68Factory and Office:
69524, 526 and 528 WEST 43d STREET, NEW YORK.
71The best
72PATENT CAST STEEL
73are sold at the
74STAHL-und DRAHTWERK RÖSLAU
75Bavarian Fichtelgebirge Germany.
76ASK FOR SAMPLE AND PRICE-LIST. THEN YOU'LL JUDGE BY YOURSELF. SMART AGENTS WANTED.
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