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Musical Courier 1895-06-26: Vol 30 Iss 799, 1895
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1An English supplement to The Musical Courier is printed and published each week from our British office for special circulation in Great Britain. It contains complete reports of musical matters in London and the chief cities of the British Isles. Copies can be obtained upon application at the New York office.
3BRITISH OFFICE OF THE MUSICAL COURIER, 15 ARGYLL STREET, LONDON, W., June 8, 1895
5THE third Wagner concert was given this week, when Herr Siegfried Wagner conducted. An item which excited considerable curiosity was the first performance of his new symphonic poem Sehnsucht. It is not necessary to go into an analysis of this composition here. A full account will be found in our London edition. Herr Wagner hardly heightened the impression he made on his former visit as a conductor. In the Beethoven symphony he followed the directions of his father, but in the Freischutz overture his work lacked character. Some songs by Liszt and Wagner were sung by Miss Esther Palliser, and Mr. David Bispham took the part of Albrecht in the Rheingold excerpt.
7The first Sarasate concert took place last Saturday afternoon, when the eminent Spanish violinist was as popular as ever in a well arranged program, in which he had the valuable assistance of Mme. Berthe Marx.
9Mr. Robert Newman in continuing the Sunday evening concerts has replaced the orchestra by a quintet, having as formerly two vocalists. Last Sunday Mme. Belle Cole sang the aria from Concone's Judith and Beethoven's Creation's Hymn, responding to an encore for the latter with Entreat Me Not to Leave Me. Miss Llewela Davies played some piano solos.
11Mr. Newman has now arranged to give promenade concerts in this beautiful hall during the months of August and September, when the orchestra will be under the direction of Mr. Henry J. Wood. Eminent vocal and instrumental artists will also contribute to the program.
13That ever popular entertainer, Mr. George Grossmith, gave another of his recitals at St. James' Hall on the 30th inst., and on the same afternoon Mrs. Waldo Richards, the American reciter, gave a most interesting program at Mrs. Mackay's spacious mansion.
15Among other concerts given the past week was a piano recital by Miss Gwendolyn Toms, a former pupil of the Royal College of Music, the Symphony Orchestra at West Hampstead, the second lecture of Mr. Virgil, at which Miss Julie Geyer played, and Dr. Charles Vincent spoke upon the advantages of the instrument, and a chamber concert by Mme. Marie Mely, Miss Adelina de Lara and Mr. Sydney Brooks.
17Much regret is expressed that the Kneisel Quartet is unable to make its London appearance on account of the illness of Mr. Schroeder, the 'cellist.
19Mr. F. H. Cowen's opera Harold is down for performance at Covent Garden to-night for the first representation. Mlle. Bellincioni is expected to arrive in London next Saturday, and will make her appearance here in Samara's La Martire.
21The last representations of Hänsel and Gretel are now announced at the Savoy.
23M. Maurel and Signor Vignas have been added to the already large list of artists at Covent Garden. M. Maurel, who will make his reappearance next Monday in his original part of Falstaff, will also sing Iago in Otello, and Don Giovanni in the revival of Mozart's opera, in which Mme. Patti, Mme. Albani and Miss Macintyre will also take part. Signor Vignas has been engaged for Tannhäuser, and also to support Mlle. Bellincioni in Cavalleria Rusticana.
25M. Adolph Brodsky, the well-known Russian violinist, has accepted from September next the post of conductor of the orchestra of the Royal Manchester College of Music, where he succeeds Mr. Willy Hess.
27Mr. Arthur Rousby, who for a long time has been successfully running an English opera company, has done the right thing. It having come to his knowledge that the widow of Vincent Wallace, the composer, is in needy circumstances, he immediately offered her a percentage of the receipts whenever his company gives a representation of Maritana, notwithstanding that the copyright in that popular work has run out and that it is perfectly free for performance by anyone able and willing to perform it. He opened a two week season at the Theatre Metropole on Monday night with The Bohemian Girl.
29The German opera season of the Coburg Company opens on the 17th inst. with Zellner's comic opera, The Birdseller, followed two days later with Smetana's Bartered Bride. Among the other works on the list is Hänsel and Gretel. The company is 150 strong and brings over its own costumes and some scenery.
31A tour has been arranged in Germany for Professor Stanford, Mr. Leonard Borwick and Mr. Plunket Greene.
33Miss Macintyre has received from the Queen a beautiful gift in the form of a winged figure, sculptured in gold and set with diamonds.
35An important decision was arrived at in Justice Chitty's court last week, when an injunction was granted to prevent the occupants of one house from annoying their neighbors by the incessant teaching of the piano and singing every day. The court held that this was an annoyance to those who had to listen to it involuntarily, and thus a precedent was established that will more or less affect many members of the profession.
37Mr. Henry Waller, the composer, from New York, is in town with several original works, some of which we may hear before the season is over.
39At the At Home of Mr. and Mrs. George Henschel, on the first Sunday in June, there were many interesting visitors. Mr. and Mrs. Henschel both sang, and later in the afternoon their beautiful little daughter sang and played her own accompaniment in a manner worthy of her talented parents. Miss Frida Scotta played several violin solos in her charming manner, and young Mark Hambourg gave a taste of his wonderful improvement during his recent studies under Leschetizky.
41Mr. C. L. Staats, the well-known clarinetist, of Boston, is in town for a few days. Mr. Staats has been very successful in the United States as soloist on his instrument, and it is hoped that we may have an opportunity of hearing him in London.
43M. Paderewski will give his only recital for this season on the afternoon of June 25. He also plays at the third Nikisch concert on June 29.
45Mr. Ben Davies has been engaged by Mr. Ernest Cavour for his fourth Continental tour next autumn, when he will give twenty concerts in the different capitals on the Continent between October 21 and November 16.
47Mr. Clarence Eddy, the well-known organist from Chicago, arrived at the Langham Hotel this afternoon with Mrs. Eddy and Miss Rose Ettinger, a young lady from Iowa, who has a phenomenal high soprano voice. Mr. and Mrs. Eddy expect to remain abroad for some time, and our readers will read more about their visit here from time to time.
49Among others who are now in the city from Chicago are Mrs. Milward Adams and Mrs. Fanny Root.
51Mrs. Kathrine Fisk is going to sing at a grand concert at Grosvenor House next Wednesday. Among others on the program are Mme. Melba and several Covent Garden artists.
53The last concert of the Philharmonic for this season was given in the Queen's Hall on Thursday evening, June 13, Sir Alexander Mackenzie conducting.
55The program opened with an overture, Melpomene, by G. W. Chadwick, played for the first time in England.
57Lady Hallé gave an extremely finished and sympathetic but not very broad rendering to Beethoven's ever beautiful concerto for violin. Mlle. Camilla Landi sang Gounod's O ma Lyre in truly magnificent style, and with faultless vocal method.
59Mlle. Chaminate played with brilliant technic and great dash a concertstück for piano and orchestra from her own clever and graceful pen. The present work certainly adds to the reputation of this exceptionally gifted woman. The concert ended with Mozart's Jupiter symphony.
61Mr. Walter Morrow gave a very interesting and instructive lecture on the Trumpet in the hall of the Royal College of Organists, Hart street, Bloomsbury, on Tuesday afternoon, June 11.
63Mr. P. Della Torre, at his invitation recital in the Erard Hall on Thursday afternoon, June 6, proved himself an artist of unusual merit. The tone he produces from the piano is mellow, full and singing. His technic is reliable and his phrasing intelligent. His program was very varied and interesting, including Bach's Italian concerto, Beethoven's op. 110 sonata, several Chopin numbers, smaller pieces by lesser composers, and Liszt's B minor sonata.
65Miss Esther Palliser's Concert of Compositions by Women Composers was of sufficient interest to attract a large audience to the Princes' Hall on Thursday afternoon, June 13. It was an enterprise deserving of success, and we congratulate Miss Palliser not only on her singing—but no small task, considering the number of items set down for her—but on the musical interest of the selections chosen for the program and on the way the concert was managed. The list of composers included the names of Lady Thompson, Maude V. White, Dorothea Hollins, Ethel Smyth, Augusta Holmés, Clara Schumann, Elvira Gambogi, Cecile Chaminate, Frances Allitsen, Henritte Viardot, Liza Lehmann, Elizabeth Reynolds, Ella Overbeck, Margaret Lang, Isabel Hearne, Sibyl Palliser, Amy Horrocks and Guy d'Hardelot.
67The third concert of the Richter series took place in St. James' Hall on Monday, June 10. The concert room was crowded to its fullest capacity.
69The usual large run of concerts have taken place the past week, but only the above call for mention.
71At Mr. and Mrs. Frank V. Atwater's At Home on Thursday, given for their friends and readers of The Musical Courier, there was a large gathering of very interesting people, among them being Miss Ella Russell, Mrs. Frank Leslie, Mrs. Antonia Sawyer, Miss Rosa Green, Mrs. Scott-Siddons, Mlle. Carlotta Desvignes, Mr. Stephens, Mr. Oscar Meyer, Baroness Adelsdorfer, Mrs. Jackson, Mr. and Mrs. Baughan, Mr. Frank Lambert, Mme. Amina Goodwin, Mrs. Ludovic, Mr. Alfred Henry, Mr. Edwin Wareham, Miss Jenkins, Miss Belda, Mr. Righini, Mrs. Johnstone and Signor Maggi. During the afternoon Miss Rosa Green, Mrs. Antonia Sawyer, Miss Regina de Sales and Mr. Stephens sang, and some piano solos were played by Mme. Amina Goodwin and Mr. Oscar Meyer.
73As was expected, the choir at the Gregorian Festival on the 13th was the largest ever assembled in St. Paul's, the official list containing 504 trebles, 117 altos, 358 tenors and 441 basses.
75The well-known concert agent Mr. Morris Reno is now in town for a few days looking up some talent to take back to America with him. It was through this agent that Mlle. Brema and Mr. Plunket Greene were introduced to the United States.
77Miss Carlotta Desvignes, the contralto, who has been singing in America during the past winter and spring, is in town for the season.
79The first of the prize competitions organized by the International Music Trades' Exhibition at Royal Agricultural Hall took place on Thursday afternoon and evening, June 13. Some twenty violinists vied for the prizes and the result was that Miss Daisy Ashton won the first prize of a Rogers & Sons 100 guinea piano; Miss Alice Liebmann, the gold medal; Mr. Ackroyd, the silver medal; Mr. Antonietti, the bronze medal. Each prize was accompanied with a certificate of merit. The competition for the piano prizes took place yesterday.
81Mrs. Vanderveer Green, who is becoming such a favorite in London, has just been engaged by Mr. Walter Damrosch to sing in performances of the Messiah at Carnegie Hall, in New York, on the 27th and 29th of next December.
83The compositions of Frederick William Rust, which the remarkable pianist Dr. Neitzel performed at the fourth of his Steinway Hall recitals, and about the success of which I have already informed my readers, have awakened, and most justly so, the interest of English musical circles. There are in them indeed, as was stated also in the synopsis contained in the program, numerous similarities with Beethoven. The adagio from Rust's sonata in D flat, for instance, could very readily be attributed to Beethoven of the first period. A depth of sentiment, together with an originality of melodic leading and harmonic progression such as can only be found in the slow movements of the later Beethoven, and which sound quite modern, distinguish this adagio, which bears the title Wehklage (Lamentation). It is a highly important little piece which excites the highest respect for the Dessau court conductor, who belonged to the close of last century.
85The Tarantella which was played at the close is a lively little piece full of changes of pleasing character and of almost virtuoso-like difficulty. The compositions are already in print and belong to Augener's catalogue. They will no doubt excite the most lively interest of all pianists.
87F. V. ATWATER.
89Casselt.—Lortzing's opera Undine's 100th representation in Cassel was celebrated on May 23. The first representation of the opera occurred in Cassel on August 20 1846.
91Christus in Bremen.—The Signale announces that "in consequence of the extraordinary artistic success and the continued large attendance, the festival representations of Rubinstein's Christus, in Bremen, which were to close on June 9, will be continued for one week."
93Don Pasquale.—Donizetti's opera Don Pasquale, which disappeared long ago from the German repertoire, had a revival at the Frankfort Opera House. The opera was preceded by another newly rehearsed one act opera by Offenbach, The Magic Fiddle (Die Zaubergeige).
95Pauline Lucca.—At Gmunden, the fashionable summer residence of the Viennese, an opera season has been planned for this summer. Director Cavar will produce the Barber of Sevilla, The Black Domino, The Daughter of the Regiment, The Hermit's Bell and Hänsel und Gretel. The stage management is in the care of Pauline Lucca, who will give assistance by permitting her most advanced pupils to participate.
97Bergamo.—The Theatre Riccardi in Bergamo has been bought by a stock company with a capital of $16,000. A new façade will be constructed and other improvements made. The name of the theatre has been changed to Donizetti Theatre. A statue of this composer will embellish the place in front of the building.
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