Scan 22
Musical Courier 1895-12-11: Vol 31 Iss 823, 1895
69 lines. Read by computer on 27 September 2026, twice; the two readings disagreed in places. Printed page 23. See the scan on archive.org.
1THE MUSICAL COURIER. one of two readings
3(no line here) one of two readings
4MME. BAUERMEISTER-PETERSEN gave the first of her two recitals in Steinway Hall on Wednesday. The second takes place next Wednesday.
6Miss Zelie de Lussan appeared as Mignon for the first time during the Carl Rosa Company's recent stay at Glasgow, and achieved a remarkable success.
8The Scottish celebrations to-day in honor of St. Andrew's Day will include Mr. Austin's annual Scotch ballad concert in St. James' Hall, a concert at Queen's Hall, the usual festival at the Albert Hall and a special Scotch program at the Crystal Palace.
10Mr. Henry Mills, secretary of the National Sunday League, informs me that arrangements have been made to relieve the Sunday evening pressure at the Queen's Hall by starting a series of Sunday evening concerts at the Holborn Town Hall. These concerts, with others given by this and other organizations, furnish entertainment for over 10,000 people on an average every Sunday.
12The Royal Society of Musicians, that noble institution that has done so much to alleviate the sufferings of poor musicians, gave its 157th anniversary performance in Queen's Hall last night. Mr. W. H. Cummings conducted. The works included Bennett's Woman of Samaria, Purcell's Jehovah and Händel's occasional overture and concerto for organ.
14Sir Arthur Sullivan has decided upon Lord Byron's tragedy, Sardanapalus, as the subject for his grand ballet to be produced next year at the Alhambra.
16Mr. F. H. Cowen has undertaken to compose an orchestral work for the Philharmonic Society.
18Arrangements were progressing for Mr. Schulz-Curtius to take his orchestra with Herr Mottl to Windsor for a performance before Her Majesty, but recent unfortunate circumstances will not admit of the concert taking place during Herr Mottl's present stay in London.
20Owing to the great success of the Mikado at the Savoy Theatre it has been decided to give special matinées on Wednesdays, December 4, 11 and 18, and Thursday, December 26, at 2:30.
22The America Society in London celebrated Thanksgiving in the most approved manner at the Holborn Restaurant on Thursday evening, when some 350 ladies and gentlemen sat down to a dinner that was as American as it was possible to make it.
24Miss Agnes Zimmermann has just completed the edition of Schumann's piano works.
26Madame Albani closes one of her most successful provincial tours next week with a grand concert in the Queen's Hall.
28M. Tinel has accepted the Cardiff musical societies' invitation to come over and conduct his Kollebloemen next spring. M. Tinel is hard at work learning English.
30A new comedietta from the pen of our eminent writer, Mr. W. D. Howells, will be put on at the Avenue Theatre to-night.
32In connection with the celebration of Mrs. Keeley's ninetieth birthday last week special attention should be called to the fact that she had the honor of singing in the first performance of Oberon under the composer's direction, at Covent Garden, and was rewarded on that occasion by great popular success and special commendation from Weber himself.
34Young Mark Hambourg has had a wonderfully successful colonial tour of Australia, and he was induced to stay for another month. He gave nine recitals in Sydney in seven days, and at the last recital hundreds were turned away.
36CONCERTS.
38The lovers of novelty who attended the concert at the Crystal Palace on Saturday were destined to disappointment, as the novelty formerly put down for that program, the vorspiel to Eugen d'Albert's opera, Der Rubin, is postponed until after Christmas. The scheme, however, included several favorites. It began with the overture to Der Freischütz and ended with that to Tannhäuser, including for the symphony Beethoven's jovial work in F, No. 8. Madame Carreño, who made her first appearance at these concerts, played Grieg's piano concerto in A minor, giving an altogether fine interpretation of that highly characteristic work. In her second piece, a polonaise by Weber-Liszt, she fairly electrified her hearers and had to give an encore. Miss Agnes Janson sang with much effect Berlioz's La Captive, and Brahms' Geistliches Wiegenlied.
40Mr. Randegger certainly cannot complain of flagging interest on the part of those who so regularly fill the great hall of the Imperial Institute when his orchestra of lady and gentleman amateurs offers a varied program of classical and popular selections. Of course, we do not expect professional proficiency from amateurs, and therefore are not disappointed in their performance. As amateurs they play remarkably well, thanks to the skill of their experienced conductor.
42The Misses Sutro played with orchestra a concerto in E flat for two pianos by Mozart. Even if these very talented young ladies did not play as well as they do we must express our admiration of their labor and patience in learning such a varied repertory as they have "at their finger ends," for it must be remembered that they had already given a long recital in St. James' Hall on the afternoon of the same day as the Imperial Institute concert, Wednesday, November 20. Mrs. Katherine Fisk gave a very sympathetic rendering of the great air from Saint-Saëns' opera, Samson et Dalila, Softly Awakes My Heart. She was also heard later in the tender little slumber song by Mr. Randegger, Sleep, Dearest, Sleep.
44POPULAR CONCERTS.
46The proverbial attachment that the English people have always formed for favorite artists was again exemplified when Signor Piatti made his appearance on the platform at the Popular Concert on Monday night. Through a long and severe illness he has been precluded from appearing since March 18, 1894. It was some time after the quartet, consisting of himself, Mlle. Wietrowetz, Mr. Ries and Mr. Gibson, ascended to the platform to play Mendelssohn's quartet in E minor, op. 44, before they could proceed, on account of the hearty and continuous applause, which was obviously meant for the old favorite, and which he, from his proverbial modesty, was slow to take to himself. The same hearty applause again greeted him when he came forward to play his solo, which was his arrangement for the 'cello of a sonata in C major, one of a series of six written for the violin, that are attributed to Haydn in the beginning of the century. This, at the hands of Signor Piatti, proved a favorite, and will no doubt be added to the regular répertoire of these concerts. Miss Kleeberg played very artistically Beethoven's sonata in B flat, and joined Mlle. Wietrowetz in an unusually fine rendering of the Brahms sonata in A for piano and violin. The vocalist was Miss Margarethe Petersen, who has a mezzo-soprano voice and dramatic style, both of which she used with intelligence.
48The program of the Saturday Popular Concert does not call for special mention.
50MADAME PATTI.
52The wonderful attraction that Mme. Adelina Patti has always had for the public does not seem to abate, and on Tuesday evening the Royal Albert Hall was again crowded with enthusiastic admirers. This marvelous singer, who must be admitted to be the greatest queen of song probably that ever has lived, still retains much of that wonderful style, magnetism of her personality and exemplary diction that have made her fame so universal. Mme. Belle Cole, who is always a favorite with Albert Hall audiences, was exceedingly popular on this occasion. Mr. Edward Lloyd, Mr. Santley, Mr. Frederick Dawson, Mr. Douglas Powell, Mr. Popper and the sisters Eissler, with Mr. William Ganz, completed the list of artists.
54WAGNER CONCERT.
56The orchestral concert which Herr Felix Mottl conducted in the Queen's Hall last Tuesday evening, November 26, was one of the best of the "Wagner" series which Mr. Schultz-Curtius has admirably organized and managed.
58The entire program was made up of works by four giants in musical composition, three of whom are the greatest geniuses the world has known, namely, Bach, Beethoven, Wagner. The fourth name is that of Gluck, the great operatic reformer of the eighteenth century, as Monteverde was in the preceding and Wagner was in the succeeding century. His powerful and intensely dramatic overture to Iphigenia in Aulis opened the program. As this overture in its original form led directly into the drama itself Wagner has very skilfully and judiciously written a close to it, so as to make it available for concert performance.
60Then followed a "suite" for stringed orchestra which Josef Hellmesberger had arranged from what the program called a violin sonata in E minor. Now Bach has written no violin sonata in E minor, or at least none is known in that key. The "suite" has been arranged from a sonata for violin and clavier, and I much regret that the third movement, the Allemande, which is to be found in the original version of Bach's sonata, was omitted in the orchestral performance. Perhaps Hellmesberger has not arranged it for orchestra. I feel there is no disgrace in acknowledging my ignorance of these arrangements, as it is impossible to become acquainted with the inexhaustible number and variety of the original works of Bach. This "suite" on the whole, and the adagio in particular, was the most satisfactory number of the evening. By all means let us hear it again. The Beethoven E flat symphony received a commendable, if at times a vigorous, rendering. But there was nothing to call for especial mention in this or in the Tristan excerpts, which constituted the second part of the program.
62Frau Ida Doxart, the possessor of a powerful but agreeable voice, who made her first appearance, sang with much feeling and dramatic style the part of Isolde. Miss Esther Palliser, as Brangaeae, and Mr. E. C. Hedmondt as Tristan, completed the list of artists who so ably rendered this difficult score.
64Few in the audience knew of the difficulties which the conductor, Herr Mottl, had to contend with to reach us. The storm on the Channel delayed him for a day at Calais, and it was feared that he would not reach London in time for rehearsal.
66TESTIMONIAL TO LADY HALLE.
68A testimonial will be presented to Lady Hallé to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of her first appearance in public, and the twenty-fifth of her début in England.
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