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Musical Courier 1895-12-11: Vol 31 Iss 823, 1895
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1AVERILL AND BRADLEY RECITAL.
3THE first of a series of three subscription song and piano recitals by Mr. Perry Averill and Mr. Orton Bradley took place in Chamber Music Hall on Thursday afternoon last, December 5. As is their custom, these gentlemen managed to attract a clientele of goodly size and extremely fashionable calibre, and what they furnished it on this occasion was choiceily chosen and on the whole well performed.
5Mr. Bradley opened with two pieces from Scarlatti's suite in F, the Siciliano, which he played with refined taste and clearness, and the scherzo, which was not so distinct or finished. In Beethoven's Sonata No. 2 of op. 31 (the Recitative) Mr. Bradley did his best work. His technical resources are equal to the demands of this sonata, and his intelligent feeling and spirit in the interpretation were dignified and satisfying. The adagio in especial was firm, sympathetic and smoothly sustained, and Mr. Bradley disclosed much expressive tone color and a delicate variety in nuance throughout his entire performance. The Chopin berceuse and the E minor Etude No. 5 of op. 25 he played fluently and gracefully. Mr. Bradley is a pianist of taste, refinement and feeling rather than abandon and power.
7Perry Averill brought forward the same virile, resonant baritone as ever, a voice with a great deal of feeling as well as volume, but not yet under perfect lyric control. The strong places are in the majority with Perry Averill; the prominent weak place is that he cannot taper to a pianissimo, and when he does arrive at pianissimo after his own abrupt method it is not audible.
9This scooping manner of singing now forte, now barely audible is the same as last season. If Perry Averill would attend more to gradual nuance it would improve his work enormously, and he will also need to gauge better the amount of tone he leaves to a pianissimo so that it may carry to an audience. At present he might be heard in the salon by those immediately surrounding him, but not farther off. A Song of Solomon, by Mary Knight Wood, Bemberg's "J'ai tout donné pour rien" and three German songs of Brahms, Bungert and Spicker, were exceptionally well sung. The German Lieder school finds Perry Averill sympathetically at home. A good point in all his song is the fact that he sings them in their native tongue and does it well.
11There was too much rubato about Chaminade's tranquil little berceuse, but the free spirit of the Bemberg song was vigorous and stirring, and the program taken as a whole the baritone's numerous virtues were more constantly in evidence than the few weak spots. He is in splendid vocal condition.
13Next recital in Chamber Music Hall January 2 at 8:30, and third at same place and hour on February 18. The Averill-Bradley recitals will be very much in vogue.
15PAULA WOEHNING'S CONCERT.
17A young contralto of surprising volume and rich, melodious quality made her hasty début on Tuesday evening, December 8, in Steinway Hall, in the person of Miss Paula Woehning. Miss Woehning was assisted by Miss Florence Terrel, pianist, the gifted pupil of Alex. Lambert; Mr. Fred. Salscha, violin, and Mr. Enrico Duzensi, tenor, her teacher. Max Liebling was the accompanist.
19Miss Marguerite Hall,
20MEZZO SOPRANO.
21CONCERT, MUSICALES, ORATORIO and SONG RECITALS.
23For Terms and Dates apply to
24LEON MARGULIES'
25CONCERT BUREAU,
26C. L. GRAFF,
27Business Manager, Carnegie Hall, New York.
29Miss Woehning, who cannot be more than seventeen, has a voice of really remarkable value, of which a great deal may be made if she will only abandon her idea of public appearance for the present and remain in the hands of a thoroughly qualified teacher. She has a large, mellow, sufficiently vibrant and certainly tuneful contralto; the pure unadulterated voice, not common to meet with in the same depth and evenness. There is a pleasant absence of throatiness, and great ease in the abundance of the vocal flow. But a host of crudities in emission need to be smoothed out and a great deal of the voice yet locked away needs freeing. Style, feeling, finish, diction have all yet to come. An amateur with an undoubtedly precious voice in a raw condition Miss Woehning stands at present, and so early a public appearance was inadvisable. She sang Schubert's Die Allmacht among other numbers. Two years from now, if she studies, she may sing it superbly.
31Miss Terrel played a Raff prelude and an étude de concert of Schloezer with accurate fluency and easy poise. Mr. Duzensi essayed the O Paradiso from L'Africaine and was monotonously harsh. He did not lose his top C, however.
33The audience overflowed the hall, and gave Miss Woehning, who is a fresh, amply proportioned young maiden, floral pieces as large as herself. Her voice is worth skillful care. If she be wise she will husband it from the public a year or two, study hard, and she will be then heard from with effectiveness most surely.
35LUCAS AFTERNOON MUSICALE.
37An afternoon musicale was given on Tuesday, December 3, at the private residence 82 Park avenue, by Mrs. Mary L. Lucas, soprano, assisted by Mme. Antoinette Sterling, contralto, Miss Rebecca May Hall, contralto, and Mr. Hubert Arnold, violin. Mrs. Elinor Garrigue Ferguson was the accompanist.
39The occasion served amply to establish the immense popularity of Antoinette Sterling, who was received with an enthusiasm that had in it a ring of affection. She sang Hope Temple's A Mother's Love, one of the domestic, simply emotional ballads in which she has her specific stronghold, and her sincere feeling and warm manner of telling the song story to her audience has the same simple heartfelt attraction as ever. It is wonderful in the case of Antoinette Sterling how big a sympathetic duty a naturally small voice is made to do, but it does it well, and never fails in an impressive effect. Her second song was a setting by Behrend of Tennyson's Crossing the Bar, the music written expressly for Antoinette Sterling.
41Mrs. Mary L. Lucas, with a small frail voice, which she uses neatly, sang solos much too difficult for her volume or style. There were also some duets with Miss Hall, and Miss Hall had herself a couple of solos which were again in her case beyond her powers. Small English songs would suit these ladies better. Their manner was spiritless and perfunctory, and their methods very much alike. Mr. Arnold played the eternal Andante and Finale of the Mendelssohn concerto rather recklessly, yet with a fair technical showing. The accompaniments of Mrs. Ferguson were accurate and tasteful.
43PETERSEN FLUTE CONCERT.
45A concert was given on Tuesday evening, December 8, by Miss Julie Petersen, the Danish flute soloist, assisted by Miss Hattie Norton, soprano; Mr. George Washbourne Morgan, baritone, and Prof. Carl V. Lachmund, piano. Ida Letson Morgan and Mr. Frederick Grant Shattuck were the accompanists.
47Miss Petersen played three florid compositions, a solo Fantaisie de Doppler, Popp's Virtuosenstück Gut Nacht, and with Mr. Lachmund a duo by Cottignies, with no special reason for being other than to provide the flutist with some difficulty to keep up with the pianist.
49Away from its mission as an integral part of the orchestra, in which episodically it is a solo instrument of excellent effect, the flute as the basis of a program becomes a monotonous factor. As a solo instrument for any prolonged length its use and charm belong to the open air and the hand of the shepherd. In the concert room it is a mistake as far as the general public is concerned for anything beyond one number. More than that can only command the interest of other flute players. Miss Petersen plays unusually well, without any allowance for sex. But she gave herself too much to do. Even the flute itself will rebel at being called on to furnish more music than people desire, and so in the duo with Mr. Lachmund, Miss Petersen's breath failing, the flute refused to give forth any music at times and there was a hollow disappointment. She, however, rippled and ran and elaborated most fluently and purely in other numbers, and would no doubt fill satisfactorily an orchestral position. She is, further, a very gracious and winsome Scandinavian blonde. Her reception was cordial and genuine, as she deserved.
51A few good staccato notes were the principal feature of Miss Norton's vocal equipment. The rest was under the average of light soprano work. Mr. Morgan sang Bohm's My All with earnestness and feeling, and the capable accompanist, Ida Letson Morgan, filled her place satisfactorily as usual. The audience was large.
53ORPHEUS CONCERT.
55The Orpheus Choral Society, Arthur Mees director, gave its first concert of the season on Thursday evening last, December 5, in Madison Square Concert Hall, and drew its accustomed large and fashionable audience, which is also as a rule one of discrimination.
57A new departure has been made by the club this season in the addition of a female chorus, to be known as the Orpheus Auxiliary. The addition of female voices naturally widens the field of composition which the society may traverse, although it is to be doubted whether in a very long time, if ever, the feminine section will be brought to the same plane of good tonal power, smoothness of phrasing and finished delivery as the male voices.
59The old Orpheus as it stood, a male chorus, not large, but powerful and finished, needed no addition to make it attractive. It can now embrace a new field of labor, but, as might be expected, its new sisters are not yet prepared to join artistic hands on a level with it. Time and mutual practice will, of course, work large changes. The male chorus alone sang a fine old minstrel song of De la Hale, Liszt's Weimar Folk Song, the Ay Ouchem Russian Boat Songs given here by the Lineff Russian Choir, but arranged in English by H. E. Krehbiel, and numbers of Weber and Pache. They sang with freedom, sympathy, decision and spirit.
61Alone the female chorus sang Jan Gall's The Roses, Schumann's Triolet and Rheinberger's 'Tis Morning. There were several ensemble numbers with the male chorus, but the female voices sounded better, alone and in their delivery of the choruses exhibited careful training.
63Mr. Mees conducted with great taste and dainty results a small string orchestra. Its numbers were chosen with discretion for the size and capacity of the little band, variations of Haydn, Schubert's A la Hongroise and numbers from Grieg's suite, Peers Gynt, among others. As a driller and director of choruses Mr. Mees's has few equals in ability and energy, and the work of his society may always be looked to as intelligent and reliable. The new ladies had a warm greeting and were encored; so also was the male chorus, as it deserved. Victor Harris was the accompanist, always finished and satisfactory
65NEW YORK MUSICAL SOCIETY.
67The New York Musical Society, under the direction of Mr. Frank G. Dossert, gave the first concert of its existence on Saturday evening last at Carnegie Hall. The object of this society is the performance of short choral works, cantatas and the like, without at any time dividing its attention with the longer oratorios. As the literature of its chosen field is large and very beautiful, exclusive study devoted to it should bring results of musical value and interest; therefore the object of the new society is to be commended.
69The works brought forward were Saint-Saëns' Deluge and
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