Scan 6
Musical Courier 1896-07-01: Vol 33 Iss 852, 1896
123 lines. Read by computer on 22 September 2026. Printed page 7. See the scan on archive.org.
1voice, had also pleased Emperor William so strongly at the rehearsal here in Berlin that he applauded vigorously, and afterward addressed some flattering personal remarks to the young lady. His Majesty, however, did this not only in her case, but he had some gracious words for everybody, and distinguished in like manner Frau Marie Goetze, Emil Goetze, the tenor, and our baritone and prime favorite, Paul Bulsz.
3The artistic climax of the Moscow court concert, the musical crown of the coronation, so to speak, was the reproduction of the quintet from Die Meistersinger, which was sung with exquisite blending of voices and with pathos of feeling by Miss Ida Hiedler, Marie Goetze and the tenor Goetze, from Berlin; Gerhahser, from Karlsruhe, and Reichmann, from Vienna. A finer quintet could not be gathered anywhere, not even at Bayreuth.
5Paul Bulsz made his usual irresistibly attractive impression through his captivating personality and the verve and élan, as well as clear and dramatic delivery, of Loewe's ballad, Henry the Fowler, and Becker's Trompeter an der Katzbach. Miss Dietrich, from the Berlin Court Opera, although evidently not in the very best of voice, sang tenderly and quite fetchingly Mozart's Lullaby and W. Taubert's The Lark, and the concert closed with a performance of Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries, the like of which the world has not heard heretofore and probably will not hear so soon again, the Prehistoric Maidens being all and each individually represented by the first court opera singers of Germany, they being Misses Alken (Schwerin), Dietrich, Goetze, Herzog and Hiedler (Berlin), Pfeiffer (Darmstadt), Ternina (Munich) and Wiborg (Stuttgart). The expenses of this musical entertainment exceeded a quarter of a million of marks.
7The success of Nathan Franko at the Berlin Exhibition as a conductor of American compositions was so great that, as I made mention in my last week's budget, he was invited to lead the Philharmonic Wind Orchestra in the performance of a second program, and also by request repetition of those American works which had pleased the audience so immensely at the first production. This second event took place at the exhibition last Saturday evening, and as the weather was unpropitious for out of door musical entertainments, it raining in torrents, the concert was given on an improvised platform in the hall of the main building of the Industrial Exhibition.
9This vast hall, in which on ordinary occasions thousands of people can move along without the least inconvenience, was on this occasion crowded nearly to suffocation, and the enthusiasm evoked by the performances was commensurate with the multitudinousness of the assembly. Mr. Franko conducted in the first part of his program Wiegand's Musicians' National League March, Mozart's Magic Flute overture, Weber's Invitation to Dance, and Plantation Echoes in an arrangement by Thos. Coates. This latter selection was cheered to the echo and brought the conductor almost a plantation of laurel wreaths.
11The second portion of Franko's program consisted of the brilliantly executed Tannhäuser overture, Strauss' New Vienna waltzes, a cornet solo, composed and performed by Theodor Hoch, whom you will surely all remember, and a fantasy on Lohengrin. Wagner and Franko seemed to take alike well, and the audience did not stop cheering for nearly ten minutes.
13The last part of the program brought the repetition by "request" of Franko's New York Herald March, Victor Herbert's American Fantasy, a gavot by Franko, Coconut Dance, by A. Hermann, and Sousa's Manhattan Beach March.
15The "commencement exercises," or, as they are here called, Schueler Pruefungs Vortraege, are being continued at the Klindworth-Scharwenka Conservatory. The other day, it was a very hot day, I attended, "by special request," the playing of the piano class of Prof. Karl Klindworth, and heard more or less of the following program:
17Sonate……………………………………………..Mendelssohn
18Fraulein Wanda v. n Przychowski.
19Rondeau, op. 16………………………………….Chopin
20Fraulein Anna Rehlin. er.
21Fantasie……………………………………………..Mendelssohn
22Fraulein Clara Lind.
23Sonate, op. 2, No. 2…………………………….Beethoven
24Miss Anna Krebs.
25Sonate, op. 30…………………………………….Beethoven
26Miss Blanche Richmond.
27Scherzo……………………………………………..Brahms
28Fraulein Margarette Böing.
29Nocturno…………………………………………..Tchaikowsky
30Mazurka…………………………………………….Liszt
31Miss Sarah Verril.
32Variationen, Abegg……………………………..Schumann
33Frau Hähnel.
34Etude……………………………………………….Chopin
35Sonate III…………………………………………..Weber
36Variations Serieuses……………………………Mendelssohn
37Sonate, op. 53……………………………………Beethoven
38Paganini Etude……………………………………Liszt
39Etude……………………………………………….Chopin
40Les Cloches de Genève………………………….Liszt
41Miss Grace Wonnacott.
43Rhapsodie Hongroise…………………………….Liszt
44Miss Frances Shuford.
45Harmonie du Soir………………………………..Liszt
46Fraulein Auguste Hopf.
47Fuge……………………………………………….Bach
48Etude……………………………………………..Chopin
49Sonate, op. 27, No. 2…………………………..Beethoven
50Herr Max Schwarz.
51Variations Symphoniques………………………..Schumann
52Herr Willy Meyer.
54The program may be all right, and the pupils no doubt are all right, but the main trouble was that the pupils could not play the program. It is one of the principal faults of the principal, and a fault which I have had occasion to notice several times before, that he invariably gives his pupils music which is too difficult for them to perform. I would ten times rather hear an easier piece well performed than a difficult one butchered. Professor Klindworth, excellent musician as he may be, lays also too little stress upon good pedaling and musical phrasing. As a pedagogue, therefore, he is nowadays no longer an ideal.
56I am informed by the writer of the kind invitation to this piano pupils' exhibition that "Miss Shuford, Miss Doran and Miss Krebs are Americans; Miss Richmond from New Zealand, all studying to be teachers and good players." Well, if they want to accomplish their aim they must, in my estimation at least, go to a better teacher.
58At another Schueler Vortrag Abend which was given in Bechstein Hall, two days after the above event, the program contained as a novelty of interest to readers in the United States a suite for violin and piano by a young American, Mr. Camille Zeckwer, of Philadelphia, Pa. He is the son of Richard Zeckwer, at whose institution for musical learning the young man made his first studies. Later on he studied in New York with Dvorák, and since about a year he is a pupil of Philipp Scharwenka, head teacher of composition at the Klindworth-Scharwenka Conservatory.
60The suite which was performed last Saturday is a work in four movements, prelude, scherzo, andante and finale, and is very melodious throughout, contains some beautiful harmonies, and is particularly well written for the fiddle. The work is soon going to be published by one of the Berlin music publishing houses. Of other works which this talented young musician wrote since he became a student under Prof. Scharwenka I want to make mention of a string quartet, a fugue for piano in grand concert style, a number of Lieder, and the first movement of a piano quintet. The suite for violin and piano was admirably performed by Mrs. Marianne Scharwenka-Stesow, violinist, and the composer at the piano. The program contained besides:
62The XXIII. Psalm (for four part female chorus)………….Schubert
63Sung by the Conservatory chorus, under Philipp Scharwenka's direction.
64Lieder for mezzo soprano………………………………….
65Gretchen am Spinnrad………………………………….Schubert
66Sung by Miss Anna Hiorth, from Christiania, class of Frau Joachim and Dr. Goldschmidt.
67Rhapsody, No. 2………………………………………Liszt
68Willy Meyer, class of Professor Klindworth.
69Adagio, from XXIII violin concerto……………………Viotti
70Miss Helen Fuerst, class of F. Zajic.
71Two preludes…………………………………………Chopin
72Study in D flat………………………………………Liszt
73Miss Margarethe Goetze, class of Dr. Jedliczka.
74Finale, from Act I. of the Magic Flute…………………Mozart
75Soloists from Frau Joachim's and Dr. Goldschmidt's classes and conservatory chorus, conducted by Dr. Goldschmidt.
76Sonate in G major (first movement for violin and piano)………….Brahms
77Miss Agnes Schulze, piano, class of M. Mayer-Mahr and Broemel, violin, pupil of Concertmaster Gruenberg.
78Ensemble class Mayer-Mahr.
79Ballad in B minor, for piano…………………………..Liszt
80Richard Gerit, class of Ph. Scharwenka.
81Claerchen's Lied…………………………………….Schubert
82Der arme Peter………………………………………Schumann
83Winterlied…………………………………………..Henning von Koss
84Miss Martha Fickler, class of Frau Joachim and of Miss Anna Salomon.
85Second movement from G minor concerto, for violin………….Max Bruch
86Miss May Hirschfeld, class of Gruenberg.
87Ave Maria (for four part mixed chorus)…………………Otto Floersheim
88Conservatory chorus, conducted by Philipp Scharwenka.
90The programs for next season's series of ten subscription concerts of the Royal Orchestra, under Weingartner's direction, are to contain, besides the usual selections from the classics, the following modern works: Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade, Bruckner's fifth symphony, Gla- zounoff's fourth symphony, Cornelius' overture to the Barber of Baghdad, Recniziek's Lustspiel overture, Dvorák's D major symphony, Brahms' C minor symphony, and works by Raff, Liszt and Berlioz. The program for the concert of December 17 will contain only works by Beethoven, and that of January 29, as an anticipation of the centennial birthday anniversary of Franz Schubert, will contain only works by that composer. In the last concert of the series, on April 17, 1897, Beethoven's ninth symphony will, as usual, be given as a fine pièce de résistance.
92At the Royal Opera House a complete cycle of Wagner's works, from Rienzi to Götterdämmerung, will be given during the period from June 12 (to-morrow) until June 30.
94Mr. Walter Damrosch informs us through his stage manager, C. Harder, that he has succeeded in engaging the tenor Fritz Ernst, who used to be a member of the Berlin Royal Opera House personnel several years ago, but who since retired "in order to make," as Mr. Harder says, "successful vocal studies. He has sung for us several times, and his voice has now grown so beautiful and his manner of singing is so noble that we are convinced we made a first-class engagement." All right; I hope so for New York's sake, but it is funny Mr. Ernst did not show all this here in Berlin, where he was made to resign because his voice was passé.
96At Leipsic I met Mr. Walter Knuepfer, a young pianist and teacher, whom Dr. Florence Ziegfeld succeeded in securing for his Chicago conservatory. This young man makes a very nice impression, and bears an excellent reputation, not only as a musician but also as a gentleman.
98Mr. Henry Wolfsohn, the energetic and enterprising New York impresario, is here at the Kaiserhof, and is making things pretty lively in Berlin. Of course he called at the Berlin headquarters of THE MUSICAL COURIER, with his wife and daughter, and I glean from him the following news regarding his new engagements for the coming musical season in the United States:
100Rosenthal, the great pianist, who will begin his American tournée November 10, in New York, will play in Paris and London before his departure. Our excellent concertmaster, Carl Halir, expects to play in the United States in November and December. Miss Betty Schwabe, the handsome young violinist and favorite pupil of Joachim, has also been engaged by Mr. Wolfsohn for the United States. In the spring of 1897 the celebrated Bohemian string quartet will visit America. A new lyric soprano, Miss Camille Belham, will visit the United States during the coming season. Ella Russell, the Cleveland soprano, for years one of England's best liked prime donne, will be heard in America during March, April and May next.
102All these artists will be under the management of Wolfsohn's Musical Bureau.
104Constantin von Sternberg, pianist and correspondent of THE MUSICAL COURIER at that lively town, Philadelphia, Pa., called. So did Mr. Ferdinand Mayer and Mr. Reinhard Kochmann, two well-known New York piano men; Dr. William Stark, from Cincinnati, Ohio; Miss Marie F. Whitney, a future pupil of Prof. Carl Halir, and Miss Olive Fremstadt, the American contralto, who is on her way from Cologne to Bayreuth.
106Nilsson.—The statue of Ophelia on the monument to be erected in memory of Ambroise Thomas reproduces the features of Christine Nilsson.
108Tamagno.—According to a Montevideo paper the tenor Tamagno has purchased an estate in Argentina, and intends to devote himself to agriculture in that republic.
110Death of a Publisher.—Commerzienrat Grüninger, the publisher of the Neue Musikzeitung and the Musikalisches Jugendschatz, of Stuttgart, died lately, aged fifty-two.
112Geneva.—The cantata for the inauguration of the exposition at Geneva, by Otto Barbian, and sung by a chorus of 200 voices, had great success. The composer took for his Leitmotiv the Swiss National Hymn.
114Palermo.—Puccini's opera, La Boheme, has had great success at Palermo. The new opera, Ninon de l'Enclos, by Natale Bertini, was received coldly. Floridia's Maruzza will be produced at the end of the season.
116Barcelona.—At the concerts arranged by Nicolau at Barcelona the Graal scene from Parsifal (translated into Catalanian) produced a great sensation. Grieg's Peer Gynt suite and the Esclarmonde suite of Massenet met with great applause.
118Hartmann.—A new opera, Runenzauber, by the Danish composer Emil Hartmann, has been accepted by the Royal Operas of Berlin and Dresden and the City Theatre of Hamburg. It will be produced at Berlin at the beginning of the next season.
120Mexico.—The fifth concert of the Conservatory Quartet, of Mexico City, took place June 10 in the concert hall of Messrs. Wagner & Levien, when Mendelssohn's Quartet (op. 12), Beethoven's Sonata (op. 24) and the Quintet (op. 16) were given. The members of the organization are Arturo Aguirre, Pedro Valdés, Jesús Desachy, Nabor Vázquez, Alberto Villaseñor, Arturo Rocha, Apolonio Arias, Andrés Herrera and Wenceslao Villalpando.
122Humperdinck.—The Bach Society of Heidelberg gave, June 2, a concert which was highly interesting from the fact that Humperdinck conducted for the first time some orchestral passages from his drama, Die Königskinder, just completed. The preludes to the second and third acts were remarkable for their rich and noble melody and their delicate and effective instrumentation. The performance of the new work has aroused great expectations.
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.