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Musical Courier 1896-07-15: Vol 33 Iss 854, 1896
100 lines. Read by computer on 23 September 2026. Printed page 6. 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.
1person on any occasion without being made to feel that you have deserved rights which it is his pleasure to observe, and the lady shows it to her coachman as much as the coachman to his master. Their exercise of this, indeed, in the face of foreign "independence," is but a proof of its strong hold on their natures.
3Do not bring up here that everlasting plea about "insincerity." I am not speaking of the fidelity of friendships, but of the coin current of refined civilization, the first element of which is deference to the other, no matter who or when.
5All the other musical interferences—shutting out a neighbor's view by a large hat, sitting stockily and squarely when by a slight turn the little woman behind might also enjoy, the coming in late to show off self to the annoyance of twenty people, going out in the midst of a phrase because the idea comes to do so, and the wild scramble to "pack up" during the finale, ruining it wholly for those who want to hear it—are all part of the same thing and should be prevented by firm insistence. Rudeness is very contagious, but, as it is always in the minority, it should be suppressed in infancy.
7To see what this firm insistence may achieve one has but to observe the Lamoureux and Colonne audiences, where going in or out during music is prohibited by strong ushers (if necessary), where the chief will stop the whole orchestra if he hears talking in the hall, and where a man with the grip dare not sneeze. This is as near perfection as audiences come, but it did not come of itself.
9There is no reason why our music pleasure should be interfered with to such an extent unnecessarily.
11PARIS.
13When Mr. Irenaeus Stevenson, the New York music critic, left Paris ten days ago, one of his regrets was that he would not see the premier of the famous Femme de Claude. American-like, he knew all about it better than we do here in Paris, its origin, arrangements, rearrangements, postponements, dramatic personae—I verily believe the man could have written the flaws in rehearsal, the coups of the day before, and the thoughts of the prima donna, without talking to a musician in the city.
15No woman ever seeking an engagement with an opera company was ever more "put off" than this poor Madame Claude has been, whose makers, creators, godfathers and godmothers, servants and critics have simply grown old in the service of preparation. One writer calls it a triumph of patience and tenacity, of which M. Albert Cahen, the musical collaborator, may be considered the monument.
17Meantime four tableaux have been reduced to three, two hours and a half have been compressed into one hour and twenty minutes, some ornamental melodies intended for the glorification of the Femme have been dropped out, and as one cynical secular remarked wickedly: "The music that remains can't hurt the play very much."
19Bruneau says that the revised drama contains none of the farouche symbolism which made the Dumas creation interesting and curious, and that the personages, reduced to modern kodak size for opera use, give only shadows of the powerful character paintings of the novelist.
21The musical work shows making over, although having both passion and idea in its inspiration. It has been a difficult and not altogether agreeable task for the composer, who should be thankful that his reputation is already pretty well established by Le Vénitien, Le Blois and other works. Two satisfactory representations have already been given of the nouveau né, with good attendance. A Mlle. Nina Pack, a Conservatoire pupil, created the Delphine oracle, and a Mlle. Pascal, a débutante, the part of Jeanne. One thing, the actors know their parts. One of the most spirituelle remarks made in regard to the long deferred arrival was this:
23"All's well that ends well. As mariners sign (cross themselves) after an ocean storm, so the participants of La Femme de Claude are prepared to sign with M. Carvalho."
25Don Pasquale, the alert, colored, fascinating Italian score, which set Paris wild in 1860, is revived with all the former enthusiasm, but who knows how much of the former Italianism was expressed?
27***
29The Sunday concerts at the Opéra are to be continued next season. Programs are being already arranged, with talk of Orphée fragments among others; also of a revival of ancient ballets, and of course the compositions of the young Frenchmen.
31A rather curious phase in regard to Prix de Rome students this year. You see, the Institut is composed of the worthy men of all the arts and a musical committee or commission whose business it is to decide on the talent of the young men who are to be made famous at state expense. Generally the committee says yes or no in this regard and the other wise men nod their heads. This year the other, &c., took it into their heads to oppose the opinion of this committee, and being greater in number of course—and perhaps in influence—the musical opinion was vetoed and a young Prix de Rome elected by the voice of chemists, painters and sculptors, &c., instead of by musicians!
33In any case, two pupils of M. Dubois and one of M. Massenet were chosen from six candidates to represent French musical art to the rising generation.
35The Conservatoire competitions commence on June 29 with Harmony, and close on July 31 with the Trumpet (harmony also, let us suppose). Harmony, solfège, fugue organ and accompaniment will be examined with closed doors.
37At an anniversary fête of the Sorbonne the other day, given under the auspices of the President of the Republic, a beautiful hymn to Peace and Science was sung. The composition of the music, with chorus and orchestra, was from the pen of M. Emile Bourgeois, an excellent musician and rare accompanist, of whom mention has frequently been made in these columns.
39At the Metternich-Maurel fête Mme. Roger-Miclos distinguished herself at the piano in works of Schumann, Chopin, Paderewski, &c. She was one of the most picturesque and artistic looking women present in what you may imagine was a bouquet of beauty and fashion.
41You all know of the superb fête to take place this evening, July 1, in the Bois de Boulogne, organized by the Count Castellane and his wife, Miss Anna Gould. But you cannot by any means imagine the fairy-like beauty of scene and climate (if it does not rain) that will envelop the thing, nor the soft gentleness of the crowds who will be assembled, whether before or behind the fireworks. Our young friend, M. Paul Vidal, one of the Opéra orchestra directors, has been chosen to take care of the music. Over 600 artists, singers and dancers will participate in songs, choruses and dances of the seventeenth century, and we will have a chance to get a bird's-eye view of what was going on down at Versailles when pleasure ruled a king.
43Riches must be going to die, it is "getting so good" all over.
45There are over 275 café concerts in Paris, offering to the blood of the race and the stranger within the gates over 15,000 new songs every year, each one more vulgar and stupidly degenerating than the other. No effort whatever is ever made to stem the sewer flood. Between it and the romance (?) flood, little wonder that such a lot of people look as if they had been fished out of them.
47America will not be doing her duty if she allows any little measly music peddler over there to turn the old decayed pipes into our young, beautiful, wholesome country. Anything low bred is so contagious, and microbes are active fellows.
49***
51The Countess Pethion seems to be really in earnest in her effort to establish Russian opera in Paris. The Boeudinière is the present modest point of departure, but a good thing does not need much éclat at birth and all musicians have unbounded faith in Russian music.
53The Hour of Russian Music was but a trial, and see to what it has already grown.
55The opera idea came to the lady's mind at the time of the Russians' visit to Paris, when every form of entertainment was offered the foreign officers with the best good will, except and alone the musical productions of their country on a stage where all other countries were represented. It must be said that the lady, who is herself a Russian and a singer, has moved with tact and logic, and is in a fair way to see her cherished dream realized of having Russian operas included in French repertory.
57Her idea now is to give a series of operatic representations in which the works of Tschaiikowsky, Glinka, Rimsky-Korsakoff, Cui and others shall be well interpreted. It is to be hoped that the lady herself will be one of the latter. All moneys made are to be used in extension of the work.
59Good luck to it.
61Among recent books which make fingers tingle on opening is the record of work done during the past year in Paris by the Société d'Encouragement au Bien, the life motto of which is "Chacun se doit à tous!" and prominent among the members of which is the most generous, active and enthusiastic M. Jules Faivre, the retired French piano manufacturer. The money spent in rewards, medals, praises and general encouragement to well-doing is so much better spent than in picking up remnants of suicides, raking up mouldy tramps into heaps, and humiliating men and women with insufficient charity flings.
63A new prize fund is now established for competition in treating subjects leading to the general elevation of French humanity. The subject already given out for '97 is: "Family Education: Its Importance and Rôle," in prose, and in poetry, Filial Piety.
65With a reverence for pioneers, I cannot refrain from adding that whatever comes or grows of this movement in France we shall always be indebted for the first breaking of the ground and sowing of seed to that good, nice music man, M. Jules Faivre.
67Verdi, another man with a royal heart, has placed 400,000 frs. at the disposal of aged artists, to build and furnish a home where they may pass through the minor diminuendo of their lives without a discord to the end. Dear old souls!
69***
71In answer to a clavecin lover, I would say, yes. Mr. Diemer, of Paris, has published a volume of twenty pieces on The French Clavecinists, with modern indications on ornamentation, &c., as suggested by the ancient authors. In October will appear a second volume containing the compositions the least known but yet attractive for this instrument, viz., Dandrieux, Desgrignis, &c. The names on the programs of the recent series of ancient instrument concerts given here lately were: Trescobaldi, Gervaise, Boismortier, Bach, Händel, d'Hervelois, Dandrieux, Corelli, Chédeville, Couperin, Monsigny, l'Éguillet, and Rameau.
73HOME FOLKS.
75Miss Nora Maynard Green's musicale was a very interesting and musical affair: quiet, orderly, systematic, unbombastic, as everything headed by this lady would have to be.
77It is a something to be regretted that the New York school room could not have been represented by ten or twelve instead of two pupils, as the "one star system" is practised so much in Paris that everyone is heartily sick of it, and every sensible person knows that one pupil, either good or bad, says nothing whatever for a teacher's method. It is the brand of excellence on a majority that speaks. Miss Green has this at home, I believe, but of course to find in the dozen fittest those who could arrange the expense, &c., of a three months' trip abroad was something not to be expected in this first trial venture. Suffice to say that Miss Grace Tuttle and Miss Booth were very excellent illustrations in method and manner. Their English diction was unusually good, and although but two weeks' time had been given to straightening out French diction by the Yersin sound method, the result was more satisfactory than could have been expected.
79I took pains to have the opinion of the well-known French littérateur, M. Jean Dutilleul, on this subject, who declared that both pronunciation and accent were absolutely on the road to perfection, more than he could say for foreigners who had resided here ten and fifteen years and depended on parrot learning or picking up the language.
81Miss Tuttle sang the Proch air and variations, songs by MacDowell and Lombard, Bemberg, Chaminade and Luckstone's Diletto; Miss Booth, Gounod's Ave Maria, Je t'aime, by Massenet, and English ballads, which are her specialty. The work of both girls was highly complemented.
83Three French artists well worthy of the task had in this concert the opportunity of graceful presentation to a large and elite American hearing: M. Henri Falcke, who won appreciation and recall in a Chopin fantaisie, Moskowski's Tarentelle and Schumann's Des Abends; M. Wagner, in violin selections, and M. de Riva-Berni by his inimitable accompaniments. This beautiful specialty, the most neglected and most abused of all art features, to-day is a chef d'oeuvre in the hands of M. de Riva-Berni.
85Other pupils who have accompanied Miss Green are Miss Kirtland, of New York; Miss Anna Schroder, of Dover, N. J.; Miss Blanche Burnett, of Ocean Grove; Mrs. Herbert M. Gardner, of New London; Miss Grace Platt, of St. Louis, and Mr. Edward Platt, of the same city. Mr. Richard B. Platt, brother of the latter, is well known in his native city as a pianist musician of great promise, though but a mere boy. He is in Europe to prosecute his piano studies in Berlin with Heinrich Barth.
87FAIR EXCHANGE IS NO ROBBERY.
89While recording this progressive venture on the part of an American teacher, I learn that Mr. Léon Jancey, the young professor of lyric declamation, facial expression, vocal interpretation, &c., of Paris, intends going to America in September to give lessons for three months in New York in his favorite branches.
91As M. Jancey is a young, handsome blond—rare for a Frenchman—fascinating in manner and full of the graces of the best French society, withal an actor of the Odéon, a man of irreproachable conduct and in high esteem here, you may all expect a treat and expect to profit by it. It is no crusty old professor who is going over, neither is it an unknown adventurer, but a man of place and position, who is led by his interest in American talent to go over and see what more may be done as to international education.
93***
95Mrs. Anderson, a well-known singing teacher of Boston, is here studying further method and repertory with Trabelo. She is accompanied by Miss Florence Glover, a contralto pupil. They stay till September and go to London from here. Mrs. Anderson is a live, energetic, ardent educator, whose heart is in her work and who knows no idleness.
97Miss Evangeline Florence (Mrs. Crear), a soprano pupil who has been for five years in London under Mayer's management, is soon expected to Paris to coach and polish.
99Mrs. Swabacher, a pretty little society woman from Chicago, is here studying with Marchesi. Mrs. Harrison, of
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