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Musical Courier 1896-09-16: Vol 33 Iss 863, 1896
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1MR. WM. C. CARL, the American organist, who has been spending some time on the Continent this year, returns to America on Wednesday. He was offered an engagement at the Crystal Palace here, but could not accept on account of previous engagements in France and Switzerland.
3Mr. August Wiegand, organist of Sydney Town Hall, has been granted a five months' leave of absence by the corporation of that city, and is expected in London now. He may return by way of America and give some recitals there, and will also play in Belgium, France and England. The organ at Sydney, as our readers may remember, is the largest in the world.
5I see by Mr. Henry Wolfsohn's preliminary announcements that among the English artists he has arranged with are Mr. Frangcon-Davies and Miss Ella Russell, two artists who rank very high in the musical world here.
7Mme. Vanderveer-Green goes to America for three or four months early in October. Her first appearances will be at Lenox, Mass., after which she will make her headquarters in New York, although she has booked several Canadian and Western engagements. This summer she has been preparing for recital work, and has now a large répertoire of the best songs of all schools. Mme. Vanderveer-Green had a favorable offer to give a series of musicales in Newport this year, but remained in Europe to work on her répertoire.
9Miss Alice Mandelick writes me from Marstrand that she has been singing before the King of Sweden, who visits there every summer, and His Majesty paid her some charming compliments on her voice.
11Mrs. Cotton, the well-known soprano and music teacher of Omaha, Neb., gave me a call on Monday. She has been studying with Cortesi and Vannini, of Florence, in order to get their ideas on voice production and the best ways of teaching the aesthetics of singing. She has been in London for a fortnight, and came expressly to study with Mr. Henschel, but as that gentleman is out of town she took some lessons of Mr. G. E. Holmes, the American baritone, who has been with Mr. Henschel for some time. Mrs. Cotton speaks enthusiastically of her trip, and says that these pilgrimages to Europe are invaluable as an incentive to further progress. She is among the cleverest of the musicians who come abroad, and I have met few with such practical ideas on voice production.
13Mr. Albert Lockwood wrote me from Davos Platz that he has been giving several successful concerts there the past season. He inclosed some press notices, from which I see that several leading London critics were present and spoke in the highest terms of his work. Among them I might mention Mr. Haweis, the well-known writer on musical subjects. Mr. Lockwood returned to the United States on the 27th.
15Lieut. Dan Godfrey, bandmaster of the Grenadier Guards, is now compelled to retire on account of the age limit. Mr. Godfrey began his career in the Guards' Band forty years ago, his first official appearance as bandmaster being on the occasion of the return of the Grenadiers to London from the Crimea. But the connection of his family with the Household Brigade dates from 1818, two years before Waterloo, when his father, Charles Godfrey, joined the Coldstream Regiment as a bassoon player. He was very soon appointed bandmaster. His three sons have successfully followed in his footsteps; and at one period the three regimental bands of the Household Infantry were under their command. It is quite probable that Lieut. Dan Godfrey on relinquishing his present charge will form a band of his own.
17Madame Nordica is at present at Lucerne, but leaves early this month for America to sing at the Worcester Festival, returning to England in October. Madame Nordica will not make a London appearance until next season, at the opera.
19Mlle. Pregi has been engaged to sing at the first Colonne concert, and Mrs. Katharine Fisk has also been engaged for one of the series.
21There seems to be some objection on the part of a few of Mr. Newman's patrons to smoking, but the majority of those who have attended the successful Promenade Concerts at Queen's Hall seem to be in favor of a continuance of this privilege.
23Three young English composers are at work on the forthcoming opera at the Prince of Wales Theatre. Messrs. Reginald Somerville, Alick McClean and Geo. W. Byng will have the best wishes of their countrymen in their efforts to produce something really good.
25The Welsh National Eisteddfod for 1897 was proclaimed on the 27th ult. at Belle Vue Park, Newport, Monmouth, by Hwfa Mon, the Archdruid. There was a large gathering and great enthusiasm prevailed.
27To the list of royal composers, which already includes the Kaiser, the Duke of Coburg, the Queen of Italy, and the Princesses Louise and Beatrice, must now, says the Daily News, be added Prince Marko, of Montenegro, brother of the princess who will probably one day share the Italian throne. Prince Marko, although only seventeen, has already made an ambitious plunge as a musician, and has just finished two quartets for strings, each in four movements. Both are forthwith to be published. He is now engaged on a light opera, which, it seems, will be performed during the forthcoming centenary fêtes, at the new opera house of Cettinje.
29I regret to announce the death (September 2), at the early age of thirty-three, of the well-known concert vocalist and teacher Miss Alexandra Leah Ehrenberg, professor of singing at the Guildhall School of Music. The deceased lady was a pupil of Mr. Eyre, Sir G. A. Macfarren and Signor Randegger at the Royal Academy of Music, where she carried off successively the bronze, silver and gold medals. She was afterward elected associate of the Royal Academy. In her earlier career Miss Ehrenberg, who possessed a sympathetic mezzo soprano voice, sang at many of the best oratorio and other concerts in town and country, but latterly she devoted herself almost entirely to teaching, particularly at the Guildhall School of Music, where she had a class of nearly 100 pupils, one of the largest in the institution.
31THE PROMENADE CONCERTS.
33The late Hans Von Bülow used to advocate the performance of Strauss' waltzes occasionally at the serious orchestral concerts. As far as catholicity of taste is concerned we feel sure that Herr Von Bülow could not have but admired the variety and quantity of works offered to the enthusiastic audience which literally crowded Queen's Hall last Saturday evening on the occasion of the opening entertainment of this season's Promenade Concerts. Berlioz' Hungarian March, Thomas' Mignon overture, German's Henry VIII. dances, the prelude to Act III. of Wagner's Lohengrin, and Grieg's Peer Gynt suite were the purely orchestral numbers of the first part of the program.
35They were all well played, and I sincerely hope that Mr. Henry J. Wood will be able to maintain the high standard of excellence which this first concert promised. Mr. John Dunn, a talented English violinist, played Paganini's violin concerto in E flat, although the program said "concerto in D." During Paganini's lifetime this work was called "in E flat," because the great violin wizard, in order to produce some novel effects, wrote the solo part in D, but tuned the violin a half tone higher, and put the orchestral accompaniment in E flat. The result is that the ear hears harmonics, peculiar passages and double stoppings that would be impossible to play in E flat on a violin tuned in the usual way. It is needless to say that this trick completely baffled the violinists and critics of the day, as Paganini let not one see how the solo part was written, and always took the precaution to tune his violin out of ear reach of the audience. Mr. Dunn's playing was frequently rough and out of tune. This was unfortunate, as by some of his playing he left the impression that he could do it correctly, but that for this occasion only he was not in good form. Mr. Albert Fransella contributed some acceptable flute solos, which he played with refinement and good tone. The vocalists of the evening were Mme. Marie Duma, the American soprano; Mr. Jack Robertson, and Frangcon-Davies, of whom the latter is unquestionably the greatest artist. He bore off the palm in Largo al factum (II Barbiere), although Mme. Duma's splendid singing of Verdi's Ah fors e lui was a fine performance. This first half of the program was long enough without the cornet quartet of the Park sisters.
37Monday evening was a Wagner night, and many availed themselves of the very attractive program so well chosen by Mr. Wood—well chosen with the exception of the cornet quartet, which, coming again in the first part, was hissed by many in the audience. Mr. Watkin-Mills sang The Two Grenadiers for the first time. His success should lead him
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