Scan 6
Musical Courier 1897-01-13: Vol 34 Iss 880, 1897
97 lines. Read by computer on 23 September 2026, twice; the two readings disagreed in places. Printed page 7. See the scan on archive.org.
1times realistic in the extreme, from a vocal viewpoint it is not beautiful or even pleasing. If Wüllner had a singing voice it would be different. In Schumann's Manfred his delivery of the Byron text was irresistibly intense and dramatic; in the delivery of a Schubert Lied, however, Dr. Ludwig Wüllner is not an ideal.
3Wüllner again succeeded in creating a deep impression, and he was recalled many times after the performance. Still he did not quite duplicate his success of last season in this work, for either he exaggerates more now than he did on that occasion, or else people "are on to" his little game of combining the histrionic art with the declamatory one on the concert platform, and, no longer surprised by this combination, they refuse to be enthused by it. Such, at least, was my own personal experience, by which alone of course I can judge, and I must confess that Wüllner's Manfred this time did not thrill me, although it did not nauseate me, as does Possart's sing-song delivery of this intensely haughty as well as intensely abject part.
5Sarasate will be the soloist at the next Philharmonic concert when he will play the Mendelssohn concerto, and the novelty will be Gernsheim's symphony in B flat.
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9A letter so rare that it is almost unique was recently received by Concert Director Wolff. It was written by a young woman who had appeared in Bechstein Hall as a piano soloist and had found but scanty appreciation.
11Instead of scolding at everybody, the critics, the audience, the piano, the hall, the weather and I don't know what, as is usually done by artists who score a fiasco, the young lady wrote as follows: "I have not yet seen any criticisms, but I possess sufficient critical judgment of my own to apply it also in my own case. The solitary life in a small place where I had no means of comparison with greater talents had fostered an overestimation of my own talent. Through this public appearance I am now rid of my self-overrating propensities, and know that, despite some good natural gifts, I do not possess a sufficiently solid musical education to enable me to make a showing in larger surroundings than those of which our small town boasts. Thus I return resignedly to the little place of my activity, hoping there to be able to enlarge the present limits of my abilities and to be of some use in my more limited sphere where less is expected of me. Please be thanked heartily for the kind interest you have shown in me. Yours, M. K."
13M. K. is O. K., and I believe she will get there yet!
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17At a recent pupils' Vortrags Abend of the Princely Conservatory of Music at Sondershausen three American brothers, Messrs. Louis, Bernard and Julius Sturm, of Cleveland, Ohio, performed Rheinberger's A major piano trio and Miss Louise Callahan, from St. Paul, Minn., played Händel's F major violin sonata.
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21The chamber singer Fanny Moran-Olden, whom you may remember as the "foghorn" Isolde of the Metropolitan Opera in German season six years ago, has been declared a bankrupt by the Court of Oldenburg. This is quite a novelty here in Germany for singers to go into bankruptcy, as they usually leave that proceeding to their manager.
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25H. Daniel Visanska, the young violinist and his exceedingly talented younger sister, a piano student, called at The Musical Courier's Berlin headquarters. So did Mlle. Marie Panthis, the Parisian pianist, who will be heard here in recital next week. Reinhold L. Herman came to say goodbye before his departure for New York to-morrow; Ernest Jackson, the New York pianist; H. Samuels, violinist, from San Francisco and pupil of Joachim; Mrs. Cottlow from Chicago, Miss Jessie Shay from New York and Mr. A. K. Virgil, together with the young English pianist Miss Dodd, called. The father of the Virgil Practice Clavier will deliver here in Bechstein Hall this week a couple of lectures on his beneficial instrument, and Miss Dodd will furnish the piano and the click illustrations. O. F.
27For Open Dates and Terms of
29(no line here) one of two readings
30MARIE BREMA,
31In America after February, 1897.
32AND
33H. PLUNKET GREENE,
34In America after March 20, 1897.
35Address
36Mr. MORRIS RENO,
37….144 West 74th St., New York.
39MARIE PARCELLO, Contralto,
40CONCERT and ORATORIO.
41"Mlle. Parcello sang magnificently."—Galigani's Messenger (Paris).
42"A voice of pure, rich, vibrant contralto quality—of unusually wide range; an accomplished, intelligent and sympathetic young artist."—The Musical Courier.
43"A voice of unusual power and sweetness. Her style is distinctly dramatic."—Mail and Express.
44"Mlle. Parcello possesses a rare contralto."—Boston Times.
45"A contralto of wide range and delightful timbre."—American Register (Paris).
46"Mlle. Parcello sang with such fervor and breadth of style that she created a profound impression."—London Times.
47Address: STUDIO 1262,
48CARNEGIE HALL, NEW YORK.
49Photo. by Cameron, London.
51THE MUSICAL COURIER.
53VIENNA OFFICE THE MUSICAL COURIER,
548 Schloßgassle II., Thur 31.
55January 6, 1897.
57AS I wrote in my last letter, the two most important premières have been the Chevalier d'Harmenthal and König Chilperic, both of which have been performed in Paris. This Chevalier d'Harmenthal has a little history which I ought to relate:
59It fell through in Paris because it did not have sufficient stage support. Then Van Dyck said to Jahn, "Come now, let us take up this opera and show the French what we can do. We showed them what the stage setting of Manon should be and how we made a grand success of Werther; and after the preparations for the Bartered Bride came to nothing we brought that, too, before the world as it had never been presented before. The Princess Metternich has come here with the French journalists to learn from us and tell the Parisians how it must be done. Why should we fail with this opera of Messager?"
61Jahn, after listening to all this, was still rather skeptical, but he decided to try it. So now we have the Chevalier d'Harmenthal, and loath I am to say it: it is true, and pity 'tis true, that it is after all a failure. One feels positively horrid in saying this when one thinks of Van Dyck's splendid performance, of all the art, time and money wasted on the stage setting and of Jahn's superb directing. But when the most is said that can be said, it was none the less a failure—tedious, languidly ennuyant in the extreme. To use the words of the Fremden Blatt, Van Dyck must have heard this opera through the ear of friendship.
63I do not know whether this opera has been reviewed in your columns before, but I will at the risk of repeating give a short sketch of the plot.
65According to the French understanding of the term, which is with them purely technical, this is a "comic" opera in three acts after Dumas and Maquet, arranged or dramatized by Paul Ferrier, German by Kalbeck, music by Messager. The scene is laid in Paris about the year 1718, in the regency of Philippe, of Orleans. Chevalier Raoul d'Harmenthal, one of a number of conspirators against the Regent from Spain, among whom are Richelieu, Pompadour, Roguefinette and Abbé Brigand, falls in love with Bathilde, the daughter of an old librarian of the king whom he meets at the house of the Duchess de la Maine, and again at the house of Mme. Denis. In the second act he is discovered with the other conspirators by the Regent, who, by invitation, is spending the evening at the house of the charming Mme. d'Averne, and who, suspecting that they are lurking in ambush before the house, follows the example of his little page and climbs over the tops of the adjoining houses on his way homeward, thereby avoiding the street, and from the house tops summons the conspirators to appear on the morrow before the police. In the fourth "picture," the father of Bathilde discovers the names of the conspirators in a paper sent him by the Prince Liothnay. Later he is brought home in chains by gendarmes on pain of imprisonment if he does not deliver up the paper, and also the imprisonment of his daughter. On coming in he finds the Chevalier d'Harmenthal himself, pleading his suit before Bathilde, and explaining the probable terrible fate which awaits him.
67The old father struggles between his love for his daughter, sympathy for D'Harmenthal and his desire to escape imprisonment. D'Harmenthal persuades him to give up the paper and he delivers it and himself into custody.
69In the third act Bathilde appears before the Regent pleading his promises (in a letter written once to her mother as a reward for the saving of his life by his father) that in their time of need he and France would prove their helper. The Regent had granted the marriage of D'Harmenthal with Bathilde before his death. At this moment he sends for D'Harmenthal and during the preparations for the marriage ceremony listens to the story of Buvat, the old librarian, Bathilde's father, who has forced his way into the palace. A curtain in the background rises and reveals the scene of the ceremony in the chapel. D'Harmenthal, now prepared to meet death, comes down from the altar steps with Bathilde on his arm to hear his death sentence before the Regent. He is surprised by receiving instead his pardon through the magnanimity of the Regent, who, in the struggle between his duty to France, his desire to fulfill his promises to old Buvat and his fear lest he may betray weakness in pardoning D'Harmenthal, decides for the latter, and thus makes the happiness of the two lovers and wins their eternal gratitude.
71As to the music of this opera, Miss Perry, a pupil of Wm. C. Carl, the organist, has kindly consented to write out also the "Notes" for this week. Her accounts will be found entirely accurate and I hope interesting. I will only add a word about the orchestration, which was left almost entirely to the stringed and woodwind instruments. The horns, trombones and percussion instruments are used but a very few times in the course of the whole work. Jahn's masterly directing brought to light, and in the best light, any piquant or interesting combination that is in the score. Messager seems to have kept out of the way of melody as exclusively as possible; and still Van Dyck and Jahn will "never say die."
73They do not like to suffer defeat before the Parisians and to hear them crowing over the Viennese. Indeed Jahn himself is now really in love with this opera, and as love is blind they will continue to love it whether the public does or not. To their great credit be it said that if it has failed here with such a magnificent stage setting and the noble efforts of Van Dyck and Jahn, it will never, never succeed anywhere else.
75König Chilperic is one of the most novel, the most interesting, the most humorous of the new operettas—new to Vienna, for this has already been given in Paris.
77The history of those remarkable Merovingian kings has afforded much material already for the drama and opera. König Chilperic, his brother Siegbert and his sister-in-law Brunnhilde, and last, but by no means least, his shepherdess love, Fredegunde, keep us charmed, laughing, delighted and amused to the very end of the play. I only wish I had time and space to write out the whole parody, it is so intensely amusing and funny. The whole interest of the plot centres on the story and fate of the little shepherdess Fredegunde, whom König Chilperic takes from the fields and brings to his palace in the capacity of laundress to the court. The charming Stojan, of whom I have often written before, takes this part. As the little shepherdess, delighted with the attentions of royalty, she is the most bewitching child imaginable. Her talent for parody, her voice more like a bird's than anything human, her personal charms, especially her naiveté, make Stojan deservedly the cynosure of all eyes and a delight to the ear. My powers of description seem positively meagre, and I might exhaust every hyperbole in attempting to do adequate justice to this elf of beauty. Stojan turns one's head. Director Janner enjoys the enviable credit of being the first to discover her talent and beauty as she was singing down in some out-of-the-way place entirely unworthy of her great gifts. The temperament she displays when König Chilperic tires of her and sends her away from the palace in order to marry Golsmith, is worthy of a much larger field.
79One must see it to appreciate the fun of the situation
81ALBERT MILDENBERG,
82PIANIST.
83GRAHAM REED,
84BARITONE.
85CONCERTS AND RECITALS OF SONG AND PIANO
86APPLICANTS FOR TUITION ADDRESS
87… STUDIOS …
88Steinway Hall, New York,
89196 Schermerhorn Street, Brooklyn.
91(no line here) one of two readings
92Corinne Moore Lawson,
93SOPRANO.
94Management:
95H. M. Hirschberg Musical Bureau,
96….36 West 15th Street, New York.
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