Scan 16
Musical Courier 1897-09-15: Vol 35 Iss 915, 1897
74 lines. Read by computer on 21 September 2026. Printed page 17. 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.
1mand vastly more; they demand a perfect treatment of all the vowels, consonants, diphthongs, words, phrases and sentences; and more than this, they demand a minute portrayal of all modulations of emotions and sentiments, as indicated by the underlying poem, of which the music is but the higher and more exhaustive expression. The voice, therefore, ceases to be a mere instrument, however beautifully trained; it no longer exists for its own sake only—it rather serves a higher purpose, i.e., the reproduction of an art work, without in the least sacrificing any of its inherent beauty.
3This being the case, why insist on the old Italian method? Why not teach and study what I would term the modern method, which, although being based on the old Italian method, can and will meet the demands, not only of the German, French or English languages, but, above all, those demands embodied in the great modern works. The answer is easily given. We go to Italy to study voice, although since the death of Lamperti there is not a teacher of note in all Italy; we study with voice teachers from whatever nationality, because of their announcement merely that they teach the old Italian method, and particularly so if his or her name bear the label of signor or signora, simply because the old Italian method, time-honored and even excellent for bygone purposes though it was, has come to be a fallacy, a fad, on the strength of which many a bankrupt opera singer, bankrupt both as to voice and pocketbook, succeeds in building up, not his pupils' voices, but his own bank account.
5I hope I need not emphasize that these remarks are not directed against the honest, thoughtful, progressive Italian singing tutor; there is no reason to believe that the Italian may not be a thorough and successful voice teacher. I know of such, but they are not successful voice teachers because they are Italians, nor do they teach the old Italian method, pure and simple; they teach what every progressive teacher must teach, the modern method, based upon the experiences of the past, or, if you will, on the old Italian method.
7I had several other fads stored away in my mind to be discussed in this paper, but I have already overreached the time allotted me, and I am afraid I have also overtaxed your patience, so I will conclude, saving the other subjects for some future discussion. In conclusion, I would sound one word of warning: Beware of the teacher of hobbies, the man of fads; these hobbies, these fads will invariably do more harm than good—rather go to the teacher, of whatever nationality, who, by thorough study under an acknowledged master, has conscientiously fitted himself for that most responsible of all responsible musical specialties, a modern teacher of voice. If he is endowed with a fine musical organization, if his sense for tone color is acute, if he has a comprehensive knowledge of the natural laws governing acoustics and the physiology of the human voice, if his heart throbs with warm life pulsation, if he can call a thorough general musical training his own, if he, finally, has the peculiar although rare gift of imparting his knowledge to others, you may rest assured that he will develop your voice as it is intended by nature to be developed, not in a few months, to be sure (as the quack announces), but in a few years. But such a teacher will not be a man of FADS OR FALLACIES IN VOICE CULTURE.
9Estelle Roy Married.—Mr. Fritz Schmitz, teacher of violin at the North Texas Female College and Conservatory of Music, in Sherman, Tex., was married on September 4 to Miss Estelle Roy, the ceremony being performed by Bishop Key at the college. Miss Roy is a New Yorker, and was a successful teacher in this city before filling her position at the college in Sherman. Mr. Schmitz's home is in Dusseldorf, Germany, where he has spent the summer. While there he gave a successful concert with M. Harold von Mickwitz, a pianist, who has been engaged as a teacher at the college.
11RUBEN & ANDREWS,
12489 Fifth Avenue,
13NEW YORK,
14Managers and Agents for
15LEADING ARTISTS of
16EUROPE and AMERICA.
18SERENA SWABACKER,
19Lyric Soprano, of Chicago.
20Address June, July, August,
21Care MADAME BELLOT,
2241 Rue Galilee, Paris, France.
24Paderewski Critically Dissected.
25[COMMUNICATED.]
27SCARCELY a season goes by that does not bring to our shores some great artist, already crowned with European laurels, seeking our approbation, inasmuch as that approval means our ducats or, perchance, our daughters, and in recent years certainly no other has achieved the phenomenal success attained by Paderewski.
29What constitute the elements of his success? Exceptional gifts? Personal magnetism? Marvelous technic? One might be tempted to an affirmative answer, but there are too many examples still fresh in the memory of artists magnificently equipped, of whom the greatest things might have been prophesied, and who have returned to Europe, after a season in our midst, keenly disappointed, bearing with them a sense of failure and but a comparatively meagre share of our wealth. How, then, are we able to account for the enthusiasm evoked by Mr. Paderewski's every appearance, or for the financial success which crowned his efforts? The problem is not easy of solution. To how great a degree this success was the result of clever management and of judicious advertisement is apparent to the connoisseur in art, to one able to distinguish between fictitious devices and pianistic tricks, and the noble ideals that mark the great interpretative artist. Was his success commensurate with his merits as a pianist?
31The fair sex was doubtless responsible in a measure for the crowded houses, the cheers, shouts, waving of kerchiefs and hysterical display so frequently manifested at the recitals of the Polish pianist; and his audiences at his last appearances here were composed not of professional musicians, critics or regular concert-goers, but of piano students, and of those who were loath to admit not having heard one of whom so much had been written that he had come to be regarded somewhat in the light of a curiosity. The halo of romance surrounding his history, the story of his early poverty, the appeal to sympathy in the sad death of his young wife, his devotion to his afflicted son—all these, together with his personality, a certain languid grace of manner, the wonderful hue of his sunny and much talked of hair, lent him a peculiar charm to feminine eyes.
33Advertisement beyond a certain point, however, is sometimes dangerous, for if an artist is not able to maintain the standard of excellence it serves but to emphasize his failure. That Paderewski succeeded in holding the interest of the public was proof positive of his ability; but when his admirers go so far as to compare him with Rubinstein at his best there are no words emphatic enough in which to deny the statement, and Paderewski himself would perhaps be the first to admit the absurdity of such a claim.
35A critical analysis of the work done by Mr. Paderewski while in this country reveals his limitations as a pianist, and the fact that outside of London his engagements are few and far between, and that little or nothing is heard of him, is but an assurance that these limitations are fully recognized in the musical centres of the Continent. By a standard of comparison with the greatest of his living rivals, and there is no other whereby he can be judged, a feeling of disappointment cannot be restrained. As an interpreter of the smaller numbers of Chopin—preludes, nocturnes, ballades, waltzes and mazurkas—Paderewski is unsurpassed. The bond of racial sympathy seemed to have made these works congenial to his temperament, and the poetic charm, the underlying spirit of sadness, the idyllic grace with which he imbued them no one will deny.
37His technic was all-sufficient, it is true, for larger works, but was not by any means phenomenal; and in the etudes of Chopin, which require no more than virtuosity, he was surpassed by De Pachmann. His repertory was not in any sense wonderful. Could Mr. Paderewski ever have attempted the gigantic undertaking of ten historical recitals, as did Rubinstein? Could he have repeated the five evenings of Beethoven, as did Von Bülow. Certainly not. But it is as an interpretative artist that Mr. Paderewski must be considered if he is to be ranked among the great pianists of the century, and when he challenged comparison by his performances of the great masterpieces for the piano Mr. Paderewski suffered by the test. For the works of Beethoven he is not fitted. His reading of the E flat concerto—the so-called Emperor Concerto—was lacking in the magnificent breadth, the emotional intensity, the depth of feeling for which the work calls. And in the Appassionata Sonata his use of the rubato marred to a great extent the strength and the repose which are characteristic of Beethoven.
39How does Paderewski compare with d'Albert and Rosenthal in interpretations of Beethoven and Bach?
41In the E minor and F minor concertos of Chopin the standard of excellence was set by Jossyff and has never yet been attained, not to say excelled, by any other artist.
43Where will we find in Paderewski the impetuosity, the fire, the virility that mark Rosenthal's performance of the Carnival of Schumann (op. 9)? Where the wonderful tone modulation of which Rubinstein was master, that in his own D minor concerto made the listener almost believe he heard the full, rich, sonorous notes of a horn?
45One of our ablest critics commented upon "the mixed impression" created by Paderewski's reading of the Schumann Fantaisie (op. 17), and referred to it as "sadly and unaccountably distorted."
47Rubinstein, Tausig, Von Bülow—these men were giants, and it would be almost absurd to compare Paderewski to them as it would be to compare a dainty miniature to one of the masterpieces of Raphael or Michael Angelo. The office of the critic is not to praise unduly, nor to blame unnecessarily—not to seek the "rift within the lute," but to represent facts, and this article, which was suggested by the dignified analysis of Rosenthal in the last number of THE MUSICAL COURIER, impels to the hope that a like analysis of Paderewski will result in a more sane, a more just estimate of his ability as an interpretative artist.
49A Protest.
50NEW YORK, September 5, 1897.
51Editors The Musical Courier:
52AS a reader of your valuable and interesting paper, and as an old opera-goer and lover of music, I beg to protest against the utterances of Mr. Warren Davenport. His attack in your last number on Victor Maurel, saying that this artist in his palmiest day was a bad vocalist, is a most remarkable assertion, and his statement (Davenport's) that had Maurel's voice been properly trained it would have been of exceptional value, strikes me as being an overdose of nonsense.
54As everyone knows, Maurel never had a powerful voice, but as a singer he was classified by the greatest authorities on the art of singing, from the elder Lamperti down, as a remarkable vocalist, and his "perfect emission" was always quoted by persons who are competent to pass an opinion on the subject, and who know what voice production is. I do not speak of the Maurel of to-day, but in defense of one of the greatest singers, who, although now a vocal wreck, is still a remarkable artist, and his glorious past is not forgotten by those who were fortunate enough to hear him in his prime. Dr. Curtis does a wise thing when he quotes artists of this calibre, whose opinions I will not do the injustice to compare to the attention of the gentleman who signs himself Warren Davenport.
56CONSTANCE DUMONT.
58Frederick Coit Wight.—Frederick Coit Wight, of New London, Conn., who has recently composed several very pretty songs, is a musician of no mean ability. His themes are good and the accompaniments are cleverly thought out. Mr. Wight will be heard from again.
60MAX KARGER,
61Violin Virtuoso.
62SPECIALY INDORSED BY JOACHIM AND HALIR.
63Under the Sole Management of
64RUBEN & ANDREWS,
65489 Fifth Avenue, New York.
67WILLIAM H. LEE,
68Baritone and Vocal Teacher.
69FORWARD TONE PLACING A SPECIALTY.
70Concerts, Musicales, Song Recitals,
71Late of "American," "Emma Juch" and "Clara Louise Kellogg" Opera Companies.
72Studio: 1025 Lexington Avenue, New York
73Voices heard by appointment.
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