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Musical Courier 1897-11-24: Vol 35 Iss 925, 1897
46 lines. Read by computer on 26 September 2026, twice; the two readings disagreed in places. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1BERLIN HEADQUARTERS OF THE MUSICAL COURIER, BERLIN, W., LINKSTRASSE 17, November 6, 1897. one of two readings
2BERLIN HEADQUARTERS OF THE MUSICAL COURIER. one of two readings
3BERLIN, W., LINKSTRASSE 17, November 6, 1897. one of two readings
5IF variety is the spice of life, it is equally true that variety prevents satiety, and this is a lucky thing in itself, for if this were not so, what would become of a hapless Berlin music critic who has to attend two or more concerts each day in the week, Sunday not excluded? Variety, however, we have had last week, and plenty of it, hence I shall not grumble over the multitudinousness of musical entertainments, especially as the season is young yet.
7Martha Schereschewsky is a contralto with a pleasant and well cultivated voice, good pronunciation and fairly musical delivery. She gave a well attended and well criticized concert in Bechstein Hall, and was assisted by Frau Anna von Pilgrim, a comely violinist, who, among other things, performed the Tartini G minor sonata with sufficient but a little fat technic (just about as Ferdinand Q. Dulecken played the piano in his younger days), and with good, round tone and nearly always clear intonation, even in the double stoppings, which she took with a carefulness that at moments jeopardized the ensemble with the accompanist, who was Herr Waldemar Sacks.
9Raimund von Zur Muehlen was my next victim, or perhaps I was his, on the same evening. Last year he announced here no less than three or four vocal recitals, of which he gave—none. This season he seems to be more prompt, or more reliable of voice, for, when I arrived at the Singakademie, I found not only a full house, but Zur Muehlen actually did sing. As usual, the ladies were the most enthusiastic element in the audience. What they see in his or Wuellner's singing I am at a loss to understand; but there must be something in the effiminate, semi-pathological, not to say hermaphroditical, sort of delivery of both these men which excites their fancies, and which the more healthy and less morbid minds of men do not feel or understand. Last year I likened the singing of von Zur Muehlen to that of a ladies' tailor. I am aware of the fact that this is really no criticism at all, and, moreover, I have never heard a ladies' tailor sing. But I am sure that if one of that honorable guild could sing it could only be with a tenor voice of the Zur Muehlen flavor, and with his affected, stilted delivery.
11I am bound to state, according to strict truth, that Zur Muehlen greatly pleased many of his listeners, especially in Weingartner's artificial setting of Heine's Wallfahrt nach Kevlaar, in the old English song, "Oh, Where Do Fairies," which I heard much better sung by Plunket Greene, and in two French songs by Chaminade and Bemberg, which he phrased with much taste. Schumann's "March Violets," which he sang with cunning humor but not the best of voice, was redeemed, and some encores after the final selections, three Lieder by Wilhelm Berger, were insisted upon.
13After these two concerts I went into the Royal Opera House and heard the entire third act of "Die Meistersinger," with Herr Franz Schwarz as Hans Sachs, and Herr Ernst Kraus as Walter von Stolzing. The latter artist you will soon have among you again, and, provided you attend a performance of the "Meistersinger" by the Damrosch Opera Company, you will have a chance to admire the tenor's fresh, strong voice and chevaleresque style of representation. After his return from the United States Herr Kraus will be numbered among the regular personnel of the Berlin Opera.
15With the same end in view Herr Schwarz came from Breslau, and will appear here as "guest" in some of his principal parts. Among these he counts Hans Sachs as one of his best, and, though he has to conquer here the memories of Herr Betz, who, both vocally and histrionically, was one of the world's most famous representatives of Wagner's poet cobbler, Herr Schwarz was most successful and gained the applause of an audience that filled every seat in the house. His voice is also large and sonorous enough for the vast auditorium, and, aside from a slightly nasal tinge of tone in the upper register, it is of most pleasing quality. Schwarz's conception of the part is very sympathetic and carefully worked out as to detail. But then you have heard and seen Schwarz in the United States only a season or two ago, so what's the use of my describing him to you. Always excellent, although, of course, I heard little of him in the third act, was Lieban as David. This artist has recently had a slight spat with Count Hochberg and has tendered his resignation, which, of course, was not accepted. Then he wrote a registered letter to His Majesty the Emperor. Whether William II. ever read it I don't know. Certain it is, however, that he did not reply to our little tenor. He would have much more to do than he has on his hands now if he would deign to answer all the complaints of artists. He is a very busy monarch as it is and only a tenor could hit upon the idea of writing him a personal letter and send it—registered.
17Fr. Hiedler was Eva and Frau Goetze, Magdalena. Weingartner conducted and chorus and orchestra were brilliant.
19Prof. Heinrich Barth, the primus omnium among resident pianists, has relinquished appearing in public, excepting on very rare occasions, when he will place his pianism into the service of charity. You have to get up pretty early, therefore, and that even on a Sunday, if you want to hear him play the piano. I did so last Sabbath day, when Barth condescended to play before a few invited personal friends and admirers at his cheery home in the Kurfürstenstrasse.
21I had no cause to regret my early rising, for the way in which I heard the Brahms F minor sonata performed was a revelation and would have been worth a trip to Potsdam. Schumann's Carnaval, with the finest and most artistic delineation of each little scene depicted by the composer, was the second treat. The last group on the program consisted of the Schumann F major Nachtstück, the Rubinstein G major barcarolle, Henselt's berceuse and the Liszt "Don Juan" abomination. Nobody outside of Rosenthal plays this dreadful nightmare for the piano with the technic and brilliancy that Barth brings to bear upon it. Of course the hearers were enthusiastic and Sunday dinner tasted all the better after the consciousness of having first attended a piano recital.
23Sunday evening was also taken up with music. It is too bad that in a country which has lately enforced upon everybody English and American Sunday restfulness, and where the Sunday laws are now enforced with great rigidity, where every barber and each servant girl has his or her Sonntagsruhe, the poor, hard-worked music critic is the only one exempt from repose.
25I should have struck and missed the second Joachim Quartet evening, which took place last Sunday night, if it had not been for the fact that the program contained one string quartet which I wanted to hear, because I like it, and one which duty as well as curiosity called upon me to listen to simply because it was unknown to me. The former one was the F major quartet from Schumann's op. 41, which, as well as the Beethoven E minor quartet from op. 59, was, as usual, exquisitely performed by master Joachim and his associates.
27The novelty was a string quartet in D minor by C. Villiers Stanford, and I should not now walk ten steps away from my warm stove to hear the work of the Irish composer performed over again. It is thoroughly uninteresting and machine made in form and workmanship, with absolutely no inspiration except such as can be found much easier and more originally expressed by Mendelssohn and old man Händel. It is strange how the British composer, together with the English nation, cling to these two ideals.
29This was the week of the fiftieth anniversary of Felix Mendelssohn's death (November 4, 1847, as Sir George Grove and Henry E. Krehbiel will corroborate upon consultation), and in nearly all the programs from last Monday on up to last night a commemoration of the event was observable.
31It began with the first concert of the Philharmonic Chorus, for the program of which Kapellmeister Siegfried Ochs chose in admirable juxtaposition scenes from Gluck's classico-plastic opera "Orpheus," the first work in which the master put into operation his reformatory ideas regarding opera, and Mendelssohn's romantic and ripe work, "Die Walpurgisnacht." As regards the performance of both these works it must be conceded that Herr Ochs had surpassed himself in studying them with his chorus and bringing out the most telling effects in shading as well as in the working up to great climaxes. The latter was especially noticeable in the grand choruses from "Orpheus," the dramatic and powerful choral exclamations of the Furii in the Inferno, and the beautiful "Torna, o bella," chorus which belongs among the best inspirations of Gluck. The original Italian version of the opera was used by Herr Ochs, and it is wonderful what grand and descriptive orchestral effects and colors old Gluck knew how to achieve with comparatively small means. He was really the first forerunner of Richard Wagner, not only with regard to his musico-dramatic ideas of opera, but also the way in which he began to execute them.
33The Philharmonic Chorus sang "Orpheus" in Italian in order to maintain unity of reproduction with the principal soloist, Mlle. Camilla Landi, who sang the part of Orpheus. She has a very pleasant, highly cultivated alto voice, phrases musically and is, generally speaking, an excellent exponent of the bel canto style of singing, but for the title role in Gluck's opera the voice is not powerful nor intense enough, and Mlle. Landi lacks breadth of conception as well as passion or deeper feeling. She sang artistically from a purely local viewpoint, but from a musical one she was disappointing. So was Miss Betsy Schot, who has neither the voice nor the method necessary for the music allotted to Eurydice. Miss Schot is a pupil of the Hochschule, and that royal institution has yet to show us the first good vocal artist that ever emanated from its sacred precincts.
35Satisfactory and pleasing alike was the fresh soprano voice of Frau Jeannette Grumbadier de Jong in the short musical utterances of Amor, but she could not repress from my memory the remembrance of Miss Dilthey, who sang the part of the little love god, and looked it, too, at the New York productions of Gluck's "Orpheus" by the defunct National Opera Company, when Hastreiter was the incomparable Orpheus and Emma Juch the divine Eurydice.
37Much better than the "Orpheus" soloists were those that sang in "Die Walpurgisnacht." Fr. Therese Behr, from Mayence, has both timbre and volume in her well trained alto voice; Heinrich Grahl, the tenor, was in acceptable vocal condition, but above all Carl Scheidemantel, from Dresden, sang the baritone soli with big, sonorous and most manly voice, as well as really superb diction and telling delivery. He shared the applause of the evening with Herr Siegfried Ochs, who showed in the "Walpurgisnacht" that Felix Mendelssohn, if intelligently performed, is by no means antiquated, though he has of late been somewhat unduly neglected. Mendelssohn was not a genius, he just fell a trifle short of being one. He was, however, one of the world's greatest musical talents, and as such he has been at first as much overrated as he is now being underestimated. A reaction from both these extreme standpoints was and now is sure to follow.
39A big audience attended this concert at the Philharmonie, and among the loudest and most enthusiastic applauders I noticed Prof. Jos. Joachim and Mr. "Robie" Mendelssohn, a direct descendant of Felix Mendelssohn, and, though he is a rich banker, he is one of the world's best violoncellists.
41I could not attend the second sonata soirée of Messrs. Bos and Van Veen, as it occurred on the same evening as the above described concert. I want to mention, however, that the program contained, besides the fairly well-known violin and piano sonata in C minor, by Grieg, two other sonatas which have not as yet been frequently performed. These were Emil Sjogren's second violin sonata, op. 24, in E minor, which is praised by some of my Berlin confrères, and the B minor violin sonata, by Amanda Maier, a Scandinavian lady, who died in 1894 at the age of forty. The lady, a pupil of Reinicke, has written a piano trio, a violin concerto, a number of pieces for the piano and the sonata for violin and piano which received first prize at a competition, the judges for which were Gade, Hiller and Normann.
43Miss Lydia Mueller, a soprano of agreeable voice and sound musical training, gave a concert "for a charitable object." Charity covered no multitude of sins in her case. The proceeds of the concert added the neat little sum of 500 marks to a fund which has been gathered for Oscar Eichberg, and which is said to have reached the quite decent figure of 10,000 marks. This proves that an honest, self-respecting critic in the course of time can secure a host of friends, and "friends in need are friends indeed." It is too bad that a man like Eichberg, for many years critic on the Boersen Courier, a vocal teacher of repute and composer of merit, should find himself in such a predicament when illness overtakes him, and yet such is actually the case. He is lame from paralysis and quite unable to do work of any sort, and he has to support a family. The Boersen Courier, I am told, continues to pay him a salary, but that is not sufficient to live on while he is unable to do other work, and what with the expenses caused by the illness, a fatal one, I am assured, the fund will come in very handy and the sole property Herr Eichberg will leave to his family, if the worst should happen. If there be any former pupils of Oscar Eichberg in the United States who will remember their old teacher in a similar way as Miss Lydia Mueller did, I shall only be too glad to forward the money to the fund in question.
45Miss Mueller also sang three of O. Eichberg's best Lieder, "Die helle Sonne leuchtet," "Rastlose Liebe" and "Traumbild," the first and last one of which I can con-
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