Scan 36
Musical Courier 1898-01-19: Vol 36 Iss 933, 1898
124 lines. Read by computer on 22 September 2026, twice; the two readings disagreed in places. Printed page 37. 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.
1by Dudley Buck; "Les Preludes" of Liszt, "Heart Wounds," by Grieg, and "Dwarfs and Elfs," by Olson. This is the occasion upon which Joseffy will play two concertos—the great Chopin-Tausig in E minor, and the A major of Liszt.
3Speaking of Joseffy brings Albert Mildenberg to mind. His success in the Classical Seminary for Girls has been something remarkable. He has made a great advance in the beaten paths of piano teaching by presenting before his class such organizations as the Kaltenborn's, the New York Ladies' Trio, and other musicians, whom it can only be a benefit to hear. I have heard that he is also connected with the Comstock school, of which Miss Day is principal. As this school is undoubtedly one of the foremost girls' schools in New York I can only say that if this be true, the success of its musical department is assured, for Mildenberg is one of the most successful teachers in New York to-day.
5EMELIE FRANCES BAUER.
7Just as Bad as It Can Be.
8BOSTON, January 9, 1898.
9Editors The Musical Courier:
10How is this for musical Boston? At the Henschel concert yesterday, just before Mr. Henschel came on the stage, a lady crossed over the centre aisle and began talking to a friend. There she remained, still talking, during the applause which greeted him. He seated himself at the piano, played a few bars, and when he found that she still continued talking he stepped to the front of the stage and requested her to be seated. Yours sincerely,
11ONE WHO WAS THERE.
13Broad Street Conservatory Recital.
14On Wednesday evening, January 12, a recital was given by a number of the pupils of the Broad Street Conservatory of Music, Philadelphia, of which Gilbert Raynolds Combs is director, in the concert hall at No. 1381 South Broad street. The following was the program, which was performed in a manner which certainly reflects great credit upon the conservatory:
15Piano (eight hands), Overture Euryanthe, Weber
16Miss M. Wright, Miss F. Dale, Miss N. Werner, Miss M. Temple.
17Piano solo, Marcia Fantastica, Bargiel
18Miss Emma Shelly.
19Soprano solo, Thine Eyes So Blue and Tender, Lassen
20Miss A. Nipe.
21Piano solo, Polonaise Militaire, Chopin
22Miss S. Whitaker.
23Violin solo, Zigeunerweise, Sarasate
24John K. Witzman, Jr.
25Piano solos—
26Prelude, op. 23, Chopin
27Valse, op. 64, No. 2, Chopin
28Miss S. L. Rhoades.
29Tenor solo, Thou Art Mine All, Bradsky
30O. Harrison.
31Piano solo, Third Mazurka, Godard
32Miss B. Fryssinger.
33Soprano solo, My All, Bohm
34Miss I. Sargent.
35Violin solo, Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, Saint-Saëns
36John K. Witzman, Jr.
37Piano solo, Spinning Song (Flying Dutchman), Wagner-Liszt
38Miss G. Humphrey.
39Duo for tenor and bass, Lost Proscribed, Flotow
40J. A. Smith and D. Houseman, Jr.
41Piano solo, Ballade, op. 23, Chopin
42Miss E. O. Manning.
43Soprano solo, Se Saran Rose, Arditi
44Miss C. Nipe.
45Trio, Piano and Strings, op. 28, Reissiger
46First Movement.
47Miss Minnie Wright, John De Angeli, Mr. Combs.
48John K. Witzman, Jr., played the Saint-Saëns number in a graceful and brilliant manner, displaying great technical ability, depth of tone and artistic bowing.
49The Chopin ballade was played by Miss E. O. Manning, a pupil of Mr. Combs, with a poetic sentiment and abandon seldom found in amateurs.
51Mrs. MARTHA – DORLON – LOWE,
52Voice Culture,
53CONTRALTO-CONCERTS, ORATORIO.
54Studio, 539 Fulton St., Brooklyn.
55New York address, MUSICAL COURIER.
57BARONESS DE PACKH,
58Dramatic Mezzo-Soprano.
59A limited number of pupils received for VOICE CULTURE and DRAMATIC TUITION.
60MAURICE GOULD,
61Formerly Assistant to ANTON SEIDL.
62Coaching for Opera, Concerts, Oratorio, Wagner music a specialty.
63JOINT STUDIO:
64174 East 75th Street, one of two readings
65NEW YORK. one of two readings
66174 East 75th Street, NEW YORK. one of two readings
68LEOPOLD GODOWSKY,
69THE GREAT one of two readings
70RUSSIAN PIANIST, one of two readings
71THE GREAT RUSSIAN PIANIST, one of two readings
72Address for engagements
73CHICAGO CONSERVATORY,
74Auditorium Building, Chicago.
76CARL
77Returned from Stockholm Exposition, Crystal Palace, Queen's Hall (London), Nashville Exposition, &c.
78"A finished artist."—Dagens Nyheter (Stockholm).
79"An expert organist of the first rank."—Nya Dagligt Allehanda (Stockholm).
80"Manipulated the splendid instrument in Queen's Hall to perfection."—The Standard (London).
81"Great enthusiasm and applause."—Crystal Palace Herald (London).
82FOR OPEN DATES ADDRESS
839 WEST 22d STREET, NEW YORK.
85DAMROSCH and Ellis' season of French German and Italian opera opened last Monday night at the Metropolitan Opera House. Verdi's "La Traviata" was sung, with this cast:
86Violetta ……………………………………………..Melba
87Flora ………………………………………………..Van Cauteren
88Annina ……………………………………………..Mattfeld
89Alfredo ……………………………………………..Salignac
90Germont …………………………………………..Campanari
91Gastone ……………………………………………Vanni
92Baron Douphol …………………………………….Viviani
93Marquis ……………………………………………Rains
94Doctor ……………………………………………..Stehmann
95Conductor—Bimboni.
97The adventures of Dumas' pulmonary harlot have ceased to bring tears to the eyes of the most sentimental, and Verdi's music sounds ridiculously commonplace and in spots suspiciously comic. There is that hellish brass band on the stage in the first act, with its yawping and rasping appogiaturas; there is that same awful band in act two, with its snorting and galumphing appogiaturas and only the cost of the conveyance prevents it from turning up and serenading the salacious couple in the country.
99But there are a few gems of melody in the piece, and the finale of act three is distinctly dramatic. But the opera is hopelessly old-fashioned, and now that Patti is artistically dead, Melba is about the one soprano—always excepting Sembrich—who keeps "Violetta" on the boards. Of course, we do not count the Opéra Comique of Paris—the repertory of which is a curious mixture of dazzling novelties and the fade. So Monday night must be emphatically given over to a consideration of Melba, for "Traviata" is a one-role opera, given but dubious chances to the other characters, most of which are mere dummies. There is something disconcerting in the way Flora, Annina, Gastone, Baron Douphal, the Marquis, the Doctor and even Germont and Alfredo play the part of "feeding" the principal. The book is very bad, and the exits and entrances are clumsily managed. The letter scene, that counts so much in the play, is nothing in the opera, while the death scene is conventional. Even the duologue of Germont and Violetta is in the air, the beginning of it being a bold crib on Verdi's part from that antique air in "Belasario," "On the Field of Glory."
101Melba has been in better voice, but then she was suffering from the after-effects of a severe cold. Melba is always Melba; never dramatically satisfying, but a singer without a superior. She has grown thinner and seems more supple and graceful. She evidently labored to put some intensity in the part, and at the close of the second and third acts she did very well. Her death scene, miles asunder in artistic excellence from Darclée's remarkable reading, was yet not without merit. She is also rather too healthy, too buxom to suggest lung trouble and the last rites accorded to the dying. She sang the "Ah Fors é Lui" with great finish, but also with extreme care—something new for Melba. Her trill is as delicious as ever, and her scales and arpeggios miracles of ease and lucidity. But where a forte passage occurred, wherever the upper notes were used, there was a suspicion of cloudiness, and in the second act duo with Germont she undoubtedly flattened. Her swift pace across the stage at the finale of act one also caused the flattening of her last tones.
103But who shall gainsay the buoyancy of "Sempre Libera"? and the ejaculation "Morte" was almost dramatic. Melba is at her best when radiantly attired, with jewels blazing at stomach and neck, she sings the florid music of Donizetti or the earlier Verdi. She is not an actress; let us be grateful that she is still a great singer, a rare and delightful song bird!
105With his slim opportunities Campanari did wonders. He, too, was a trifle hoarse at the start, but he sang the "Di Provenza" with admirable finish and feeling, and in the episode with Violetta he acted and sang with great intelligence. Salignac was a fair Alfredo. He was earnest, and he forced his voice in the concerted numbers. His "Libiam's" was not lacking in enthusiasm. He is far from being a remarkable tenor, but he will pass. The rest had nothing to do and did it well. The chorus was ungainly and shouted, probably being in ill humor at the awful clothes it wore. We cannot blame it. The scenery was the same old dull sets of the regulation Metropolitan Opera House. The ballet was amateurish.
107Signor Bimboni's conducting deserves only the warmest commendation. He knows his score and he has estimated the capabilities of his band. The latter he kept well in hand for it was not in brilliant form. The brass band on the stage was the same old German brass band that sails the ocean blue to the Coney Island pier. It rattled and roared, but then Verdi is to blame for the rubbish it utters, almost as evil as the amazing rubbish poured out by Meyerbeer's brass band in "Les Huguenots."
109The house was crowded; there were no hitches in the performance; fashion sat in the boxes and the loungers in the lobby seemed happy. There was a notable absence of the German element. Altogether Mr. Damrosch opened his season very creditably, but "Traviata" is not the Trilogy and the end is not yet. Here is the program for the balance of the week:
110Wednesday evening, January 19, "Tannhäuser." Mmes. Gadski, Barna, Mattfeld; MM. Kraus, Fischer, Bispham. Van Hoose, Staudigl, Rains, Sharo. Conductor, Damrosch.
111Friday evening, January 21, "Die Meistersinger." Mmes. Gadski, Staudigl; MM. Fischer, Kraus, Stehmann, Rains, Breuer, Staudigl, Van Hoose and others. Conductor, Damrosch.
112Saturday afternoon, January 22, "Faust." Mmes. Melba, Torronta, Van Cauteren; MM. Ibos, Boudouresque, Campanari, Viviani. Conductor, Damrosch.
114Louis G. Muniz Changes Studio.
115Louis G. Muniz has moved from West Forty-eighth street to his new studio at 72 West Fifth street.
117GEORGE HAMLIN, one of two readings
118TENOR. one of two readings
119Address FREDERICK J. WESSELS, one of two readings
120Western Representative, one of two readings
121Auditorium Tower, CHICAGO. one of two readings
122GEORGE HAMLIN, TENOR. one of two readings
123Address FREDERICK J. WESSELS, Western Representative, Auditorium Tower, CHICAGO. one of two readings
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