Scan 10
Musical Courier 1898-05-18: Vol 36 Iss 950, 1898
105 lines. Read by computer on 26 September 2026, twice; the two readings disagreed in places. Printed page 11. See the scan on archive.org.
1THE MUSICAL COURIER.
3the C sharp minor prelude and its big five part fugue from Bach's "Well-Tempered Clavichord," and also the Hummel, op. 81, F sharp minor sonata, performed with an apparent gusto was, despite its great length, very interesting to me. The first movement of this sonata is one of the finest things the pupil of Mozart ever wrote, and I wonder why this work has so completely vanished from modern concert programs, while no less a personage than Hans von Bülow kept it constantly in his repertory.
5The Beethoven, op. 106, sonata; Raff's "Frühlingsboten," from op. 55; Schuppan's, to me, unknown German Dances, op. 16; four pieces, op. 61, by Gernsheim, and Liszt's now happily discarded "Huguenots" fantaisie formed the rest of the recital, but which I could not stay to hear on account of the simultaneous concert of Miss Rosa Olitzka.
7* * *
9The Singakademie was perfectly crowded for this last concert of the season, and Miss Olitzka, who seems to have a great following here, was made the happy recipient of many floral offerings and other ostentatious tokens of approval. Despite the outward manifestations of enthusiasm I cannot say that Miss Olitzka really carried away the connoisseur portion of the audience. She has, as you heard in New York, a mellifluous, not unsympathetic contralto voice, but this has an oleaginous alloy and a certain indefinable Oriental, nasal quality of timbre which I do not particularly fancy. And her style of delivery, despite the fact that the lady is naturally musical, is a bit distorted and stilted at moments to the point of affectation. Some people seem to like this, and thus Miss Olitzka was made to repeat Durante's "Danza, Danza," although just this old Italian music was interpreted by her least cooly of all. The great "Fides" aria from "Le Prophète" did not satisfy me also from a vocal technical viewpoint, but some of the lieder were nicely and pleasingly sung. Of course, Miss Olitzka was encored.
11Frl. Irene von Brennerberg, who performed some violin soli interspersed in the program, is a very good and reliable, but not a remarkable, violinist.
13* * *
15Thus ended the regular Berlin concert season of 1897-98. The one of 1898-99, according to the predictions of Manager Hermann Wolff, will become even more severe than any of its predecessors. Charles Wolff told me that outside of the regular subscription concerts, such as the Nikisch Philharmonic, the Royal Orchestra's symphony evenings under Weingaertner, the Philharmonic and Stern choral concerts, the Joachim Quartet evenings, &c., he has already booked over 220 soloists' concerts, and here we are only up to the 1st of May. Neither the Philharmonic, nor yet the Singakademie, nor yet Bechstein Hall have an unoccupied date up to February, 1899, and even the newly-to-be-erected Beethoven Saal, which will not be finished before the end of the year, is already engaged for the greater part of January, 1899.
17The program for the Netherhenish Music Festival at Cologne, to be held at Whitsuntide, May 29 to 31, is as follows:
19FIRST DAY.
20Double Chorus Nun ist das Heil………….Bach
21Seventh Symphony…………………….Beethoven
22Debora Oratoria………………………..Händel
24SECOND DAY.
25The 98th Psalm………………………..Mendelssohn
26Symphony, No. 2, in C major………….Schumann
27Damnation of Faust…………………….Berlioz
29THIRD DAY.
30Meistersinger Vorspiel…………………Wagner
31Piano Concerto, F minor………………Chopin
32Vocal Solos–
33Schlicksa'sli'd………………………..Brahms
34Gesangsscene………………………….Spohr
35Till Eulenspiegel………………………Richard Strauss
36Overture, Oberon………………………Weber
38Fragments from Göttterdammerung………….Wagner
39Polish Fantaisie………………………..Paderewski
40Finale, from Fidelio……………………Beethoven
42The festival will be conducted by Dr. Franz Wuehler. Paderewski and Concertmaster Willy Hess will be the instrumental soloists and Frau Wittich, Frau Geller-Wolter, Ernst Kraus and Theodore Bertram will be the vocal soloists. one of two readings
43The festival will be conducted by Dr. Franz Wuehllner. Paderewski and Concertmaster Willy Hess will be the instrumental soloists and Frau Wittich, Frau Geller-Wolter, Ernst Kraus and Theodore Bertram will be the vocal soloists. one of two readings
45* * *
47A few days after the Netherhenish Music Festival at Cologne the annual meeting of the Tonkuenstlerverein will be held at Mayence, also on the Rhine, on the days from June 4 to June 8 (and not, as was erroneously given out at first, July 4 to 8). The program for this event has not yet been definitely decided upon, but I shall inform you of it as soon as I can get hold of it.
49* * *
51Carl Busch's Leipsic concert will be given at the concert hall of the Bonoraud establishment on Saturday, May 21. The following will be the program, made up of the compositions of Mr. Busch exclusively:
53Prologue to The Passing of Arthur.
54Love scene from Suite Villageoise.
55Symphony in D minor.
56Inauguration March, written for the Stockholm Exposition.
57Two pieces for string orchestra.
58American Folksong, transcription.
59Elegy.
60Elaine, a sketch, after Tennyson.
61American Rhapsody.
63Mr. Busch writes to me from Leipsic: I have already had one rehearsal with the 134th Regiment orchestra (Jaroehweske), which will be increased to sixty men—and it was very satisfactory
65* * *
67Charles F. Dyer, the Worcester, Mass., baritone, has left Berlin for London, where he will be heard in concert work during the coming season.
69* * *
71His Majesty, Emperor William II., was at Wiesbaden the week before last and attended a performance of Rossini's "Il Barbiere," in which Mary Howe sang Rosine. Our handsome countrywoman "scored a big triumph and justly so," the Wiesbadener Tageblatt says, "and the excellence of her rich virtuoso talent shone to advantage in the variations by Adam, which the lady interpolated." Emperor William received Mary Howe in his box, and there complimented her upon her well trained voice and great vocal technic.
73* * *
75Elberfeld has had some Wagner performances, which are reported as having been extraordinarily fine. Indeed, it is quite an undertaking for a provincial opera house to give the entire Nibelungenring cycle and performances of "Tristan and Isolde." The principal share of praise for such brave work is due to the energetic and efficient conductor Alfred Hertz.
77* * *
79I had a pleasant talk a few days ago with Siegfried Ochs, the genial and always interesting conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic chorus. He told me that at his first concert of the coming season he would produce as novelties three of the four new sacred pieces of Verdi, just published by Ricordi. Siegfried Ochs was tremendously enthusiastic about these new works, a "Stabat Mater" for four-part mixed chorus with orchestra; "Laudi alla Vergine Maria," for a capella chorus, and "Te Deum," for double chorus. Especially the last named work, he says, is as big a piece of musicianship as anything lately written by Richard Strauss or anybody else. It is of course also immensely difficult. Old man Verdi grows more gigantic as a composer with increasing years. The example of a man of eighty-four creating such works is a unique one in the history of art. When I asked Mr. Ochs why he would not also give us the "Ave Maria," the first one of the four pieces of sacred music, he said that it was one of the most remarkable pieces of contrapuntal writing he had ever seen, but that, while it was highly interesting as a contrapuntal puzzle to the musician who studies it, it would hardly be effective or even comprehensible to an audience, be it even a very cultivated one, who merely could listen to it.
81* * *
83Herr Hofrat Prof. Krantz, director of the Dresden Royal Conservatory of Music, informs me that His Majesty, the King of Saxony, has bestowed the following decorations and titles upon members of the staff of the conservatory. Mrs. Chamber Virtuoso Rappoldi-Kaher received the golden medal "virtuti et ingenio," and Concertmaster Chamber Virtuoso Gruetzmacher, as well as Chamber Musician Wolfermann received the title of "Professor of Music." one of two readings
84Herr Hofrath Prof. Krantz, director of the Dresden Royal Conservatory of Music, informs me that His Majesty, the King of Saxony, has bestowed the following decorations and titles upon members of the staff of the conservatory. Mrs. Chamber Virtuoso Rappoldi-Kaher received the golden medal "virtuti et ingenio," and Concertmaster Chamber Virtuoso Gruetzmacher, as well as Chamber Musician Wolfermann received the title of "Professor of Music." one of two readings
86* * *
88Great things are preparing at the Stern Conservatory of Music, the oldest institute of the kind in Berlin. Of the enlargement and new building of the conservatory to be erected on the grounds of the property of the Philharmonic directors, I wrote before. Now I learn from the energetic and enterprising director, Prof. Hollaender, that he is negotiating with Dr. Jedliczka and Prof. Martin Krause as heads of the piano classes. They would prove two valuable additions to the staff of teachers indeed!
90* * *
92If there is an American conservatory director who is looking for a first-class young piano teacher I can recommend and call attention to my able assistant Leonard Liebling, who, after his marriage to Miss Walz, intends to settle down in the United States.
94* * *
96Besides the two novelties "Die Schwarze Kaschka" and "Pergolesi," Director Morwitz, of the summer opera at Verdi's "Ballo in Maschera," Meyerbeer's "Dinorah," Verdi's "Pallo in Maschera," Meyerbeer's "Dinorah," "Norma" (with Sophy Sedlmaier as guest), Weber's "Euryanthe," Mélul's "Joseph in Egypt" and Dittersdorf's opera, "Doctor and Apothecary."
98* * *
100At Leipsic, on the 21st inst., the composer Ludwig Theodore Gouvy died at the age of seventy-five. He was born at Gaffontaine, near Saarbruecken, on July 21, 1822. He studied first at Paris and later (in 1833) at Berlin. Gouvy was a refined musician, one of the last adherents to the Mendelssohn school. Among the most important of his writings are his works of the chamber music denomination, some of which have been heard also in the United States. I remember well a sextet written for the New York Philharmonic Club. His best work for chorus and orchestra is his "Spring" cantata, but also his Requiem, "Stabat Mater," "Polyxena," and his cantata "Golgotha" are musical valuable works. Last year I met Gouvy at a concert of Alvin Kranich at Leipsic, and was charmed with his modest and unassuming manner. He was as fine a gentleman as he was a musician.
102* * *
104The announcement is made that Felix Mottl will leave Carlsruhe next fall to take the place of Richard Strauss at the Munich Court Opera when the latter goes to Berlin. The salary mentioned is 30,000 marks, which is a great deal of money in Germany. Mottl is a comparatively young man yet, having been born in 1856 at Unter
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