Scan 4
Musical Courier 1900-10-31: Vol 41 Iss 1075, 1900
50 lines. Read by computer on 22 September 2026, twice; the two readings disagreed in places. Printed page 5. See the scan on archive.org.
1THE MUSICAL COURIER.
3Berlin Branch Budget
5HE wisdom of the decision not to notice in these columns any further the concert or other appearances of musical people who have no artistic, national, personal, or other claims for introduction to the United States musical readers is incontestable. It is already bearing good fruit in various directions, and if it were followed by my confères of the daily press the nuisance of over-concertizing which is now pestering the life of them would soon diminish, and after a while perhaps be entirely abated.
7As it is, the great number of inferior concert givers who nightly occupy Berlin's four or five principal concert halls only serve to crowd upon and perhaps to push to the wall the comparatively few who really deserve critical attention, for it is impossible even to papers who can boast of two or more music critics, if they don't want to encroach upon the space allotted to their political and news columns, to cover all that is going on in Berlin in the way of music.
9Thus, during the period of nearly two weeks since the opening of the season no less than thirty artists, most of them debutants, have made their appearance, and in reality there were not 10 per cent. of them deserving of the distinction of a mere mention in THE MUSICAL COURIER, which is equal to making their name known to the musical public of the world and of the United States, which blessed country would otherwise in all probability remain in ignorance of the very fact of their existence.
11Among the number of first appearances in Berlin so far the French were in a majority, which is as surprising as it is significant. Again, among the Frenchmen two artists deserve more than mere mention. The joint concert of Camille Chevillard, pianist, composer and now conductor of his father-in-law's (the late lamented Lamoureux) concerts, and of Albert Geloso, violinist and concertmaster, at Bechstein Hall, proved an unqualified success. Both are refined artists and excellent musicians, as shown by the one in the technically finished and in point of purity of style remarkable performance of the Bach Chaconne and in Mr. Chevillard's pianistic participation in the reproduction of Raff's great chromatic sonata for violin and piano, op. 129. As a composer Mr. Chevillard appeared upon the program with a sonata, op. 8, dedicated to Geloso and performed by him with considerable display of temperament. It bears not so much testimony to an overwhelming creative vein as it does honor to the carefully considered and skillfully contrived thematic workmanship Mr. Chevillard employs. As regards the violinist I may have something further to say after he plays here with orchestra next week the Saint-Saëns A major concerto and the Lalo so-called "Symphonie Espagnole."
13Among the other miscellaneous concerts I went to the one of Edmund Hertz at the Beethoven Hall on Thursday evening, not so much because he appeared on this occasion as composer, pianist and conductor, but principally because in the first named capacity he is a pupil of the best composition teacher of Berlin, Otis B. Boise, and I wanted to convince myself of the progress Mr. Hertz had made during the last two years of his study under that master.
15Mr. Hertz's program was as follows:
16Concerto for piano………………………………………Schumann
17Concerto for piano in G minor……………………………Hertz one of two readings
18Concerto for piano in G minor………………………….Hertz one of two readings
20Two selections from incidental music to Ibsen's Comedy of Love—
21Prelude in C……………………………………………..Hertz
22Polonaise in A…………………………………………….Hertz
23Five songs for tenor………………………………………Hertz
24Wanderer Fantasia………………………………………Ludwig Hess
25Schubert-Liszt
27In spite of the fact that the intermezzo from the Schumann Concerto was interpreted in none too musical a manner, I could confirm that Mr. Hertz has made some progress as a pianist, and that his playing in places would have been fully satisfactory—brilliant, clear and well modulated, the latter despite a none too plaint touch—had it not been marred by restless rhythms. He allowed himself to run away from the orchestra, leaving rhyme and reason out of the question. This was doubtless attributable to nervousness, for the young man is too well educated, too sound a musician to do such things willingly.
29The themes of his works have, according to his nationality, a Slavic quality, but they seem somewhat superficial—not the result of deep feeling. The Philharmonic Orchestra did not cover itself with glory on this occasion. A clearly played and properly balanced accompaniment would have made quite a different affair of Hertz's concerto, the middle movement of which, a melodious andante in E flat, which leads into a clever allegro scherzando in C, pleased me best. The Polonaise is quite effective, but was likewise played in a colorless way under the inexperienced composer's undecisive direction. The five songs were well sung by Mr. Hess and pleased the well-disposed audience.
31What could be said in the way of interesting or new information regarding the Joachim Quartet? Nothing. That they are well attended, nay, even sold out to a fashionable, perhaps more fashionable than really musical, audience is an old affair, and that Joachim and his associates play with an ensemble the like of which could not be surpassed by any other chamber music organization is an equally well known and frequently reiterated fact. Perhaps these four artists could be a trifle more varying in their programs and a little less conservative in their taste, but as it is, with their mortgage on the quartets of the classic masters, they give you a pure, unalloyed musical pleasure of the most refined and intimate nature, and hence their soirées have gained and maintained a renown which does and always will draw to the Singakademie large audiences of those who are and of those who would like to appear as musically educated and able to appreciate and enjoy the most distinguished branch of musical reproduitiveness, viz., chamber music.
33The program offered the B flat Quartet, No. 4, from op. 76 of Haydn; the G major, perhaps the most beautiful of Mozart's string quartets, and Beethoven's E minor from the Raswormowsky quartets.
35Very musical and in every way enjoyable was the joint performance of a somewhat superficial but pleasing suite, op. 44, in D minor, for violin and piano, by the Vienna composer, Eduard Schuett, on the part of Alfred Schmidt-Badekow and Concertmaster Bernhard Dessau, of the Royal Orchestra. The former is one of the most promising among the younger school of Berlin pianists, and Mr. Dessau is an eminent violinist in every way, interpretative as well as technical. Besides this, he commands as warm and pure a quality of tone as it is voluminous and virile, and rhythmically he is one of the kind of performers who have no doubt as to the decidedness of their intentions. I like a lack of wavering in ensemble music playing, even if it sometimes assumes the quality of rigidity and allows of very little or no rubato at all.
37On the program of these two artists figured also the Sjörgren E minor violin Sonata, of which I had occasion to speak at length and favorably upon a former occasion.
39The most important concert of the week was naturally and unquestionably the first of the series of ten subscription concerts of the Philharmonic Orchestra, under Arthur Nikisch's direction. These Monday night concerts are, together with the Sunday noon public rehearsals, almost completely sold out, which, in a large hall like the Philharmonie, means that they are on an average attended by no less than 2,500 people. The programs are much more catholic, variegated and interesting than those preferred by Mr. Weingartner at the Royal Orchestra's symphony evenings, and the engagement of soloists of note offers additional attraction to Mr. Wolff's series of subscription concerts.
41The outward success of the first one was so great and pronounced that at the close Mr. Nikisch and the soloist of the occasion, Anton van Rooy, had to appear upon the podium ten times before the vast audience could be induced to withdraw. Among the most enthusiastic applauders I noticed the Weber family, of New York, whom of yore I know to be one of the most musical circles of Manhattan Island. I also shook hands with Dr. Wuehner, the music pope of Cologne, as soon as I could find his No. 9 kid gloves and their contents. Director Henry Pierson, of the Royal Opera intendency, was also among the enthusiasts.
43As far as Arthur Nikisch and the efforts of the Philharmonic Orchestra were concerned, these demonstrations of joyful approval were in most instances amply deserved, albeit I did not care so much for Nikisch's labored and too vivisectional reading of the "Euryanthe" overture, which old battle-horse is so hard to ensonce with new traits and devices. Moreover, the orchestra was not in the best of trim during this opening number, and notably the woodwind, among whom I noticed several new faces, and the increased number of strings did not find at the outset that ensemble to which we have become used in the performances of the Philharmonic Orchestra under Nikisch's direction. It was regained, however, in the Beethoven A major Symphony, which would have been a flawless one from a purely technical viewpoint if some slight mishaps had not occurred in the trumpet and horns. The latter instruments were on these occasions excusable, for Nikisch made them blow their heads off in some episodes in the first movement and also in the scherzo. He also indulged in some very strong counter accentuations in the scherzo, which went far beyond what we are used to hear, although they are so marked by Beethoven. I can't say that I disliked these rhythmic strokes of the axe on weak beats, nor would the horn effects have displeased me so greatly if the forcing of the tone had not caused several breaks. Really beautiful was the trio and exquisite in cantilene reproduction was the allegretto. The final bare dance movement, however, was overdone both in speed and in obstreperousness.
45The novelty of the program was a symphonic prologue (oh, Van der Stucken, they have already stolen your beautiful descriptive designation!) to "King Oedipus," by Max Schillings, a follower of Richard Wagner, and an epigone also of Richard Strauss. I spoke of this work of the talented Rhinelander when it was first produced last season as an introduction to Sophocles' drama at the Schiller Theater under Rebicek's direction. It seemed to me more in its place then and there, more comprehensible and, indeed, also more musically important than it did during this performance at a concert. It is gloomy in contents and spirit, as could not otherwise be expected of an introduction to perhaps the gloomiest tragedy ever penned by mortal. But this gloom of a heathenish persistency and irrelentlessness, which also pervades the Siegfried Funeral March, is not relieved, as it is done by Wagner, by moments of furious brightness, such as the entrance of the Sword Motive. Schillings colors black in black even when he heaps up Ossa upon Pelion in his continuous and unceasing efforts after reaching climaxes. And even the orchestration, although well sounding and frequently sonorous in the extreme, has nothing individual or convincing.
47The invention is unequal, for the first theme given out by the strings, trombones and trumpets in unison, intended to be indicative of fate, sounds more bombastic than tragic, and shows little originality. On the other hand, the broadly spun out main theme, scored for 'celli, violas, English horn and two clarinets (andante mesto), is important as well as impressive, and in its treatment, especially when taken up by the flutes and violins, while the 'celli and violas bring a very telling counterpoint, shows the hand of a master.
49From this point on, however, despite great efforts at reaching several further climaxes, the prologue grows less interesting, and I can understand that although as a
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