Scan 5
Musical Courier 1900-10-31: Vol 41 Iss 1075, 1900
14 lines. Read by computer on 21 September 2026. Printed page 6. See the scan on archive.org.
1whole this "King (Edipus Vorspiel" would always attract the attention of a musician, it failed singularly in taking a hold upon the audience, and hence it came near falling flat, a fate which was surely an undeserved one.
3Van Rooy you know, for you have heard him in Wagnerian music dramas in New York and elsewhere in the United States. In these he is far better, as was shown in "Wotan's Farewell," from "Die Walküre," which formed the close of the program, than as lieder singer. But in the forte episodes of the Wagnerian excerpt he was not quite at his best, as he wanted to give more than he possessed, and hence frequently forced the voice, which made him deviate from the correct pitch. His lieder singing showed many defects, and again demonstrated the fact that renowned dramatic singers are not always the best concert vocalists. Brahms' "Feldinsamkeit" was the best sung of a group of songs, of which the transcendental "Traum durch die Daemmerung," one of Richard Strauss' most suggestive songs, was the worst interpreted. It came piecemeal from the artist's mouth, and Arthur Nikisch's piano accompaniment, which, as a rule, is unexceptional, also left the singer in the lurch in this song, for it kept him dangling in midair without sufficiently sustaining him. The other lied, Schubert's "Sei mir gegruesst," as well as the encore, which the audience insisted upon, and for which Mr. Van Rooy had chosen Schubert's "Eifersucht und Zorn," from the Muellerlieder, were in so far poor selections, as both are pronounced tenor songs, and are just as little adapted for a baritone voice as if anyone would take a genuine violin piece and perform it on the 'cello. These things are done, but in the most instances the result is not a happy or an artistic one.
5The program for the second Philharmonic concert will embrace Schumann's "Manfred" overture, the "Ah Perdido" aria and Claerchen's Lieder from "Egmont" by Beethoven, sung by Lilli Lehmann; Goldmark's "Rural Wedding" symphony, the F minor Concerto of Chopin in Richard Burmeister's revised edition, played by Conrad Ansorge, and a Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody in orchestral garb.
7From the Royal Opera House I can, as a musical deed of importance, report last Wednesday night's resurrection of "Benvenuto Cellini." The first of Hector Berlioz's three grand operas was produced in Berlin four years ago and met with only a moderate success, a so-called succès d'estime, which old maj Schloss of Cologne used to describe as a fiasco d'estime. Whether the work will prove of much more than passing interest upon this second newly mounted and really admirably performed second attempt at an introduction into the standing repertory remains to be seen, but, despite the enthusiastic reception with which it was received on the occasion of the resurrection, I am inclined to doubt. It was then given before an audience of first nighters, real musical gourmands, and to such principally appeals Berlioz's more intellectual than warmly conceived music, while to the general throng of opera goers it is likely to remain caviare. To this must be added the fact that the somewhat antiquated situations in the construction of the plot are of small interest.
9The libretto is drawn from the circumstances surrounding the casting of the Perseus statue, as described in Cellini's autobiography and are not overexciting. Nor is Peter Cornelius' translation of the De Wally and Barbier French text always a very fortunate one. The music shows a mixture of Berlioz's best and most refined traits in orchestral coloring and supreme musicianship, but also many trivialities and bizarceries, which detract from its value. The best numbers—for, despite the fact that the opera is durchcomponirt, the music is clearly divided into numbers like the operas of the Italian masters of Berlioz's day—are the recitative and cavatina of Teresa right in the beginning of the first act and the duet between her and Cellini which follows. The succeeding trio or terzet between these two personages and the not sufficiently hidden Fieramosca is so immensely difficult that not even such masters of clear and fast pronunciation as Frau Herzog and Mr. Bulsz, could do full justice to it, not to mention Kraus, who is anyhow a heavy singer. In the second act the music descriptive of the Roman carnival with its folk scenes reaches a climax which in like whirlwind gaiety and skillful use of the orchestra has not again been reached by Berlioz or anybody else. Of course the so-called "Carnaval Romain" overture which precedes this act and the "Benvenuto Cellini" overture which prefaces the entire opera are well known concert battle horses.
11Very curious is to note the influence of the two Jewish composers, Meyerbeer and Halevy, upon the contemporaneous French composer, which, however, is traceable only in this his first opera, while the work itself—written in 1838—has had a plainly distinguishable influence upon Richard Wagner.
13As for the performance of "Benvenuto Cellini," it proved one of the best I ever witnessed at the Royal Opera House or anywhere else. Just the very difficult finale of the second act, with its quick tarantella rhythms and intermezzi of all sorts, went admirably under Richard Strauss' baton. The orchestra was simply glorious and revealed in the parodistic peculiarities in which Berlioz indulged, notably in the wind instruments. The cast was the same as four years ago, with the single exception of the part of Balducci, the Pope's treasurer, which was then taken by Krolop, who has since joined the silent majority. Nebe was his worthy successor on this occasion. Mrs. Herzog overcame with apparent ease the vocal difficulties heaped up in the part of Teresa. If only she would look a little prettier—for it is hard to imagine her the ideal of the gay but fastidious sculptor. Kraus sang the title part with robusto voice, in moments of tender love-making, like in the first act, even too robust, but otherwise, except for a break on a high A, did himself proud. His drinking song in the second act was vociferously applauded. An excellent Fieramosca, both vocally and in point of acting, was Bulsz. Mrs. Goetz looked charming, and also sang well the part of the apprentice Ascanio, which, however, lies a little too low for her voice. Stammer could bellow to his heart's content in the role of the rowdy Pompeo, and Lieban would have been incomparably fine in the episodic part of the Jewish hostler if he had not caricatured the part histrionically as well as through singing with a nasty Jewish brogue, which could have pleased no aesthetic
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