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Musical Courier 1900-11-28: Vol 41 Iss 1079, 1900
20 lines. Read by computer on 23 September 2026. Printed page 11. See the scan on archive.org.
1B flat minor Concerto and the Liszt E flat—I missed the Rubinstein D minor—I fully agree with my Berlin confrères in considering the young man one of the most talented pianists that have come to my notice of late years. As you may judge from the selection of his program, he is a modern virtuoso of the Draufgaenger description. He has lots of temperament, at moments even a trifle too much; fire, verve and dash, but withal some poetry and lots of tenderness of feeling. I noticed the latter quality in the nicely phrased and beautifully sung Andantino from the Tschaikowsky Concerto, and the technic was flawless in the interpolated prestissimo of this movement. The tone is healthy, vibrating and virile, without ever, even in fortissimo work, becoming harsh; the touch, though Voss seems to prefer the stronger dynamics, very pliable and allowing the use also of the most delicate and refined shadings. The use of the pedal, as I found in many others of Leschetizky's pupils, is especially well cultivated and careful of the slightest harmonic changes. Altogether, although Voss allows himself at moments to be carried away by his temperament, and then does not mind more false notes than Rubinstein indulged in on such occasions, the playing of the young American pianist interested me greatly and I am inclined to predict for him a bright future.
3That Adele Aus der Ohe is an excellent pianist all of you know for many years, and in fact from the moment she made her American début at the old Steinway Hall, when she played the Liszt E flat Concerto under Seidl's inspiring guidance in a way we had never heard it before. That Miss Aus der Ohe, however, is also a remarkable composer I for one did not dream until I attended her matinee last Sunday at the Singakademie, when the program was made up exclusively of her own works, and the success of which with a large and cultured audience was so pronounced that it justified me in sending a cable dispatch about it to this paper.
5One peculiar thing I noticed at this concert which had struck me before, only in its opposite aspect. In listening to a composer, who happens to be not a good pianist, performing his own works, I have many times seen that the force of will, the afflatus, the impetus, or I don't know what, which inspires him will carry him at moments safely over technical difficulties which, at other times, or in essaying to reproduce somebody else's music, he would never be able even to approximately surmount. His genius seems to get sudden control over his body, or at least his fingers, and it is one of the rarest victories of mind over matter one can witness. Quite on the contrary it struck me that the pianistic side of Miss Aus der Ohe's performance was to some extent completely lost sight of even by herself when she played her own works. She played "like a composer" and not like a pianist, although, of course, her performances were, as usual, finished and remarkable for brilliancy and clearness. But these qualities were kept more in the background, and the musicianly feeling, the interest the author displayed in her own works while displaying them to others, is what particularly fascinated me, and probably also the audience on that occasion.
7The program contained two Suites, op. 2 in E minor and op. 8 in the same major key, which breathe a true Domenico Scarlatti spirit and show such a natural, well-defined feeling for the antique forms that they were a delight to listen to. In between stood a group of smaller pieces and four more of them were interspersed between some lieder, charmingly sung by Miss Blanche Sylvana, while the whole program closed with a manuscript ballad, op. 14, which I hold to be the most important of all of Miss Aus der Ohe's compositions. The invention is, of course, not always original or of equal value, but, on the other hand, it is absolutely free from glaring reminiscences, or, what is worse still, from triviality or banality. The harmonies are frequently quite recherché and novel, while, of course, the effectiveness of the pianistic side is nowhere lost sight of, and show the hand, or rather the hands, of the experienced player. Altogether these compositions, embracing fourteen opus numbers, belong among the most valuable emanations of female musical creativeness I have so far encountered, and as I take a special interest in this subject I think I have looked over and heard about as many as anybody I know of. My belief that women can become musical creators, and would have done so long before this if the branch had not been artificially closed to them, is strengthened materially by Miss Aus der Ohe's compositions.
9Prof. Siegfried Ochs produced at the first of this season's Philharmonic Chorus concerts before a large sized audience Schumann's "Paradise and Peri." The lovely work, unquestionably Schumann's greatest lyric creation, despite a very refined and smooth choral performance of its portions, did not create quite as intense an impression as one might have expected. It is, after all, only miniature music, which, if it is produced in so large a hall and with such heavy choral and orchestral masses, shows this inherent smallness all the more and contrastingly. Let a well trained chorus of sixty, with a good piano accompaniment, sing this same music in a small concert room, and its intimate charm will be felt and enjoyed by every musical listener. But a still greater drawback of this music than its miniature character is its unalloyed sweetness, which in the third portion, after one has had just enough of it during the two shorter first sections, seems perfectly cloying, and hence no longer enjoyable.
11As regards his soloists, Professor Ochs on this occasion was both fortunate and unfortunate. He had secured for the principal part, the one of the Peri, the services of Mrs. Fleischer-Edel, but at the rehearsal the lady sang more Fleischer-like than edel, and hence the conductor wanted some changes made. The lady demurred, and a scene ensued something like the one between Theodore Thomas and Nilsson, at an oratorio rehearsal in Brooklyn, when the great American conductor said to the recalcitrant vocalist: "Madame, here I am the prima donna," and Nilsson yielded. This Mrs. Fleischer-Edel was not willing to do, but thought she could force matters her own way by trying to leave Professor Ochs in the lurch. On the day of the concert she sent him a message that she was indisposed and could not sing. Professor Ochs was equal to the occasion and fortunate in that he found in Mrs. Jeannette de Jonge-Grumbacher a substitute who proved far superior to what the original soloist might have been. Mrs. Grumbacher was formerly the mezzo soprano and at the same time the leading musical spirit of the Dutch Ladies' Trio, and although after she had married she retired from public life she did not allow her voice and interest in music to become rusty. Without a single rehearsal she undertook to sing the part of the Peri at the performance, which without this daring experiment, could not have taken place. Mrs. Grumbacher's voice is a small but very pure and sympathetic one, and it suited, through its spiritual quality, just the very character of the part. Musically, she was as certain as if she had sung and rehearsed it a good many times, which, of course, was not the case. The little second soprano part was taken by Mrs. Sobrino, of New York, and she sang the solo of the Maiden with intelligence and feeling. Of the other soloists, Miss Gmeiner owns a good alto voice, and also knows how to use it, but, on the whole, her delivery was monotonous in color and lacking in expression. Of the two male vocalists, Mr. Von Zur Muehlen, the tenor, sang as if he were merely marking his part at a rehearsal, and Van Eweyk, the excellent American baritone, was either not in good voice or otherwise out of sorts, for I had to convince myself by means of an opera glass that it was he who was singing, so little did his voice and his delivery resemble his usually always praiseworthy and pleasing efforts in this direction.
13Messrs. Percy Sherwood, pianist, and Johannes Smith, violoncellist, both residing and teaching at Dresden, gave a joint sonata recital at Bechstein Hall. They had chosen for their program three sonatas for 'cello and piano, composed by three Dresden composers, viz., Draeseke, op. 51, in D; Sherwood, sonata, No. 2, in A, and Nicodé, op. 25, in G. Of these works Draeseke's is the most empty one, as far as musical contents are concerned, and also the most labored one, though, as a matter of course, form and workmanship are unexceptionable. The principal theme of the last movement is a plagiarism from the Pastoral Symphony. Percy Sherwood's sonata shows considerable talent, but also a lack of concentration, which makes the two outer Sätze appear diffuse and wearies the listener. The slow movement in F, a Legende, though not particularly original, is melodious and well sounding, and the Minuet in A minor decidedly graceful in rhythm and piquant in treatment. It is the best of the four movements. Altogether, the piano is a trifle too preponderating over its brother instrument. Whether or no Mr. Sherwood is an American and a member of the noted musical family of that name, I don't know. His very polished and fine piano playing, however, would lead one to think so. Mr. Smith proved in every way his worthy associate. He handles his unwieldy instrument with consummate technical skill, commands a good, healthy tone, free from scratchiness, and plays all around like a first-rate musician.
15The Zajic-Gruenfeld chamber music soirées are fashionable, always well attended, subscription affairs, the programs of which offer a medley of chamber and solo music to suit the taste of everybody. The former element was at their first concert represented at the beginning and close of the program by means of the B flat minor Volkmann op. 5 Trio, one of that neglected master's deepest works, and by the Haydn C major Trio, both of which were performed with great finish and refinement, more than strength of style, by the concert givers and their usual, or at least frequent, associate, the pianist Max Pauer, of Stuttgart.
17Among the solo offerings, those of our pretty and gifted young countrywoman, Mrs. Rose Ettinger, deserve special mention. She sang the great coloratura aria from "Semiramide" and a brace of songs. In the latter the voice seemed to sound less brilliant than it did a couple of years ago, but the display of coloratura agility sufficed to obtain for the fair singer an enthusiastic double recall on the part of the audience.
19Vladimir de Pachmann gave his first exhibition—beg pardon, recital—upon his return to Berlin at the Beethoven Hall. He greeted the audience by an extemporary speech, not in the vein of Elizabeth in "Tannhäuser," "Dich theure Halle grüsse ich," but something in the
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