Scan 5
Musical Courier 1901-12-11: Vol 43 Iss 1133, 1901
20 lines. Read by computer on 21 September 2026. Printed page 6. See the scan on archive.org.
1um." Halir and Richard Strauss lived together in Weimar. I think this concerto must have lain on a pile of Strauss' manuscripts for several days. In the Mozart Concerto Professor Halir gave a very uneven performance. He was evidently nervous. The cadenza was hurried almost beyond recognition.
3In the Brahms Concerto an accident happened. Professor Halir stopped. Opinions are divided as to whether there was a slip of memory or a slip of the E string. In the first two numbers Professor Halir played from the printed page; there were no slips. This playing from music seems to be a habit with the professors at the Hochschule. It is a bad example for the students. A large audience applauded anything and everything.
5In her piano recital, Alma Stencel displayed many qualities which had been effectually cloaked at the first concert by the sonorous accompaniment of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Free to follow her own inclinations, she proved herself possessed of rhythm and temperament.
7The short frocked, golden curled little virtuosa adapts herself to various styles and schools, a musical accomplishment that many of her older colleagues cannot boast. Beethoven's Rondo e Capriccio, op. 129, a group of Bach numbers, most cleverly adapted by Hugo Mansfeldt, and Brahms' "Nine Waltzes," op. 39, were differentiated with keen musical acumen. "On Pinions of Song," Mendelssohn-Liszt, and Chopin's C minor Etude, op. 10, No. 12, were the least satisfactory numbers. The former lacked lyricism, the latter suffered from too much pedal. Schubert's F minor Impromptu was a masterful achievement, technically and musically. Chopin's "Butterfly" study was delightfully done, and had to be repeated. Liszt's "Héroïde-Elégiaque" (Fifth Rhapsody), and "Hungarian" Rhapsody, No. 13, ended with éclat a program most surprisingly played. The audience was insatiable, and would not lessen its enthusiasm until Miss Stencel had added Liszt's arrangement of Alabieff's "Nightingale."
9Maurice Kaufmann, a young American violinist, gave a concert with orchestra at Beethoven Hall, and revealed himself as a player of unusual powers and even greater promise. He has individuality, even if not yet entirely ripened, and that is the rarest of musical virtues. Mr. Kaufmann's technic is exceedingly well developed, and with a little more refining, especially in rapid passage work, should become all-comprehensive. His playing of the Brahms Concerto was a performance worthy of unstinted praise. He displayed a sure musical and mechanical grasp of this most difficult and most ungrateful violin work. In Wieniawski's "Faust" adaptation there were brilliancy and verve.
11An eminently notable achievement of the young artist was the fact that he actually made the Philharmonic players bestir themselves a bit. They did it sulkily enough, to be sure, but they were plainly dominated by this determined young man. Bravo, Mr. Kaufmann! That is what the audience said, long and loudly, and they were rewarded with a fantastic Hubay czardas, dashed off with vim and virtuosity.
13I shall try to crowd into a sententious résumé reports of other recent concerts, more or less important, and more or less good:
15Dr. Felix Kraus is a profoundly earnest basso, with a fine voice and excellent delivery. Madame Krause-Osborne is very sympathetic and musical. The Grünfeld-Zajic concert was a happy-go-lucky affair. The subscribers go there to enjoy a program of music not all too tragical, and they get it. Conrad Ansorge's piano playing was equivocal. In the Smetana Trio he was too much in evidence, in his solos, too little. Richard Strauss' symphony concerts are already bearing fruit. Weingartner actually produced a novelty at his third concert, "Variations on an Original Theme," by Elgar, an Englishman. The work is strikingly original, and most effective. Elgar has disdained the conventional method of making variations, and his changes lie in curious harmonic and rhythmic turns, rather than in the usual elaborate ornamentation that hides the theme without varying it. Arrigo Serrato is a violinist of considerable technic, great temperament and tonal charm. Ida Reiter-Reich must be able to boast of a blacksmith among her ancestors. Irma Saenger-Seth and Alfred Reisenauer played sonatas for violin and piano. The lady by far outshone her partner. She should procure a musical divorce. F. della Sudda, a Turkish pianist, seemed to have nougat on his fingers. Aldo Antonietti is Italian only in name. In his playing there is no trace of the South. Technic, plenty. Warmth and charm, none. Wilhelmine Niehr-Bingenheimer, remarkable only for her name. E. Howard-Jones, pianist, scholarly, staid and sure. Tilly Braun-Wachholz, singer, funny without knowing it. Paul Heilbrun, pianist, funnier. Minna Weidle, singer, with an aspen-leaf voice. It shook. Advice to a trio headed by Maria Bruno, piano: Please don't any more. Elfrieda Rodha, an electrical soprano. She shocked her audience. Therese Behr, an accomplished artist, with a full, rich voice, and most interesting interpretation. Joan Manén, a grandly gifted young violinist, with much of Sarasate's grace and charm. Engelbert Haas and Eugene Brieger should do their vocal practicing at home. Maria Spies, singer, gave her concert one year too soon. Alexandrine Zanolli, violin, a dashing player, with brilliant technic and sensuous tone. Etelka Freund pounded too much at her second piano recital; Victor Staub pounded too little at his orchestral concert. The Hollaender Quartet deserves more general recognition. In some respects it is superior to the Joachim aggregation. Two quintets by Friedrich Gernsheim were done beautifully. They are fine works, of elevated temper and refined workmanship. Lamond's four Beethoven recitals have come to an end. I attended one of them; that is, I stayed half an hour at each. He drew only fair sized audiences, but won warm praise in the press. At her second concert, Frida Quehl, violinist, confirmed my impression of last week, that she is a talent of exceptional promise. Alphonse Mustel and Joseph Bizet, from Paris, gave a concert for the purpose of displaying the Mustel make of harmoniums. These instruments are supplied with various new devices for producing volume, variety and beauty of tone. The most original of these patents is a stop which produces the effect of a duet for piano and organ. Joseph Bizet played some of his own works, written to emphasize the virtues of the Mustel harmonium. Grace Forbes, a coloratura soprano, made an excellent impression in the "Traviata" aria, "Ah fors é lui." Further study should make of her a very useful artist. Anna Weishahn, a soprano, is too lachrymose. She takes herself too seriously. Gertrude Rombell, soprano, has a fine figure. Vita Gerhardt, pianist, hasn't. Julia Culp, of Amsterdam, is one of the best contraltos Berlin has heard for many months. Her voice is very much like Schumann-Heink's, and in vocal art, too, Miss Culp is not far behind her famous colleague. Karl Mayer, a robustious vocalist, sang enthusiastically to a large and admiring audience. That style of vocalism is much admired here. Richard Buhlig, a pianist, affects a prodigious mop of hair. That is the only respect in which he resembles Paderewski.
17Berlin Gossip.
19Prof. Heinrich Urban, one of Berlin's best known music critics, died very suddenly two days ago, aged sixty-four years. He was born in Berlin, and early began the study
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.