Scan 41
Musical Courier 1901-12-25: Vol 43 Iss 1135, 1901
62 lines. Read by computer on 26 September 2026, twice; the two readings disagreed in places. Printed page 42. See the scan on archive.org.
1is not only generally irritating, but is also the stumbling block for pianists who are acceptable in other compositions of the same and of other masters.—Morning Telegraph.
3A PIANIST OF THE FIRST RANK.
5Music is an art which has always been open to women quite as much as to men, except in the medieval ecclesiastic period. As performers, women have always been prominent, and in operatic song often pre-eminent. As pianists, fewer have risen to the higher ranks, and most of those who have ceased to be women and played like men. Fannie Bloomfield-Zeisler is one of the notable exceptions to this rule. There is nothing of the amazon about her. She plays like a woman, and therein lies the greatest charm of her art.
7While strength and boldness are not essential feminine virtues, there are moments in a woman's life—and in a woman's program—when they may be called for. They were called for by the Chopin Polonaise, op. 53, which Mrs. Bloomfield-Zeisler played at her Mendelssohn Hall concert last Saturday afternoon, and she was quite equal to the emergency. She played it with splendid energy and fire and a magnificent octave climax. Most of the other pieces were of a more feminine character, and in them her best qualities were displayed—deep feeling in the Chopin Nocturne, No. 2, of op. 37; exquisite grace and Viennese rubato in a Schuett valse from the "Papillons d'Amour" and Strauss' "Man lebt nur Einmal"; lovely tone-coloring in Moszkowski's "Gondoliera," and so on. Rubinstein's Etude on "False Notes" again called for the more masculine qualities, while Saint-Saëns' caprice on airs from "Alceste" was a mixture of both. It is needless to go through the catalogue. There were numerous demands for encores, and two of these were granted in the form of a daintily feminine Chopin valse and a stirring military march by Schubert, with which this pianist has so often aroused the enthusiasm of her audiences.—Evening Post.
9The piano recital of Mrs. Fannie Bloomfield-Zeisler at Mendelssohn Hall on Saturday afternoon was the last new event of the week, and it was important enough to merit attention, even thus two days afterward.
11Mrs. Zeisler is a pianist of hot impetuosity, tempered by thorough knowledge, by appreciation of form as well as color, and by a ripe technic, sufficing even for those not infrequent moments wherein she amazes by her virtuosity. In Saturday's program there were compositions revealing several phases of her art. The Beethoven Sonata, op. 111, summoned her most serious powers. "Her clear conception of this great utterance in tones restrained her, and she infused ripe musical feeling into its proclamation.
13Of less weighty compositions there was no lack. Gluck's "Alceste" ballet music, as Saint-Saëns modernized it in his piano transcription, came first, and was played with crisp individuality.—Mail and Express.
15Fannie Bloomfield-Zeisler, who appeared on Saturday afternoon at Mendelssohn Hall, will play there again at 3 o'clock to-morrow. Again she will have a virtuoso's program, and again her great technical zeal will be tempered with the moderation of an artist's temperament and a woman's spontaneity. Here is a Chicago person who can dazzle as can no other woman in America—and few anywhere—in performance of the pianist's repertory. It is not surprising that local students, literally by the hundred, should hear her gladly. The only "encore" pieces added to Saturday's program were Chopin's posthumous Valse in G flat and the inevitable Schubert-Tausig "Marche Militaire."—Evening Sun.
17The first piano recital of the season by an artist of acknowledged standing was Mrs. Bloomfield-Zeisler's in the Mendelssohn Hall on Saturday afternoon. * * * Mrs. Zeisler is one of the two or three great women pianists of the world, and is probably the greatest this country has produced. Her playing also is of a kind which ought to appeal strongly to the general public. It is, as a rule, highly emotional, sometimes sensational, following no cut-and-dried so-called intellectual formula. It is likely to get on the nerves and jolt the auditor out of the calm, complacent attitude he assumes toward most pianists. It is not meant to infer that the intellectual quality is missing from her work. That would be manifestly absurd, and to disprove it one would have only to refer to her performance of Beethoven's last Sonata, op. 111, which she played on Saturday. To this she gave a strong, broad, virile and almost rugged reading, which at times bordered closely on being rigid. It was not sensational performance in any sense of the word, unless, indeed, from the point of view that such a one was hardly to be expected from a woman. Indeed, the first part of it left the impression that Mrs. Zeisler had rather gone to the opposite extreme in her desire to portray the rugged passion contained therein. Her performance of the variations, however, was altogether lovely.
19But it is such things as Chopin's A flat Polonaise, the "Butterfly" Etude, Rubinstein's "Study on False Notes" and Tausig's transcription of the Strauss waltz, "Man lebt nur Einmal," that her playing becomes sensational in the true sense of the word, and one sees and feels best the highly strung, nervous and emotional temperament that lies behind it. Because of this, it is in such things she is quite at her best. Her performance of the Polonaise was most notable in its fiery passion.
21* * * Other numbers on the program were Saint-Saëns' Caprice on ballet airs from Gluck's "Alceste," admirably played with a crisp, clean-cut technic; at the end of the recital Chopin's posthu-
23mous waltz and the Schubert-Tausig "Marche Militaire."—Commercial Advertiser.
25Mme. Fannie Bloomfield-Zeisler gave her first piano recital of the season Saturday afternoon in Mendelssohn Hall. The opening number, the Saint-Saëns Caprice on airs from Gluck's "Alceste," was played clearly and brilliantly. In fact, the pianist, while losing none of her remarkable crispness and accuracy of technic, seems to gain each year in vigor and dash. The Beethoven Sonata, op. 111 displayed her technic to advantage, the finger work in the variations being noticeably fine. The themes "Varie et Fugato," by Schuett, dedicated to Madame Zeisler, is an interesting composition, with a fine theme and clever variations, the three-voiced fugato being well worked out. The waltz by the same composer is graceful and effective, and should prove a welcome addition to concert programs. It found instant favor with the audience and was re-demanded, as was the Chopin "Butterfly" Etude, which followed the Nocturne, op. 37.
27The familiar Chopin Polonaise, op. 53, was played with much brilliancy. The concluding numbers, the Rubinstein Etude on "False Notes" (played by request), and the Tausig arrangement of the Strauss "Man lebt nur Einmal" waltz, were played in true virtuoso style, and after repeated recalls Madame Zeisler contributed a Chopin waltz.—Evening Telegram.
29ANDERSON AND BAERNSTEIN.
31THESE two artists are meeting with success on their present Western trip quite extraordinary for even these artists, singing in seven performances of "The Messiah," besides recitals.
33The audiences receive their work everywhere with enthusiasm, and the press exhaust the vocabulary of adjectives in praise of their work. "Too much cannot be said" and "words fail to express" are the phrases often used by critics in pronouncing judgment on their work. Baernstein is acknowledged to be one of the great interpreters of the title role of "The Messiah."
35Händel when writing the soprano parts for "The Messiah" had in mind two distinct voices, a coloratura for "Rejoice Greatly" and a broad dramatic voice for "I Know That My Redeemer Liveth." The work is always done with one voice, and often is heard a light soprano do justice to the first mentioned aria and utterly fail in the second, and vice versa; but Sara Anderson has a voice broad and grand in the magnificent aria which closes the solo work, and at the same time possesses the flexibility which, combined with the masterly control of the organ by the singer, gives the splendid results in the "Rejoice Greatly," "Come Unto Me" and "There Were Shepherds" with the accompanying recitatives, are delivered with a soulfulness and deep conception which delights the innermost soul. A few of the press notices from the present trip are annexed:
37Miss Sara Anderson, of New York, is not a stranger to Galesburg, having made many friends here on a previous visit, but her splendid vocal powers were new to all and she delighted everyone. Her voice has a fine range, the tones are full, beautiful and clear. The lines beginning "I Know That My Redeemer Liveth" were especially pleasing, and again and again Miss Anderson bowed in recognition of her appreciative audience.
39Of the basso, Joseph Baernstein, of New York, too much cannot be said. He fairly took his audience by storm; never before has the part been so magnificently taken, and the audience was quick to recognize the fact. His first solo was splendid. His voice is powerful, yet very refined and delicately in parts, and Mr. Baernstein seems to do his perfect measure. He also sang without one thing much to be commended, and why not expected in work so well known? The solo, "Why Do the Nations So Furiously Rage?" he surpassed anything Galesburg has heard, and he received in response a perfect ovation. Again and again he rose to acknowledge the applause of both audience and chorus. After the fourth or fifth call he consented to sing the solo a second time, to the delight of everyone. Such a demand was unprecedented, but under the circumstances certainly not unwarranted.—Galesburg Evening Mail, December 7, 1901.
41One feels like asking, where did Jos. S. Baernstein get that marvelous voice, so masterful and magnetic, so full, round and far-reaching, so deep and smooth, so adapted to emotional interpretations, of such great volume? Such a voice is heard but seldom in a lifetime. Mr. Baernstein is not a man of giant physique, but is of average height and build, which deepens the wonder. He has a bright and winning face, and sings with dramatic fervor. From his opening solo, "Thus Saith the Lord," to his last note, the audience was with him. Without disparagement to the rest of the soloists, it can be said that he achieved the greatest musical triumph of the evening. His first solo he gave without the music. In his manner there was not a trace of affectation—it was simply masterful. Prolonged applause showed the depths that he had stirred. But his most signal victory was in the solo, "Why Do the Nations So Furiously Rage?" which demands the highest cultivation of the vocal powers for its successful interpretation. This he also sang without the score before him. When he had finished he was given an ovation. Time and time again the applause broke out. He finally responded by singing part of the solo over. The effect was most thrilling and impressive. The audience formed golden opinions of the singer.—Galesburg Daily Republican-Register, December 7, 1901.
43Miss Sara Anderson was the singer for the recital. She left the stage at the conclusion of the program with laurels that should have been as satisfying as any that she has received during her three years' career, for such a spontaneous reception, such an ovation is seldom accorded an artist in Toledo. She sang divinely, and the concluding strains were the awakening to reality that the music had dispelled. Miss Anderson is a magnificent woman in appearance. So thoroughly charming is her personality, so exquisitely groomed, so fair to behold, so intensely dramatic in the quiet intensity of the true artist, so delightful in the technic which enabled her musical interpretations to be enjoyed without effort, in all so much besides the mere singer that any fault might have been pardoned her. She had no fault to condone, the Toledo people found none in her, and should she ever return to the city she will find the same packed auditorium on her return. She was fine and the evening was one with nothing to be desired. Not until her rendition of "Elsa's Dream" did the fullness of her power begin to dawn upon the audience, although appreciation had not been lacking. Her closing group of songs were as clever as any ever sung upon a Toledo stage. In all it was a remarkable program, with a great artist to interpret it.—Toledo Daily News, December 11, 1901.
45Of the soloists, Joseph Baernstein was easily the greatest success of the evening. No basso that has visited St. Paul in recent years has made so excellent an impression. Aside from its remarkably wide range, his voice possesses a flexibility, and a certain melodious expressiveness, which makes it always a delight to hear. An admirable self-poise and an absolute surety of tone are qualities possessed by the singer to a marked degree. After his aria, "Why Do the Nations?" he received an ovation, and was forced to repeat part of the song.—St. Paul Globe, December 11, 1901.
47Joseph Baernstein has a remarkable voice, which he uses in a style magnificent. He has, besides the priceless gift of a magnificent voice, the mental capacity that is so rarely associated with it. He is a thinking man; his art ideals are so high as to make his work flawless. Every tone is beautiful and his style is broad and commanding. His color scale is tremendous. Notwithstanding that the audience was enthusiastic over the great aria, "Why Do the Nations?" many must have liked best the basso's interpretation of the recitative and aria, "For, Behold, Darkness," and the "People that Walked in Darkness." It was a powerful exhibition of tone somberness and was highly descriptive. The unusual tribute of a not-to-be resisted encore followed the more florid solo.—St. Paul Dispatch, December 11, 1901.
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