Scan 35
Musical Courier 1902-01-01: Vol 44 Iss 1136, 1902
21 lines. Read by computer on 23 September 2026. Printed page 36. See the scan on archive.org.
1HOTEL CECIL, LONDON,
2December 21, 1901
4THE London musical season is now beginning to take a short and well earned rest. The announcements of forthcoming concerts which a few weeks ago filled the best part of the front page of the Daily Telegraph have now dwindled down to a short column or so, and except for a Christmas Day concert, the only music to be heard at Queen's Hall will be that of the ping-pong rackets at a tournament which is to be held there. This class of music, however, is not one that calls for criticism, nor do the excruciating vocal efforts of bands of children who now infest the streets, call themselves waits and demand coppers for singing carols out of time and tune.
6Even during the present week the concerts have shown a very marked decrease, and those that have taken place have mostly been small and not very interesting. Of Australian sopranos there is apparently no end, and they must be "like asparagus in May" in their own country. Yet another made a bid for fame and fortune at Bechstein Hall on Monday evening. Mme. Bertha Bird has a light soprano voice of pleasant quality, though it is apt to become a little nasal. She has some good high notes, and she evidently did not intend this point to be missed by the audience, for she expressly stated in the program that Schuloff Benedick's "Carnival de Venice" has a cadenza which ends in the A in altissimo, a note which, indeed, she reached with perfect ease. She is at her best in bravura passages, and she sang songs like Balfe's "Merry Zingara" and David's "Charmant Oiseau" very well indeed. She had the very valuable assistance of Mr. Sankey, who was in remarkably good voice and won a double encore for his performance of Sullivan's rather hackneyed song, "Thou'rt Passing Hence, My Brother." At this concert, too, Percy Grainger, a most promising young Australian pianist, who has a fine technic and much ability, made a great success in a group of Brahms pieces.
8On Tuesday afternoon a matinee was given at St. James' Hall by Mrs. St. George Coke, who appeared both as a reciter and as a vocalist. It must, however, be confessed that she did not meet with any very surprising success in either capacity, as her style in reciting is rather monotonous, while her voice, when she sings, shows signs of wear. She was helped by Tivadar Nachez, the well-known violinist, who gave excellent performances of a portion of Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto and of transcriptions of two of Tschaikowsky's piano pieces.
10A concert was given at the Salle Erard in the evening by the Misses Griffiths, three players who are, perhaps, painstaking rather than brilliant. Miss Beatrice Griffiths, the pianist, is far the best of the party, and she played Brahms' Ballade in G minor remarkably well. Miss Besse Griffiths is a violoncellist, and Miss Muriel Griffiths a violinist, who have fair technics and quite unimpeachable taste; but it is to be feared that they will never rise above the second rank.
12Perhaps the most important concert of the week was that which took place at the Albert Hall on Wednesday afternoon as a sort of leave taking to Arthur Chappell. In the middle of the last century concerts in London were few and far between and such enormous prices were charged for admission that they were practically closed to the ordinary music lover with a scantily lined purse. It was then that Mr. Chappell conceived the idea of the popular concerts which have since become so famous. They started with a series of three good concerts with cheap prices which were intended to attract visitors to London for the Smithfield Cattle Show. At these three concerts there appeared, among others, Miss Dolby, Sims Reeves, Signor Piatti, Mme. Arabella Goddard and best performers of the day have appeared on the St. James' Hall platform under their ægis, including Madame Schumann, Joachim, Piatti and Sir Charles and Lady Hallé, besides a host of other great lights, and though they have lately fallen upon such evil times that the Monday Popular Concerts have had to be abandoned, their work in educating the public in matters musical can hardly be overestimated.
14Wednesday's concert was arranged much upon the familiar lines of those other big Albert Hall performances, the Patti concerts. A host of well-known performers appeared, principally vocalists, and these included Madame Clara Butt, most popular of contraltos, who sang "O don fatale," from Verdi's "Don Carlos," in fine style, and also joined her husband, Kennerley Rumford, in two duets called "Snowdrops," by Madame Liza Lehmann. Madame Albani gave the beautiful "Ave Maria," from Max Bruch's "Das Feuer Kreuz," almost perfectly, and Charles Santley, who, of course, has appeared times without number at the "Pops," received a great ovation and sang splendidly. Of the instrumentalists, chief interest centred, of course, in M. Paderewski, who gave exquisite readings of Chopin's Ballade in A flat, Nocturne in G, Polonaise in A flat, an Etude and the Valse in A flat, besides a piece of his own and a Liszt Rhapsodie. The Albert Hall, however, is so enormous that a pianist seldom gets a chance there, and it must be confessed that the delicate nuances of expression which are so marked and so beautiful a feature of Paderewski's playing in a smaller room, were somewhat lost. Another old favorite of popular concerts appeared in Lady Hallé, who has, of course, led a quartet at St. James' Hall many and many a time. In spite of the high prices the hall was densely packed in every part with a very enthusiastic audience.
16On Thursday evening a vocal and piano recital was given at the Salle Erard by Miss Angela Evelyn-Bryer and Mme. Béatrix Renée. Miss Evelyn Bryer is a pianist of fair attainments, and she has improved considerably since her last appearance in London. By far her best performance was that which she gave of Mendelssohn's Etude in B flat; her readings of some Chopin pieces were hardly so good. Madame Renée has a pleasant light soprano voice, but she was so nervous that it was difficult to form any conclusive opinion of her singing. A little more study of voice production would, however, do her no harm. Among other songs she brought forward a very pleasing little composition, still in manuscript, by Reginald Somerville, called "Demain." Ernest Toy played a violin solo.
18Kocian, the new violinist, gave the second of his recitals at St. James' Hall on Friday evening, when he was, as before, assisted by Miss Marguerite Elzy. He is particularly to be commended upon his program. Only too many brilliant executants show a desire to display nothing but their technic. Kocian, while including such brilliant compositions as Paganini's D major Concerto and Sevcik's Bohemian Fantaisie, gives attention to classical works of serious aim as well, and his program contained Beethoven's Sonata in C minor and Bach's Chaconne. This young violinist will undoubtedly take a place among the first players of the day. At present he is rather unformed, but he is evidently a sincere artist of great powers and still greater promise, and the world of music could do with a few more of his like.
20On Saturday afternoon Mark Hambourg gave the tenth and last of his present series of recitals at Queen's Hall. His program was decidedly interesting and long into the bargain, including as it did, Beethoven's Sonata in E flat, op. 31, No. 3; Schubert's "Wanderer" Fantasia, two of Schumann's shorter pieces, a Chopin group, a Liszt Rhapsodie, and a number of studies by various composers, in-
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