Scan 28
Musical Courier 1902-02-26: Vol 44 Iss 1144, 1902
53 lines. Read by computer on 22 September 2026. Printed page 29. See the scan on archive.org.
1GOLTZ STR. 26, BERLIN, W.
2February 13, 1902.
4SEVEN years ago, during the season of 1894-95, musical Berlin was greatly agitated over the violin playing of a little long haired Polish boy. Such wonderful violin playing by a child of his years had never been heard here. Even staid old Joachim was moved to remark, "Scarcely in my whole life have I seen such precocity on the violin."
6The boy was Bronislaw Hubermann. After a very successful American tour Hubermann disappeared from public view, and for years almost nothing was heard of him. Now he has come back to us again, a pale youth of about nineteen years; very slight of figure, and not very interesting looking. His eyes are still the same, with their droll squint and supernatural flash, but otherwise he is completely changed.
8Hubermann has given two concerts with the Philharmonic Orchestra. I heard the first, at which he played the Brahms and Mendelssohn Concertos and the Bach "Chaconne." I went to that concert with very high expectations, for I reasoned to myself that if the boy, with his wonderful genius, had developed properly he ought today to be without a rival among the violin players of the world.
10I left the concert very much disappointed. True, Hubermann is to-day an excellent violinist. He has a left hand which in its nimble lightness, ease and certainty suggests Sarasate's. His intonation is nearly perfect. He draws, too, a tone of good quality, and there is soul in his playing. But the divine spark, so evident in his playing seven years ago, is gone. What has become of his temperament?
12His tone is small and uneven, and he lacks breadth of style and largeness of conception. His Brahms was very small and tame; it revealed naught of that massive, broad, robust composer. What Hubermann most lacks is schooling in tone production. His bowing is often amateurish. For instance, when playing a long drawn out note he does not increase the pressure of the forefinger in approaching the point of the bow, hence the tone gets weaker near the point, even when the note is marked crescendo. This fault makes his cantilene playing uneven. That even, flowing, singing tone is lacking. Then, too, in complicated and quick strokes the lack of schooling is sadly evident. In such places his tone is weak and ineffective. All through the Brahms and Mendelssohn Concertos this was evident.
14Great tonal effects on the violin can be attained only by very severe training of the right arm.
16The Belgian school produces the greatest effects in this. The violinist must know how to do it. Talent or even genius will not suffice alone.
18"In the 'Chaconne' Hubermann played much better than in the other works. He played with more life, more breadth and more tone. There was the genuine ring to his chords, at times. Though not a great performance, it nevertheless was excellent playing.
20On the whole, it cannot be said that he has developed fully. He probably has not studied with a master, thinking no one could teach him anything. Even as a boy of twelve he thought he knew it all. Or if he has studied with a teacher he has not been in the right hands.
22Far from being the greatest living violinist, he is not in the ranks of the really great at all. It would be folly to compare him with artists like Kreisler or Thibaud, not to mention Ysaye or Thomson. He seems to be a case of genius burning itself out in childhood.
24Another Polish prodigy made his début in Berlin at the same time that Hubermann did, Arthur Argiewicz. He also came from Hubermann's birthplace, Warsaw, and had studied with the same teacher, Rosen. And strange to say he makes his reappearance in Berlin also at the same time as Hubermann.
26Argiewicz as a prodigy was not nearly as great or successful as Hubermann, but his development has been more satisfactory. He, too, played the Brahms Concerto, and there were breadth, warmth and energy in his playing. He has a far better understanding of the gigantic work; it was more Brahms-like. He played a very effective and genial cadenza by Kreisler.
28Argiewicz's other numbers were the Conus Concerto, played here by Petschnikoff several years ago, and the prelude from Raff's G minor Suite. He played both extremely well. He has great facility of the left hand, a full singing tone and energetic temperament. His years of study have not been in vain.
30Jacques Thibaud was the soloist of the sixth Nikisch concert. Thibaud is the youngest of the many successful violinists of the younger French school. He is only about twenty-three years old, but he is a great, a full fledged artist. His technic is perfection itself; his tone is the kind that goes right to the heart; his phrasing superb, and his playing is brimful of individuality and temperament. He has an indescribable charm.
32There have been numerous débutants on the violin of late, who, however, deserve no special comment.
34Madame Waldau, formerly prima ballerina of the Dresden Opera, will soon celebrate her ninety-fifth birthday. She took part in the first performance of "Die Freischütz," which was conducted by Weber himself.
36Prince Henry is a good amateur violinist; in fact, among royal fiddlers his equal does not exist. His nephew, the Crown Prince of Germany, now attending the university at Bonn, also plays the violin. It runs in the family.
38ARTHUR M. ABELL.
40Caroline Mihr Hardy.
42PLYMOUTH CHURCH, Brooklyn, has re-engaged the solo soprano of the choir, Mrs. Caroline Mihr Hardy, for another year, at an increased salary. There were other churches who wanted Mrs. Hardy, but she has decided to continue singing at Brooklyn's historic church. Mrs. Hardy is also a soloist at Temple Emanu-El, Fifth avenue and Forty-third street, this city. Following are extracts of Mrs. Hardy's appearance at the recent concert by the Brooklyn Institute:
44Mrs. Hardy's clear, resonant voice was well displayed in three solos. Her singing of "The Violet," by Helen Hood, was highly appreciated by the audience, and she carried off very well "Dich Theure Halle."—Brooklyn Eagle, February 7.
46Among the artists who participated was Mrs. Caroline Mihr Hardy, who possesses a clear and well modulated soprano.—Standard Union, February 7.
48With a voice of bright, brilliant full tone, Mrs. Hardy is an intelligent and pleasing singer. She sang an interesting song by Stebbins, a dainty, charming song by Helen Hood and Elizabeth's aria, "Dich Theure Halle."—Brooklyn Times, February 7.
50Mrs. Hardy sang by giving the scope to all the "full throated ease" that brings the fine, clear quality of her voice home to her audience. Her selections were from Brahms and Bungert.—Eagle, January 28.
52AUGUSTA COTTLow.—Miss Augusta Cottlow, the pianist, played last Monday night at Miss Porter's school at Farmington, Conn., for the benefit and instruction of the pupils there, and she is to be the soloist at the Hampton County Music Festival at Springfield on April 19.
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