Scan 33
Musical Courier 1902-02-26: Vol 44 Iss 1144, 1902
51 lines. Read by computer on 22 September 2026, twice; the two readings disagreed in places. Printed page 34. See the scan on archive.org.
1visited Queen's Hall, for he also went to the Memorial Concert to Queen Victoria last Sunday, when Mr. Wood gave the same program that he gave before the Queen at her command some three years ago. Under such royal patronage music in England should thrive exceedingly.
3While this brilliant concert was taking place in the big hall, in the little hall upstairs a worthy gentleman of the name of Trant Fagan was plodding through three acts of "Othello" all by himself. Clad in immaculate dress clothes, he wandered about the small, heavily draped stage with the limelight playing full upon his expressive face, taking all the parts without the assistance of a single, solitary soul. We have no quarrel to pick with Mr. Fagan; to all appearances he is a worthy and rather clever actor. We should merely like to know why in the world he attempted so extraordinary a feat. He was doomed to failure from the start, for it is impossible for a single man to sustain all the parts in a Shakespearian tragedy and to suggest changes of scene, dialogues, murders and alarms with anything like success. A criticism of the performance might run something in this style: "The cast was uneven. Trant Fagan gave a fine study of the Moor, and in the more dramatic scenes he was superb. He received, however, poor support from the Desdemona (Trant Fagan), who displayed but little of that sweet womanliness which is one of the chief characteristics of the part. The Iago, too, of T. Fagan was far from satisfactory," &c. By far the best feature of the entertainment was the charming incidental music of Edward German, admirably played by Willy Scott, a young pianist of promise.
5Señor Sobrino gave a concert at the Bechstein Hall in the afternoon. His performance of Brahms' Airs and Variations on a Theme by Händel was far from satisfactory, and he obviously had not the least idea of how the music should be played. He was more at home in the Gavotte and Musette from d'Albert's op. 1, and in the three charming pieces arranged by E. A. MacDowell from sketches by Bach. Madame Sobrino was the vocalist.
7Miss Olive Malery, a visitor, gave an entertainment at Steinway Hall on the same afternoon, and Misses Louie and Anna Löwe gave a concert in the evening at the Prince's Galleries, at which Bach, badly played by a ladies' orchestra, and Brahms, shockingly sung by a ladies' choir, were the staple commodities. The two Misses Löwe are far from being bad performers themselves, but it would, perhaps, be better if they were to leave conducting alone. It is not their forte.
9Small concerts were given on Thursday in the afternoon by Miss Griffith Saunder, a contralto, and in the evening by Miss Maud Agnes Winter, both taking place at the Bechstein Hall. In the evening Queen's Hall was occupied by the Stock Exchange Orchestral Society.
11On Friday afternoon Leonard Borwick and Plunket Greene gave the first of their two concerts at St. James' Hall. Plunket Greene was not in his best voice, but his singing possessed, nevertheless, all that extraordinary charm which has made it so famous. He gave two groups of songs, thirteen in all, the first including three by Brahms', "Komm' Cald," "Meine Liebe ist grun" and "Dot in den Weiden"; a setting of Scott's "Elen Loro," by Alan Gray, the Cambridge musician; Purcell's "Ye Twice Ten Hudred Deities," and the old hymn "Adeste Fideles." The last was particularly interesting, since each of the five verses was arranged by a different musician; the first by S. G. Ould, the second by Sir Walter Parratt, the third by Sir Hubert Parry, the fourth by C. W. Pearce and the fifth by S. P. Waddington. His second group consisted entirely of English songs, among them being Liddle's "Since Thou, O Fondest and Truest"; Luard Selby's "A Widow Bird"; Baltidar Haynes' "When She Her Sacred Bower Adorns," and Arthur Somervell's "Phyllis in the Hay," an excellent selection, which he sang admirably. Leonard Borwick drew largely upon Schumann, giving first the Sonata in F minor, and in his second group the Allegretti quasi Andantino from the Sonata in A minor. The latter he played most beautifully. He was also at his best in Saint-Saëns' Caprice on Ballet Airs from Gluck's "Alceste," a piece which suits his delicate and sympathetic style admirably. The next concert takes place on February 26.
13(no line here) one of two readings
14London Notes. one of two readings
16Mme. Eleanor Cleaver and Ingo Simon will give an orchestral concert at St. James' Hall on the evening of February 18, under the direction of Miss Alice E. Joseph. Emil Kreuz will be the conductor and Ernst Schiever principal violin, who will come from Liverpool specially for the occasion. Percy Grainger will be the pianist and will play the Tchaikowsky Concerto. The program will include some other interesting items. Madame Cleaver will sing a Scena of Max Bruch and an old Italian air by Hasse; and Ingo Simon will, among other selections, introduce a little known aria from Verdi's opera, "I due Foscari." Immediately after the concert Madame Cleaver and Mr. Simon will sail for America to fulfill some concert engagements in the United States. one of two readings
18Miss Coomber has only just returned from a highly successful operatic tour in Australia, having sung a variety of important roles, such as Senta, Elsa, &c. She has already received offers to return, but prefers to remain in England for a time.
20FERDINAND CARRI'S RECITAL.
22BEFORE a good sized audience, among which were noticed a large number of violinists, Ferdinand Carri gave the last in his series of violin recitals at Knabe Hall last Tuesday evening. The principal purpose of these recitals was to revive and bring before the public violin compositions by ancient masters, works very seldom heard nowadays. Last Tuesday's program consisted of Sonata, Veracini; Prize Song, Wagner; Gavotte, Bohm; Nocturno, Chopin-Carri; "Labyrinthe de l'Harmonie," Locatelli; Concerto, Vieuxtemps; two transcriptions, Vieuxtemps; "Carnival de Venice," Paganini-Ernst; Cavatina, F. Carri, and the Hungarian Airs, by Ernst.
24Mr. Carri did an admirable feat again in the performance of such a program, which was by no means an easy one. Throughout the entire performance his intonation was, as usual, good, even under the most trying exactions, and from a general technical point of view, Mr. Carri has so complete a mastery of his instrument that persons unfamiliar with the difficulties of the various works would hardly believe that he was doing anything which called for unusual skill. The ease with which he triumphs over technical feats was again manifested in the Vieuxtemps Concerto, Ernst's Airs Hongrois, the same composer's "Carnival de Venice" and the famous Arpeggio Etude by Locatelli, with its well-nigh impossible stretches for the left hand. In the slow movements, Wagner's "Prize Song," Chopin's Nocturne and his own Cavatina Mr. Carri's phrasing was exquisite, and gave him ample opportunity to bring out the beautiful and rich tones from his famous Maggini. The ancient Sonata, by Veracini, was interpreted in that classical and dignified manner which such work called for.
26The recital was an interesting exposition of violin playing, both from a musical as well as a virtuoso point of view. The audience was very enthusiastic, and recalled Mr. Carri a great many times. Herman Carri was accompanist.
28London Notes. one of two readings
30Mme. Eleanor Cleaver and Ingo Simon will give an orchestral concert at St. James' Hall on the evening of February 18, under the direction of Miss Alice E. Joseph. Emil Kreuz will be the conductor and Ernst Schiever principal violin, who will come from Liverpool specially for the occasion. Percy Grainger will be the pianist and will play the Tchaikowsky Concerto. The program will include some other interesting items. Madame Cleaver will sing a Scena of Max Bruch and an old Italian air by Hasse; and Ingo Simon will, among other selections, introduce a little known aria from Verdi's opera, "I due Foscari." Immediately after the concert Madame Cleaver and Mr. Simon will sail for America to fulfill some concert engagements in the United States. one of two readings
32John Coates, who is at present on tour in Germany, will appear at Cologne on Saturday as Lionel in "Martha," and on Monday next as Romeo in "Romeo and Juliet." On Thursday, the 13th, he will sing at Leipsic at a Gewandhaus concert, which concerts are well known to be the most important in Germany. one of two readings
34A wire from Hanover just to hand says: "Coates enormous triumph last night; sixteen recalls after last act." one of two readings
36The Carl Rosa Opera Company has engaged Miss Lilian Coomber, through Miss Alice E. Joseph, to take part in some performances during their coming visit to London. Among other parts she will play Leonora in "Il Trovatore." one of two readings
37(no line here) one of two readings
39Harvey Worthington Loomis.
41HARVEY WORTHINGTON LOOMIS, the composer and pianist, and Edwin Star Belknap gave a rather unique entertainment at the Brooklyn Barnard Club early in this month. The composer pianist played a number of his own compositions, and his musical settings to the sketches recited by Mr. Belknap proved very charming. The piano numbers included:
43Harlequin ………………………………………………………..Loomis
44Intermezzo from The Tragedy of Death (René Peter) ……..Loomis
45Oriental and Savage Music Harmonized for Occidental Ears—
46Persian Lullaby …………………………………………………Loomis
47Indian Melodies ……………………………………………….Arthur Farwell
48Japanese Song …………………………………………………Clifford Page
49Chinese Melodies ……………………………………………..E. S. Kelley
50Gangari, Norwegian Peasant Dance ………………………..Grieg
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