Scan 15
Musical Courier 1902-05-28: Vol 44 Iss 1157, 1902
21 lines. Read by computer on 22 September 2026. Printed page 16. See the scan on archive.org.
1HOTEL CECIL, LONDON.
2May 17, 1902.
4The opera has started out well, but not exceedingly well, and cynical folk might suggest that Covent Garden appears to be hiding its shortcomings behind an array of new scenery. On Thursday night "Lohengrin" was beautifully staged, but the performance left a good deal to be desired. The new scenery for "Tannhäuser," which was played on Saturday night, was a dream of delight. We wish that we could say the same about the acting and the singing. That confirmed body of sinners, the Covent Garden chorus, is again afflicting our ears after the approved fashion of previous seasons, betraying the same complete lack of interest in the action, and practicing its vocal atrocities in a key as remote as ever from that in which the orchestra is playing. The performance on Saturday was the first of a "special Wagner cycle." Why it should have been so designated is by no means easy to understand. "Tannhäuser" has its regular place in the Covent Garden bill, and the performance was not perceptibly better than usual. We had a new Elizabeth in Frau Lohse, the wife of the conductor, and she proved to be the best of the new arrivals who have so far put in an appearance. Her voice is hardly remarkable for quality, but it is powerful and far from unpleasant. Moreover she acts well and her performance was sympathetic and intelligent. Her method still has flaws, particularly as regards phrasing, and the "Prayer" in the last act discovered one or two weak spots in her armor. Unless Herr Kraemer, the new Tannhäuser, was out of voice we can hardly welcome him with open arms. His voice is of passable quality, but it is very small and was hopelessly lost in the big house. How it may sound in a theatre we cannot say, but on Saturday the effort of filling the building was evidently too much for him, and he had to use so much force to make himself heard even in the quieter passages that when he reached a climax he had no resources to fall back on. As an actor he displayed more vigor than discretion, and his gestures were not exactly dignified. The Wolfram of M. Renaud, however, was a very fine performance indeed, and he proved himself to be a baritone of the first rank both as actor and singer. The incorrigible Covent Garden chorus was as bad as ever it has been. It sang out of tune on every possible occasion, and its acting is best left undescribed.
6On Monday "Lohengrin" was repeated with Fraulein Fremstad as Ortrud, but as her big scenes unfortunately clashed with Fritz Kreisler's first appearance at the Richter concert criticism of the new singer must be deferred. On Tuesday we had "Faust," with Saléza terribly out of voice as the hero. Mme. Suzanne Adams and Plançon, however, sung superbly as Marguerite and Mephistopheles, but otherwise the performance was in no way worthy of note. The Opera on Wednesday night was a very brilliant spectacle. In the first place it was a great social function and everyone who is anyone was present. In the second place it was by far the best performance that has been given this season. That, it is true, does not necessarily imply very much, but nevertheless in "Rigoletto" the syndicate really seemed to show a desire to do better things than hitherto. The opera itself, of course, leaves a good deal to be desired. It is stagey, and much of it is quite undramatic. Verdi had not yet freed himself from the convention of the old school or he would never have given Gilda such ridiculously inappropriate songs as "Caro Nome." But with all its faults it has much excellent modern stuff in it, and few who were not up in the chronology of Verdi's works would suspect that it was written before "Traviata" and "Trovatore." The performance on Wednesday night from a vocal point of view was a pure delight. Melba was in good voice, and she can rarely have sung better. After the vocal atrocities perpetrated by so many of the Wagnerian stars it is a treat to hear a singer whose method is perfect, whose voice is always clear and pure and who never sings out of tune. But the success of the evening was scored by Caruso, the new tenor. From the moment that he first opened his month his fate never hung in the balance, and Covent Garden has evidently brought us at least a new tenor who is really worth hearing. He has a fine, resonant voice of very rich quality and great power. His singing is in all respects admirable, and his performance of that very old favorite, "La donna e mobile," quite brought down the house. Caruso, indeed, is a great acquisition, especially at a time when tenors are so badly needed. M. Renaud has already won himself a name as a fine artist, and his Rigoletto was quite in his best style; his acting was full of power and vigor, while his singing was excellent. With such artists in the chief roles and Mme. Kirby Lunn as Maddalena, the great quartet in the last act could hardly fail to go well, while the rest of the cast and even the chorus seemed to be inspired by their principals, and reached a higher level of excellence than has been attained this year. The conductor was, of course, Signor Mancinelli.
8On Thursday night we had "Die Walküre," and the performance of it was curiously uneven. First and foremost some protest is necessary against the undue length to which it was spun out. Beginning at 7:30, it was not over till some time after midnight, a circumstance which was due partly to the abnormal length of the intervals and partly to the exceedingly slow tempi which Herr Lohse often adopted. The length of the waits was, it is said, to be attributed to the elaborate and heavy new scenery which had been specially prepared for the opera. The setting was certainly exceedingly effective, and the stage mechanism was vastly improved. The Valkyries' horses, for instance, made a nearer approach to realism than they have ever done before. It is to be hoped that at future performances the scenes will be set with more alacrity, for if these abnormal waits, which worked the gallery up to hissing point, are always to obtain, we would really prefer the old and more mobile setting. Herr Pennarini, the new Siegmund, unfortunately did nothing to counteract the rather unfavorable impression which he made as Lohengrin last week. He is not blessed with a voice of superlative quality, while his ideas of production are of the haziest. His weaknesses were all the more evident since the Wotan was Herr van Rooy, and it would be difficult to find among German singers such a fine voice or one so well produced. His Wotan on Thursday was as perfect a performance as it has always been, and the inevitable day when he has to listen to Frau Wagner's call, pack up his traps and depart for the Bayreuth rehearsals, is always a bad day for Covent Garden. Nordica, the Brunnhilde, sang and acted as well as ever. There is every reason to congratulate the syndicate on its latest acquisition in Frau Lohse. She made an excellent impression when she appeared as Elizabeth in Saturday's performance of "Tannhäuser." Her Sieglinde was a still better performance. Her voice improves on acquaintance, and her acting is particularly graceful and refined. She has not, perhaps, the power of Ternina, but she is, nevertheless, infinitely above the average prima donna, and her embodiment of Sieglinde gave one hopes of still better things to come.
10On Friday we had "Carmen" with Saléza, still out of voice, as Don José. A brilliant success, however, was scored by Mlle. Zelie de Lussan as Carmen, but of this further notice must be deferred till the next mail.
12That Kocian, the young violinist, who gave a recital at St James' Hall on Saturday afternoon, is an exceedingly brilliant player cannot be denied. He is, however, remarkable rather as a virtuoso than as an interpretative artist. His technic is extraordinary. It may, indeed, be said at once that it is in no way inferior to that of Kubelik, while he is one point at least Kubelik's superior, in that he always tries to make his programs interesting from a musical point of view. In Grieg's C minor Sonata his tone was always sweet and pure, his intonation always strictly accurate and his execution unexceptional. Emotionally he is somewhat immature, but he is still very young, and his artistic development is probably merely a question of time. Of pieces demanding sheer virtuosity he gave performances which could not possibly have been better, and Ries' "Moto Perpetuo," Tschaikowsky's Valse Scherzo, and Paganini's "I Palpiti," were played with a brilliance which it would have been impossible to eclipse. Miss Marguerite Elzy, who played the piano part of the Grieg Sonata, also gave a sympathetic performance of Chopin's F minor Fantasia.
14A very delightful vocal recital was given at the Bechstein Hall on Monday afternoon by Miss Mary Münchhoff. This was Miss Münchhoff's first appearance in London, and her success was immediate. She is one of those rare singers who, while possessing a perfect technic, do not insist upon showing it off on every available opportunity. Only two examples of florid music found a place in her program on Monday, an air from Bellini's "Sonnambula" and the old familiar Air with Variations of Proch. To say that she sang them both splendidly would be but poorly to describe her performances. Her voice is of exceptional purity, range and flexibility, and it has been so highly trained that her runs and trills are absolutely clear and even. She was, however, no less successful in songs that demand something more than mere technic. In Liszt's "Die todtte Nachtigall," Wagner's "Wieneglied," Brahms' "Ständchen" and "O. May," two airs of Bach, Veracini's Pastorelle from "Rosalinda," and Giordani's "Caro mio ben," she displayed artistic powers of much more than ordinary merit. Her phrasing is perfect, the sentiment is never overdone and she never sings a shade out of tune. Indeed, Miss Münchhoff is a singer who may be sure of a ready welcome whenever she visits London. She had the assistance of Herr Paul Elgers, a violinist whose fingers are nimble enough, but whose tone is not always a joy to the ear.
16Dr. Joachim and his quartet made their final appearances in London during this week. On Monday and Thursday afternoons they gave chamber concerts, at the latter of which Leonard Borwick played the piano in Brahms' F minor Quintet and two violin and piano sonatas, those by Beethoven in A minor and Mozart in F; while on Tuesday Dr. Joachim and Miss Fannie Davies gave a sonata recital. The performances were delightful in every way. All the players are such finished artists, and possess such remarkable intellectual gifts that they beautify everything that they touch. Time may have impaired the nimbleness of the fingers of some of them, but it has given an added charm to their playing by the experience which it has brought with it. The Joachim Quartet is to visit London again next year.
18Other concerts were given on Monday by Miss Winifred Davis at Bechstein Hall, and by Miss Constance Erbiceano at the Salle Erard.
20During the week we have heard two performances of Beethoven's Violin Concerto, the first being given by Fritz Kreisler at the Richter concert on Monday, and the second by Kubelik at Thursday's Philharmonic. The former was the reading of an artist and the latter the reading of a virtuoso, and there is no question as to which was the better of the two. Kreisler's success was instantaneous. The sweetness and purity of his tone, his regard for expression and the utter absence of anything approaching sentimentality or affectation made the performance one that will be remembered. Kubelik's reading was the exact converse. It had no breadth, no charm and no dignity. It was the reading of a violinist who, accustomed to playing Paganini, attempted to make points just as he would in "fireworks" music. Kubelik may improve in his interpretation of classical music, and we hope that such will be the case. No violinist of his age, however talented, could give a really satisfactory performance of
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