Scan 17
Musical Courier 1903-01-28: Vol 46 Iss 1192, 1903
83 lines. Read by computer on 23 September 2026, twice; the two readings disagreed in places. Printed page 18. See the scan on archive.org.
1MISS ROSE SAMUELS, the young American violinist, and a pupil of Ysaye, who had such great success at the concert in the Zoological Garden of Angers in November last, certainly was most favorably received by the critics. She played the second concerto for violin and orchestra of Max Bruch, and the etude in waltz form, by Saint-Saëns, with remarkable virtuosity and technic. The journal Anjoue writes: "The tone is of exquisite quality, limpid rather than powerful, very pure, very distinguished. Her bowing reveals the temperament of a musician. Her play, style, attitude reveal the great school. We can assure her that the series of her successes will be long." Another critic calls her one of the most brilliant pupils of her master Ysaye, while Le Patriote describes her as "a Burne Jones that has stepped down from its frame; she has in her attitude and outlines the pre-Raphaelist grace of the virgins whose hands Ruskin would have loved to fill with hawthorn buds in May."
3Teresa Carreño and the German conductors Reichemberg and Schuch have been engaged for its season by the Society of Concerts of Madrid.
5A rich widow named Pescatore has by her will left the sum of 200,000 francs to found in the city of Luxemburg a conservatory that will bear her name.
7At the beginning of this month the new opera "Titania," music by G. Hue, words by MM. Gallet and Corneau, was produced at the Paris Opéra Comique.
9"Pasquino," a new opera by Cesare dell' Olio, based on a story by Turgenieff, is said to be free from all operatic conventions, but inspired by dramatic truth. In other words it is influenced by Wagner.
11Leoncavallo announces a new work, "The Chevalier d'Eon," the mysterious person who was so famous as a soldier and duelist for years in London and Paris till compelled in later life to wear female dress.
13The venerable soprano of the Sistine Chapel at Rome, Mustafa, has announced publicly that he will retire from his direction of that famous choir. He will be succeeded by the Abbe Perosi, whose first step will be the suppression of male sopranos who have been a prominent feature in the choir since the seventeenth century.
15Franchetti, while at Naples superintending the production of his "Germania" at the San Carlo Theatre, stated that he was engaged on two new operas. One is based on the "Edipus at Colonus," with episodes of the war of the "Seven Against Thebes" and the "Antigone." The first part is painfully tragic, but it is redeemed by the passionate hymn of Antigone, of love victorious over hate. The other opera is on the old subject of Lancelot and Guinevere, with King Arthur in a prominent role amid the knights of the Round Table.
17Reynoldo Hahn, the composer of "La Carmelite," in which Calvé has been playing in Paris, is a native of Caracas. He was a pupil at the Conservatory, and studied composition under Massenet, who has remained his friend and adviser. Hahn began to publish when he was only fourteen years of age. The first of his theatrical works was the "Île de reve," produced at the Opéra Comique in 1898.
19ELSAS RUEGGER'S PRESS NOTICES.
21HERE are some press notices of Elsa Ruegger's appearance in Pittsburg:
23Elsa Ruegger is one of the most finished 'cello players before the public. Her playing is finished, her tone rich and strong and technic faultless. Although she appeared twice on the program, she was recalled again and again, and gave very charming little encores. She made a great hit, and Pittsburg will look forward to her return, the sooner the better.—Chronicle-Telegraph.
25Elsa Ruegger made a most marvelous impression. Few soloists that have come to Pittsburg have been received as she was. She had an instrument that had a most beautiful tone. Miss Ruegger gave a splendid rendering of the composition. She showed her musicianship in the flowing melody of the first movement, and her execution in the second.—Times.
27Miss Ruegger was distinctly enjoyable, and it was generally remarked that a soloist so excellent had not been before secured for Pittsburg. She plays the 'cello with tenderness and rare depth. There is genuine musical wealth in her grasp of the instrument.—Pittsburg Dispatch.
29The greatest interest attended Miss Ruegger's playing. This young artist plays with a boldness of tone and a sureness of technic that are well nigh faultless. There is nothing of the dilettante in her finished interpretations. All is assured yet modest, but the chief beauty of her playing is her rich, warm tone and the quality of her tone color.—Gazette.
31Artists at the Gould Musicale.
33CARL HUGO ENGEL conducted the orchestra at the musicale and dinner given by Mr. and Mrs. George Gould at their Fifth avenue mansion last week. The program arranged by Mr. Engel was unusually good, and the orchestra was made up of excellent performers.
35These fascinating numbers were played:
37Overture, Raymondne…………………………………………..Thomas
38Selection, Gypsy Baron………………………………………Strass
39Quartet, Rigoletto……………………………………………..Verdi
40Waltz, Blue Danube…………………………………………..Strauss
41Loreley Paraphrase……………………………………………..Nesvadba
42March, from The Prophet……………………………………Meyerbeer
43Fantaisie, Carmen……………………………………………..Bizet
44Narcissus………………………………………………………..Nevin
45The Rosary………………………………………………………Nevin
46Overture, Fledermaus……………………………………….Strauss
47Waltz, The Skaters……………………………………………Waldteufel one of two readings
48Waltz, The Skaters…………………………………………….Waldteufel one of two readings
49Gavotte, Mignon………………………………………………Thomas one of two readings
50Gavotte, Mignon……………………………………………….Thomas one of two readings
51Fantaisie, Cavalleria Rusticana…………………………….Massagni
52Hungarian Dances……………………………………………Brahms one of two readings
53Hungarian Dances…………………………………………….Brahms one of two readings
55The soloists at the musicale were Kocian, the Bohemian violinist; Mme. Emma Eames and Journet, of the Grau Opera Company. Franz Spindler played the piano accompaniments for Kocian and Victor Harris for the singers.
57QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.
59Emma Calvé.
61To The Musical Courier:
62I should deem it a very great favor if you would let me know whether Mme. Emma Calvé is considered a soprano or a mezzo soprano, and what your reasons are for considering her either of the two. A. M. B.
64Early in her career Emma Calvé sang in Italy, and at that time was known as a singer leggiera (equivalent to light soprano), but as her voice developed it became richer in the middle register, and consequently she was enabled to sing a role like Carmen, written for a mezzo soprano. The dividing line between sopranos and mezzos is sometimes difficult to determine. For instance, Madame Calvé, who now sings mezzo soprano roles, does on occasion still attempt coloratura parts, like Ophelia in "Hamlet." The natural compass of Calvé's voice is undoubtedly in the mezzo range. In recent years Calvé has sung her extremely high notes pianissimo. She probably could not sing them out in full voice, as high sopranos do. However, it is not range, so much as the timbre, that characterizes the voice. In her prime Annie Louise Cary, the contralto, could sing as high and higher than some sopranos. Pauline Lucca, one of the most versatile operatic artists, could sing with equal skill the different parts in the same opera. One night she would thrill an audience as Leonora in "Trovatore," and another night she startled the public by a passionate impersonation of the gypsy Azucena, a part in the same opera written for mezzo soprano, and more frequently sung by contraltos.
66A few readers may recall the lamented Klafsky, who sang in the country some years ago, in the opera season at the Academy of Music. She had a marvelous dramatic soprano voice, and the histrionic gifts that permitted her to essay almost any role in the Wagnerian repertory written for a woman. One night in New York Klafsky sang Ortrud, from "Lohengrin" and two nights later at a performance in Brooklyn she appeared as Elsa. In all the realm of operatic roles there are no two parts more unlike, and yet Klafsky was great in them both.
68Voices frequently change. Today Madame Patti sings all of her arias a key lower, and many younger singers are compelled to do likewise. This does no harm to the arias, and it does help to preserve the voice. The more musical the people are the less they care for vocal pyrotechnics. Schumann advised students who wished to be musical to sing in the middle parts.
70Campobello.
72To The Musical Courier:
73Can you tell me what became of Campobello, who was once a famous opera singer. EIX.
75Enrico Campobello is singing in vaudeville. He was in New York recently.
77Josef Hofmann.
79To The Musical Courier:
80Please tell me—thereby obliging a constant reader—in what country and what city Josef Hofmann, pianist, makes his home. J. W. L., St. Louis, Mo.
82Josef Hofmann resides with his parents in Berlin, Germany.
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.