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Musical Courier 1903-07-01: Vol 47 Iss 1214, 1903
33 lines. Read by computer on 21 September 2026. Printed page 8. See the scan on archive.org.
1work. Even in the somewhat adverse circumstances it was possible to see what Dr. Elgar has done for the oratorio form, a form which has practically remained stationary while other forms have progressed. By effecting that union between the voices and the orchestra which Wagner effected in opera he has endowed oratorio with a new life, and in his hands we may hope to see it advance still further. Dr. Elgar conducted, and a special word of praise is due to the beautiful singing of the mezzo soprano music by Miss Muriel Foster. The bass solos were in the hands of F. Davies.
3As the performance of "Die Meistersinger" at Covent Garden Tuesday evening clashed with the last Strauss concert, I was unable to hear more than a portion of it. Such as I heard, however, did not impress me very much, and it was evident that the opera needed a few more rehearsals. The new Eva, Frau Fenge Gleiss, has a voice of the lightest order, which she uses cleverly enough. Her acting, however, was in no way remarkable. Herr Knotte, the Walther, was never at his best, and toward the end of the opera his voice had manifestly become tired. Even Herr van Rooy was not in perfect voice, though his acting was as excellent as ever. The other parts were adequately filled and Herr Lohse conducted.
5Thursday Madame Melba made her reappearance in "La Bohème," and the house, as is always the case on a Melba night, sparkled with diamonds. There is no singer in the world who has brought the art to such a pitch of perfection as has Madame Melba, and, though her acting not infrequently leaves something to be desired, it is always possible to enjoy her performance of Mimi. On Thursday she was quite at her best, and delighted her audience as much as ever. The other parts were admirably filled by Signor Scotti, Pini Corsi, M. Journet, Signor Bonci and Mme. Fritzi Scheff, and Signor Mancelli conducted.
7So great has been the rush of music this week that it is impossible to give all the concerts the attention that they deserve, and I must, in consequence, dismiss briefly many performances on which I should have liked to dwell. One of these is the delightful sonata recital given at St. James' Hall on Monday afternoon by Raoul Pugno and Jean Gerardy. The concert was delightful from beginning to end, but its most attractive feature was the beautiful performance given of Grieg's Sonata in C minor for piano and violoncello. No more sympathetic or finished reading could have been desired, and it is to be hoped that the two players, who are admirably suited to one another in style and temperament, will see their way to repeating it.
9On Monday afternoon the American pianist, Victor Benham, gave an interesting recital at the Queen's Hall. Mr. Benham seems to have discarded the exaggerations of style which were sometimes noticeable in his previous concerts. Beethoven's Sonata in D minor (op. 31) was played with clear and fluent expression, and ample justice was done to Schumann's Etudes Symphoniques, the brilliant finale being specially well played. The artist was also heard in his own Sonata in C minor. The work is in the orthodox four movements and is in strictly classical form. It was well received by the public, the sparkling little scherzo seeming to find most favor. Other items of the program were Mozart's Fantasia in C minor, a group of Chopin pieces and a brilliant Etude de Concert by the concert giver.
11Alexander Glazounow was the guest of the Philharmonic Society at their concert at the Queen's Hall on Thursday evening. Neither his Seventh Symphony nor his Suite "Aus der Mittelalter," which were both practically new to London, as the former had only been played at a semi-private concert, are very likely to become popular here. The symphony by no means shows its composer at his best, and though it contains some fine passages, particularly in the second and third movements, it also contains some passages that are tedious beyond words. The suite is considerably more successful. It consists of four movements, each dealing with some aspect of life in the Middle Ages. The first has a love episode beside the sea for its basis, the second a dance of death, the third a troubadour's serenade, and the fourth the marshaling of an army for battle. M. Glazounow has treated his subjects with considerable fancy and skill, and the suite shows his talent in a far more favorable light than the symphony. The principal soloist of the concert was Miss Adela Verne, who scored a great success in her performance of Schumann's concerto. Miss Verne has made her way to the front very rapidly, and she has now taken her place at the head of the English lady players. She has both technic and temperament, and the music was admirably played, while the romance was at the same time perfectly expressed. The program also included a good performance under Dr. Cowen of "Till Eulenspiegel."
13A new pianist has just risen upon the musical horizon in the person of Frank Merrick, a young English player who should go very far. Mr. Merrick is still not much more than a boy, but at his recital at the Bechstein Hall on Thursday afternoon he showed that his attainments are altogether beyond his years. He has a fine technic, a beautiful touch and that greatest of all gifts, a thoroughly musical temperament. He is one of those few players for whom a great career may be prophesied with absolute certainty.
15ZARATHUSTRA.
17OTHER LONDON NEWS.
19HOTEL CECIL, LONDON.
20June 20, 1903.
22URING the last few months there has certainly been a considerable revival of interest in English music, and the sign is most welcome. For, even if we go on the popular assumption that English composers are not given to producing masterpieces, there can be no shadow of a doubt that they are not likely to do any better if they are afforded no encouragement, and one of the best ways to stimulate them to fresh exertions is to give them a chance of hearing their works performed. Occasionally it is to be feared that the enterprising concert-giver who makes an effort to encourage his fellow countrymen does not meet with the recognition that he deserves, and the recitals of English songs which Edward Iles has been giving at Bechstein Hall have not attracted particularly large audiences, although both the singer and the songs were very well worth hearing. The programs of the last two recitals have been devoted to composers who have long since made their mark as song writers—Dr. Charles Wood and Arthur Somervell. Up to the present time Dr. Wood is only known in this country by a very few of his songs, although he has produced a great number, all of which are exceedingly interesting. Perhaps his songs are too serious for the average musical amateur, and need more art than the ordinary singer is able to bring to bear upon them. "Youth and Age," "Does the Road Wind Uphill All the Way," "The Magic Mist" and "The Outlaw of Loch Lene," to name but a few of them, are songs of the greatest beauty, though that beauty does not always lie upon the surface, and one can easily understand that the average amateur vocalist would not make very much of them. Dr. Wood was, however, fortunate in having so excellent an interpreter as Mr. Iles, who did the fullest justice to all of the songs.
24Arthur Somervell is, of course, widely known as a song writer of great charm and refinement, who has a flow of very pleasing ideas. Many of the songs that Mr. Iles included in his program were already well known, and it is unnecessary to dwell upon the songs from Tennyson's "Maud" or the "Love in Springtime" cycle, a selection from which was sung by Mr. Iles and Miss Gleason White respectively. The cycle "Wind Flowers" was, however, new, and it is quite safe to prophesy popularity for this delightful set of quartets and solos. Mr. Somervell combines a talent for graceful melody with sound musicianship, and his ideas are never wasted by inadequate treatment. The quartets "Hope Is a Harebell," "Music When Soft Voices Die" and "When a Mounting Skylark Sings" are as perfect examples of his art as anything that he has given us, and they were well sung by Miss White, Miss Parry, Mr. Marlo and Mr. Iles. Mr. Iles certainly has added very considerably to his reputation by these recitals, for he has not only done very excellent work by introducing a number of fine songs which deserved a better fate than oblivion, but he has also shown himself a singer with a grasp upon his art which is not too common in these days.
26A very delightful violin and piano recital was given at St. James' Hall on Friday afternoon by Edouard Risler and M. Oliveira. M. Risler is, of course, already well known here as a pianist of unusual finish, and it was quite obvious that in M. Oliveira he has a violinist who is exactly suited to him both in style and in temperament. It would scarcely have been possible to wish for a more finished performance of Mozart's Sonata in B flat than that which was given by these two admirable artists.
28Although Kubelik climbed into fame by means of his technic, his fireworks at his recital at Queen's Hall on Saturday afternoon were really far less remarkable than his cantabile playing. Indeed, his performance of Paganini's "Campanella" was not a little slipshod, and he by no means reached the same level in this that he reached in a Sonata of Corelli and a transcription of Schubert's "Ave Maria," which he included in his encores. It is unnecessary to say that everything that he did was received with unbounded enthusiasm, for it is becoming a tradition that Kubelik, like the king, can do no wrong, and his audiences never exercise the slightest discrimination. But it cannot be denied that the enthusiasm was occasionally a little misplaced, and that we have heard his displays of virtuosity at least equalled if not surpassed by many violinists who, unfortunately for themselves, have never enjoyed a vogue. This unreasoning adulation is all the more to be regretted when a violinist of Willy Burmester's calibre finds himself obliged to abandon half his concerts because the public refuse to give them adequate support.
30A very promising young English pianist, Leonard Burke, gave an excellent recital at the Salle Erard on Monday afternoon. Mr. Burke, who is a scholarship pupil of Miss Mathilde Verne, is gifted with an uncommonly good technic, and, so far as it was possible to judge from his performances of two Preludes and Fugues of Bach and Schumann's Andante with Variations, in which he was joined by Miss Verne, a really musical temperament. He is a player who should do very well indeed.
32Richard Platt, the young American pianist who made his first appearance in England with the Mengelberg Orchestra at one of the Strauss festival concerts, gave a re-
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