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Musical Courier 1904-06-29: Vol 48 Iss 1266, 1904
33 lines. Read by computer on 22 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1HOTEL CECIL, LONDON.
2June 15, 1904.
4It is not often that Covent Garden adds three new singers of such calibre as Fraulein Kurz, Fraulein Plaichinger and Mlle. Russ to its forces in the course of a single week. All these singers have, however, come, seen and conquered since my last letter. Fraulein Kurz, who made her début in "Rigoletto" on Tuesday evening, is, of course, very well known in Vienna, where she has the reputation of being one of the best all round artists of the day, and equally at home in German and Italian opera. From her performance of Tuesday I should say that she is probably at her best in the former. Her voice is powerful and of good quality, she is a clever actress and she has a charming presence. But her singing has not quite all the finish that the part of Gilda requires. "Rigoletto" is pre-eminently a singer's opera, and there are few except those who have been trained in the Italian school who can do the music real justice. Mlle. Kurz's singing, however, if it did not reach the summit of perfection, made a very good impression, and she should do great things in "Tannhäuser," in which she is to play Elizabeth this week. Caruso as the Duke was, of course, magnificent, while the rest of the cast remained unchanged.
6Fraulein Plaichinger also came here with a great reputation, which she certainly justified on Thursday evening when she appeared as Isolde in "Tristan." She has a fine, powerful voice, and she knows how to use it better than most Wagnerian prime donne. Though not absolutely a great actress, her powers are far above the average, and she is evidently not a slave to the conventions. Her gestures are natural and unaffected, and if something of the "tragedy queen" element was wanting in the first act she made ample amends in the love scenes, which were admirably played. Herr van Dyck's singing is not, of course, what it once was, principally on account of the fact that he generally succeeds in breaking all the recognized laws of voice production in the course of the evening. In spite of this, however, he remains the greatest Tristan of the day, and one would not willingly have seen his place in Thursday's performance taken by anyone else. The Kurwenal of Herr Schutz was also better dramatically than vocally. The quality of his tone in his scenes in the first act did not always accord with our ideas of beauty, though it is of the kind that finds great favor at Bayreuth. But he is a good actor, and he played the last scene particularly well. Mme. Kirkby Lunn once more made an excellent Brangâne, and Richter conducted.
8Richter's period of office at the conductor's desk seems to have had a great moral effect at Covent Garden. Not only have the performances of the German operas reached an infinitely higher standard than ever before but even the Italian operas seem to have been far more carefully rehearsed than usual, and if the present level is maintained the syndicate will be able at the end of July to look back upon the most artistically successful season that has been held at Covent Garden for years. The performance of "Aida" on Monday evening was by far the best that we have ever seen here. The ensemble has often been a weak point in the Covent Garden performances, but on Monday it was really admirable, and the opera went with a crispness and spirit which could scarcely have been surpassed. Even the members of the ballet caught the infection and danced as if they enjoyed it, and not as if they were performing bears compelled to go through a hateful task by means of hot plates. Mlle. Russ, the new Aida, made an immediate success. Her voice is undeniably a little worn, and some of her notes are rather wiry. But she evidently has great dramatic powers, and her conception of the part was one of the most striking that we have ever seen here. Signor Caruso's Radames was a splendid performance. There is no finer artist than he on the operatic stage, and he is great in everything that he does. Mme. Kirkby Lunn made a satisfactory Amneris. M. Plançon sang finely as Ramfis, and Scotti proved himself as good an Amonasro as ever.
10Arturo Tibaldi, who gave a recital at St. James' Hall on Wednesday afternoon, is scarcely likely to become a serious rival of Kubelik, Vecsey and other popular players of the day. His performances are generally marked by excellent taste, and he played a sonata of Nardini and two little pieces by Bach very pleasantly. But his playing is that of an amateur still, and he will need many years' more study before he can claim to be considered seriously. He was assisted by Mme. Eames, who made one of her very rare appearances as a lieder singer, and proved that she is not quite at her best in this particular branch of art. Like many operatic singers she evidently did not feel at home on the concert platform, and her performances of "Meine Liebe ist Grün" and one or two other songs were not very remarkable.
12Charity concerts, as a rule, are excessively tedious affairs, but that which was given at the Queen's Hall on Wednesday evening, in aid of the Saturday Lifeboat Fund, was certainly an exception. Melba, Caruso, Plançon, Kreisler and Hollman had all given their services, Saint-Saëns had come to London on purpose to take part in it, and the Queen's Hall Orchestra, under Henry Wood, played the accompaniments and a number of orchestral pieces. The concert, in consequence, became a sort of society function, and the hall probably contained more diamonds than it had ever contained before. Such a concert does not, of course, call for criticism, and it is scarcely necessary to say more than that the principal successes were won by Caruso in "Una furtiva lagrima," Plançon in the serenade from Berlioz's "Faust" and Kreisler in the adagio from Vieuxtemps' "Fourth" concerto. Society enjoyed itself very much and chatted away merrily throughout the orchestral pieces, to the obvious discomfiture of Henry Wood, in whom conversation at a concert inspires a disgust which is only second to that inspired by deputies in an orchestra.
14The history of the formation of the new London Symphony Orchestra has been given so recently in these columns that it is scarcely necessary to detail it again. Whether there is room for another orchestra in London remains to be seen, but if this new venture does not succeed it will certainly not be through any lack of merit in the band itself. Of course, most of its members have been associated for years, for they were prominent members of the Queen's Hall Orchestra before the new rule forbidding the employment of deputies came into force. The band starts on its career, therefore, with a good ensemble. A permanent conductor has not yet been engaged, and Richter conducted the first concert that the organization gave at the Queen's Hall on Thursday afternoon. The program was of a thoroughly familiar type, and included Beethoven's C minor symphony, the "Meistersinger" and "Magic Flute" overtures, Bach's suite in D, Elgar's orchestral variations and Liszt's rhapsody in F. The new orchestra certainly showed that it is a most excellent instrument for a conductor to handle. If something of the delicacy of the "Magic Flute" overture was missing, the fault was, perhaps, that of the conductor, for Richter has never been at his best in Mozart. But, apart from this, the performances were all exceptionally fine. The tone of the strings, which has always been a rather weak spot in the Queen's Hall Orchestra, was almost, if not quite, as good as that of the Philharmonic Band, while we have seldom heard more spirited and vigorous playing here. The concert did not attract the attention that it deserved, and the hall was but poorly filled.
16All violinists with any pretense to being "in the swim" now make their débuts at the age of eleven or thereabouts, and it seem that it will soon be the exception rather than the rule for players to wait until they have arrived at years of discretion before appearing on the concert platform. Miss Sibyl Keymer, who was described in the program as "Wilhelmj's marvelous child pupil," is the latest of the season's prodigies, and, if not the best of them, she is at any rate a very promising young player. Nevertheless, she would have done better to defer her debut for a few years. No child of eleven, unless an absolute genius, can hope to give a thoroughly satisfactory performance of Mendelssohn's violin concerto, and Miss Keymer, though she has an excellent technic for her age, did not grasp the feeling of the music. All children cannot be Vecseys, and it is a pity that they should try to emulate that astonishing boy when it would be far better for them to continue their studies in peace and quiet.
18Miss Gertrude Peppercorn, fresh from her American tour, gave a very interesting piano recital at the Bechstein Hall on Friday evening. Miss Peppercorn is, of course, an artist of exceptional gifts, and she has never displayed her talents in a better light than on Friday, when she gave really fine performances of Beethoven's "Waldstein" sonata, and that by Chopin in B minor. Her touch is always delightfully sympathetic, while she is endowed by nature with an unusually musical temperament. She was particularly happy in catching the poetry of the Chopin sonata, but her reading of the "Waldstein" was very little less excellent.
20Johannes Wolff, the well known violinist, gave a concert at the Aeolian Hall in the afternoon at which he had the assistance of Dr. Saint-Saëns, who appeared in the triple capacity of composer, pianist and organist.
22Since he last appeared here, Kubelik seems to have improved a good deal, and he played better at his concert at the Queen's Hall on Saturday afternoon than he has ever played before. Of course his execution has always been brilliant, and his performances of Ernst's F sharp minor and Paganini's "Non Piu Mesta" variations showed that he has lost nothing of his facility. But his playing is gaining more breadth than it used to possess, and he did more justice to Bach's suite in D than he could have done a few years ago.
24The only Patti concert of the season took place at the Albert Hall on the same afternoon. The passing years seem to have no effect on Madame Patti, or upon her taste in music. At concert after concert she sings "Angels Ever Bright and Fair," "Batti, Batti," "Pur Dicesti," "Voi Che Sapete," "Home, Sweet Home" and "Comin' Through the Rye," and she invariably sings them exceedingly well. Her top notes may have lost their beauty, but her middle notes are still wonderfully fresh, while her singing is always a lesson.
26David Bispham's engagements in America prevent him from appearing quite as often in London as his many admirers would like. He is certainly one of the most versatile artists now before the public, and whether he is on the concert platform or on the operatic stage, his performances always command attention. At his recital at St. James' Hall on Monday afternoon he showed once more how great is the variety of his gifts. There are not many singers who would be equally at home in such dramatic songs as Loewe's "Edward" and Strauss' "Lied des Steinlopfers," and such most delicate lyrics as Wolf's "Auf dem Grünen Balcon" and "Auch Kleine Dinge," and Strauss' "Sehnsucht." Mr. Bispham, however, is a great artist, and everything that he does is well done. His splendid series of performances on Monday made one regret that this is his only appearance here this season.
28One other concert of the week deserves mention, that given by Mrs. Adele Baldwin at the Bechstein Hall on Tuesday last. Mrs. Baldwin has a particularly fine contralto voice, which has been admirably trained, and she is evidently the possessor of a very musical temperament. On Tuesday she drew upon the songs of Handel, Caldara, Schumann, Brahms and Tschaikowsky, and her songs were both well chosen and sympathetically sung.
30LONDON NOTES.
32At St. James' Hall on Tuesday night Mlle. Camilla Landi made one of her rare appearances in London. In everything—in quality of voice, breadth and finish of style, command of tone color and magnetism of personality—she is in the forefront of contemporary singers, and the range of her art has seldom been more effectively displayed than on this occasion, the most striking successes of a brilliant evening being her fine declamation of the Handelian aria,
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