Scan 8
Musical Courier 1906-06-13: Vol 52 Iss 1368, 1906
38 lines. Read by computer on 23 September 2026. Printed page 9. See the scan on archive.org.
1sing a real pianissimo. What I admired a good deal, too, was the absolute precision of their attack; at times the notes fell on the ear like hammer strokes. One of the most striking things on the program on Friday was Schubert's beautiful "Gesang der Geister über den Wassern," which was magnificently sung. In Schumann's "Ritornello" and Brahms' "Lullaby," they gave examples of their exquisite delicacy of tone, while a "Totenvolk," by Hegar, and "Der Leiermann" by Othegraeven, furnished opportunities for fine displays of virtuosity. On Monday evening they sang Wagner's "Das Liebesmahl der Apostel" and some choruses by the two conductors of the society, Herren Heuberger and Kremser, who officiated alternately at both concerts. A fine ballad "Nun Grösse dich Gott" by the former, and "Altniederländisch" by the latter, were most appreciated. The choir sang at Buckingham Palace last night.
3On Sunday evening, Herr Krupp gave a banquet at the Savoy to the choir and others. There was a champagne fountain and other appendages of the simple life.
5There were a good many concerts last Saturday. At Bechstein Hall, M. de Pachmann made his reappearance after a two years' absence. His playing retains all its old perfection of detail and poetic elegance. Also he still takes the audience into his confidence, and still "makes faces" at them. But one forgets all this in the charm of his performance. A Chopin group was played as only de Pachmann can play that composer's works, and a Mozart sonata also received a most delightful interpretation from him. Weber's "Perpetuum Mobile" and some of Mendelssohn's "Lieder ohne Worte" were also played brilliantly. De Pachmann gives a Chopin recital on Saturday week.
7At Queen's Hall Kreisler gave his only recital of the season, and his playing was as superb as ever. Again he proved himself to be unapproachable in his interpretation of the earlier masters. The dignity and elegance of his playing of Handel's sonata in E major completely fascinated one, and of the Bach "Chaconne" he gave a splendid virile yet poetic interpretation—a true classical rendering. The same might be said of his performance of Beethoven's romance in G. Kreisler also played a good many arrangements, notably the rondo from Mozart's "Haffner" serenade, the slow movement of Weber's clarinet concerto, and a "Moment Musical" of Schubert, all given with perfection of finish in phrasing, rhythm, and beauty of tone. Moreover, just to show the public that he could, if he wished, have beaten the "firework" players at their own game, Kreisler played Hubay's "Scènes de la Czardas" with dazzling brilliance. Dorothy Wiley sang a number of songs very creditably during the afternoon.
9With an orchestra supporting her, Mme. Saenger-Sethe was more brilliant than ever on Tuesday of last week, when she appeared at Bechstein Hall, with the London Symphony Orchestra and Dr. Cowen to accompany her. The program was mainly made up of two concertos, Mozart in E flat (played by special request) and Brahms' in D major. I have often spoken of Mme. Saenger-Sethe's beautiful Mozart playing; on this occasion it was quite flawless, and there was a simple purity of style and charm of expression that were irresistible. Moreover, there was any amount of dash and fire in the more brilliant parts of the work. As to the Brahms concerto—well, I am not a great lover of its austere beauties, but must confess that it suits this artist's noble breadth of style admirably, and her rendering of it is a most satisfying one. Especially fine was her playing in the first movement. Mme. Saenger-Sethe also played most brilliantly Wilhelmy's "Parsifal" paraphrase.
11The prodigy plague looks like breaking out again. Four "Wunderkinder" were heard last week. Horszowski was heard again on Friday at Queen's Hall, and confirmed previous favorable opinion. On Wednesday, Joska Szigetti, a violinist prodigy, a pupil of Hubay, made his debut. He is gifted, but not so much as the other violin prodigies that have been heard during the past two years. Then on Thursday an English boy, Lionel Ovenden, made his appearance as violinist, pianist and composer. He is gifted in each sphere, but would do well not to appear any more for some years to come.
13Richard Buhlig gave his only piano recital of the season on Wednesday, and a very interesting one it was too. He played Schubert's fine sonata in A beautifully, and charmed his audience with some of Debussy's cleverest pieces.
15A clever Irish violinist, Madge Murphy, made a debut on Thursday evening. She is a Sevcik pupil and a player of remarkable gifts.
17On Wednesday evening the Handel Society produced a new work by Coleridge-Taylor, "Kubla Khan," which will scarcely add to his reputation, for it proved to be rather commonplace and uninteresting. Edna Thornton sang its solo portions.
19A fine performance of "Gerontius" was given by the London Choral Society last Tuesday week before a very good audience. Alice Lakin sang the Angel's music very capably, and the chorus was much improved.
21The popular young American violinist, Francis Macmillen, gave a highly successful recital at Queen's Hall last evening. A full account of the concert will appear in my next letter.
23MORE LONDON ITEMS.
25For the past week Blanche Marchesi has been singing in Dublin, where she has (as is always the case) met with the greatest possible success. The audiences were most enthusiastic in their applause of whatever she sang, and the critics were unanimous as to the merit of her voice, style and great artistic ability. Her phrasing and pronunciation, even in the extreme upper register, were particularly mentioned as most admirable. It was also pointed out that while most sopranos when singing trills produce a kind of vibrato without any semblance of a musical note, Mme. Marchesi produces in a tonal and semi-tonal shake two notes with absolute fidelity. It is probable that Mme. Marchesi will again go to Berlin for some song recitals, as after the great enthusiasm manifested there about her singing a few weeks ago, the demand has been growing for her return. The Emperor has signified his wish to have Mme. Marchesi sing at the palace again as soon as her other engagements will permit.
27Next week Gertrude Peppercorn will give her only recital this season at Aeolian Hall. Her program as arranged will include the rondo in G and sonata in E flat (Beethoven), sonata in B minor (Liszt), bourée (Silas), menuetto (Zanella), "Etude Mignon" (Arthur Foote), six preludes (Chopin), and the overture to "Tannhäuser" (Wagner-Liszt). The menuetto by Zanella, which has been played with great success by d'Albert on the Continent, will be played for the first time in London by Miss Peppercorn. It is her intention to take a holiday trip somewhere in rural England, then return to town for autumn engagements. These include a recital tour in Holland, and soon after January 1 she will play a three months' tour in the United States.
29Last Thursday afternoon Mrs. Weldon gave an "at home" at her residence in Holland Park, when Margaret Vereker was one of the soloists. This young contralto has been singing at many private as well as public recitals during the past winter, and now that the season is really on is kept very busy with engagements.
31In the program given by Mrs. George Swinton at her recital last week were four Russian songs which attracted particular attention, as they were sung in the language in which they were written. Two of them, "The Green Willow Tree" and "O'er the Sad Steppes," were by Gretschinoff, and the others, "Garden in Bloom," by Arensky, and "The Reapers," by Rachmaninoff.
33A concert by Patti is announced for Albert Hall on June 14, which, it is said, will be positively her only appearance in London this season. Other artists appearing are Ada Crossley, Ben Davies, Mr. Santley, Vivien Charters, Signor Busoni, H. C. Tonkin, Wilhelm Ganz and F. A. Sewell.
35Minnie Hauk, who has recently been singing in Monte Carlo, is on a short visit to England.
37One of the successful concerts of the past week was that of the London Symphony Orchestra at Queen's Hall, when
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