Scan 4
Musical Courier 1907-03-20: Vol 54 Iss 12, 1907
34 lines. Read by computer on 26 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
A town on its own line is one of the directory's headings. That is where the town on a maker's page comes from.
1BERLIN
3Philipp Scharwenka's sixtieth birthday was celebrated on Sunday with a big concert given in the large hall of the Royal High School by the pupils and orchestra of the Klindworth-Scharwenka Conservatory under the direction of Robert Robitschek. The program was made up entirely of compositions by Professor Scharwenka. Philipp Scharwenka, like his younger brother, Xaver, occupies a position of great prominence in the musical world. For more than thirty years he has been active as a composer and has produced many compositions of permanent value. Among them may be named his two choral works, "Sakuntala" and "Herbstfeier," his several orchestral suites, trios, his "Festival" overture, two symphonies, his dramatic fantasy for orchestra, numerous piano pieces, violin sonatas, trios and lieder. Scharwenka is an idealist and all of his works bear the stamp of sincerity. He has remained untouched by all the morbidness and perversity of our times, and has kept to his lofty and ideal art standards. He possesses a poetic nature and has remained true to it.
5Scharwenka is not the man to push himself forward and thus we find that his works are not played to the great extent which is their due. While listening on Sunday to his compositions, all of which were new to me, I thought how far superior they were to most of the novelties one hears in Berlin during the concert season. Scharwenka has ideas; he has a wealth of melodic and thematic invention; his thoughts are clothed in appropriate, interesting and aesthetic harmonic garbs and he is a complete master of form. He ever reveals his love for the poetic and the romantic and his youthful fire and enthusiasm lend a vivid interest to all of his works. This was the program of the concert on Sunday:
7Serenade in E flat for orchestra (appeared in 1880 as op. 10; composed in 1870-71).
8Marcia, andante con moto, tempo di menuetto, rondo pastorale.
9Bergfahrt, op. 36, six piano pieces (composed in 1880).
10Aufbruch, Zigeuner in der Waldschenke, Einsamer Pfad, Abenteuer, Im Mondschein, Am Ziel.
11Ernst Wolff, pupil of Philipp Scharwenka.
12Menuet und Perpetuum Mobile, op. 24, for violin with piano accompaniment (composed in 1876).
13Daniel Mehlack, pupil of Issay Barmas.
14Nocturno in E flat, op. 16, for piano (composed in 1874).
15Humoreske in E, op. 32, for piano (composed in 1888).
16Erna Klein, pupil of Philipp Scharwenka.
17Arkadische Suite in B, op. 76, for orchestra (composed in 1887).
18Frühlingsfeier, Ländliches Fest, Damon und Daphne (menuett), Schäfers Liebesklage und Ständchen, Brautzug und Hochzeitsfeier.
20The serenade is a bright, fresh spirited composition; both it and the "Arcadian" suite were given admirable performances by the orchestra under the genial leadership of Robert Robitschek, the director of the conservatory. Robitschek, who is a born conductor, has accomplished wonders with this body of youthful musicians. I was astonished at the precision of attack and rhythm, the tonal beauty, the technical finish and the fire and élan in the playing of the young musicians. In fact this orchestra is not to be classed as a conservatory orchestra at all, but as a symphony orchestra worthy to play in first class symphony concerts. It is not saying too much to assert that it is superior to the Mozart symphony orchestra. The strings, of which the violins are nearly all pupils of Issay Barmas, were especially efficient. This orchestra is an honor to the Klindworth-Scharwenka Conservatory and Robitschek can be proud of having trained it to such a high degree of proficiency. The pupils, on the other hand, are fortunate in being able to acquire orchestral experience and routine under such a great conductor as Robitschek. He has breadth of conception; he is a master of all dynamic gradations; he has an eye to technical detail without, however, losing sight of the effect as a whole, and he is full of temperament and enthusiasm. The "Bergfahrt" for piano is a piece of many moods, the merry and joyous, the melancholy, poetic and dreamy following each other in pleasing contrast. It received an excellent rendering at the hands of Ernst Wolff, a pupil of Philipp Scharwenka. The menuett and perpetuum mobile should be on the repertory of every violinist. For the virtuoso, possessing a big tone on the G string and a good command of staccato bowing, it is an effective and grateful work. It was astonishingly well played by Daniel Mehlack, a pupil of Barmas, a little thirteen year old Russian boy. Erna Klein, another pupil of Scharwenka, played the two piano pieces, nocturno and humoreske, revealing herself a piano talent of the first order; she has a beautiful tone, a clear reliable technic, musical intelligence and an abundance of temperament.
22At the conclusion of the program, Scharwenka was called out on to the platform and overwhelmed with applause and cheers. He received two huge laurel wreaths, one from the pupils of the conservatory and the other from the teachers. He was congratulated on all sides. After the concert a banquet was given in his honor at the restaurant of the Theatre des Westens (West Side Opera), in which some fifty guests participated.
24A ridiculous report was spread about that Jacques Thibaud had become insane, that he imagined the thumb of his left hand interfered with his changing positions and that, after endeavoring in vain to persuade various physicians to cut it off, he had determined to do so himself. If Thibaud was crazy when he played here last Saturday, then take ye to the madhouse, O ye fiddlers, and learn how to play! A more fascinating performance of Saint-Saëns' B minor concerto could not be imagined. There were vigor of attack in the first movement and capriciousness and esprit in the finale. And that andantino! How wonderfully the tender poetic pastoral mood of this movement was depicted by him! And how Thibaud made the Mendelssohn concerto soar and sing and sparkle. The Bach chaconne and Saint-Saëns rondo capriccioso, which he did here at his first concert a few weeks ago, were repeated by special request and he played the chaconne much better this time. It is in the golden, sunny music of Saint-Saëns, however, that the distinguished Frenchman excels; therein he is a violinistic poet speaking in eloquent verse. The hall was crowded and the artist received an ovation.
26Lilli Lehmann's last song recital drew an enormous audience to the Philharmonie. Every seat of hall and platform was taken and in the standing room the people were crowded together like bees in a hive. One always, perforce, marvels anew at the wonderful preservation of the diva's vocal art; there are times when her voice sounds as fresh and beautiful as it did twenty years ago; in her readings the great vocal artist is always in evidence. She rose to colossal heights in some of her songs. Mme. Lehmann chose a Schubert program and scored, as always, an enormous success.
28Maria Speet gave a lecture on singing, hygienic speaking and breathing gymnastics at the Künstlerhaus on Friday. The celebrated vocal teacher talked for more than an hour, giving valuable information on the art of breathing in connection with word and tone; on the speaking voice in its relation to art and hygiene, and as a preparation for singing. She then gave practical illustrations of speaking exercises and the transition from these to singing. These illustrations were very interesting; Mme. Speet took all the vowels in succession; she started with a sentence made up of words containing the vowel "I" only; this was first declaimed in the ordinary way; the second time she repeated it intoning somewhat; the third time, more, and at the fourth repetition she sang the words. She also spoke on the subject of the treatment of ruined voices, of catarrh of the throat and nervous aphonies. Then one of her pupils, Amelia Lieberknecht, sang "Ave Maria," by Luigi Luzzi, and also songs by Wagner, Brahms and Federico Gerdes. Miss Lieberknecht is a remarkable demonstration of the efficiency of Mme. Speet's method of voice production, for when the young lady began to study with her, her voice was as thin as a thread and was quite uneven. Now it is full and penetrating and of a rich velvety quality, every tone is placed and her scale is absolutely even throughout the three registers. Mme. Speet is one of the leading authorities of Europe on voice production.
30My assistant, Miss Haring, writes:
31"The ninth Nikisch concert brought Ferruccio Busoni as the soloist, and the ominous red ticket 'Ausverkauft' ('Sold Out') on the closed shutter of the box office greeted all who had not provided for their admission beforehand. A small crowd stood waiting in the hope of some one wishing to dispose of tickets. The program consisted of Haydn's G major symphony, the Mozart D minor piano concerto, the Handel concerto, No. 2, in F major, and the fifth Tschaikowsky symphony. The Haydn work is typical of the old Austrian master's happiest style, and in point of buoyancy of spirit, fullness of life, innocent joyousness, a subtlety of contrapuntal technic and a wealth of melody refreshing alike to heart and brain, this symphony is unsurpassed by any other from the pen of the same composer, though it is built on simpler lines than many of them.
33"Busoni gives the purest, loftiest and most ideal reading of Mozart. His profound musical understanding and poetic nature imbue his reading with the very spirit of the composer whose works he interprets. His wonderful technic that is but a means, long-since acquired, toward and end—his full singing tone of unending carrying power even in its extremest pianissimos, his phrasing, that delicate variety of tonal color, and then his moments of melting tenderness—what contrast with the incisive mood when one hears fate issuing the inexorable decrees! Busoni's playing is full of meaning, full of poetry! If he sometimes appears cold, then it is the coldness of champagne, with the sparkle and tingling glow of life within. It is the pinnacle of perfection. The applause and acclamation at the close of the concerto were more for him and his masterly performance than for the composition itself, with all its ever fresh beauty. There is just now a rush of popular feeling in favor of modern music, and the public, in exchange for much banging of drums, clashing of cymbals and fanfare of trumpets, willingly forego the spontaneous melodies and delightful harmonies of Mozart. No doubt it all sounds too 'easy'! Busoni played cadenzas of his own composition, in which he has, with much power, entwined the Mozart themes with modern virtuosity. The Handel concerto for orchestra was not very cordially received, albeit it is a beautiful and wonderfully well sounding work. It is
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.