Scan 4
Musical Courier 1911-03-22: Vol 62 Iss 12, 1911
27 lines. Read by computer on 26 September 2026. Printed page 5. See the scan on archive.org.
1JENAER ST., 21.
2BERLIN, W., March 4, 1911.
4Zimbalist was the soloist of the ninth Philharmonic concert on Monday, this being his first appearance in this city with Nikisch, although he has played under that great conductor both at the Gewandhaus and at the Hamburg concerts. The youthful Russian gave a wonderful performance of the Tchaikowsky concerto, the best that has been heard of the work in this city in many a year. Zimbalist has gained very much in temperament since he was last heard here; his playing has always been characterized by exquisite finish, sweet, beautiful tone quality and musicianship of the most refined kind. All of these characteristics were shown in an increased degree in his rendering of the Tchaikowsky concerto, but the violinist's tone has gained in breadth and expression; his cantilena was beautiful and soulful, while his passages were played with vigor and elan. The purity of Zimbalist's intonation is astonishing. Of course, this remarkable fidelity to the pitch has much to do with the entrancing beauty of tone that he draws from his Strad; it is a tone of ethereal loveliness, wholly free from earthly dross; one does not hear the friction of the hairs on the bow nor any of the mechanical processes of tone production. Zimbalist's tone is like molten silver. He played the cantabile parts with breadth and authority, and made them stand out in bold contrast to the passages, which he took at a very lively tempo, withal with great clearness. Zimbalist is a real violin genius and already he takes very high rank among living virtuosi. The other numbers of the program were the overture to Cornelius' "Barber of Bagdad," two movements from Humperdinck's "Moorish" rhapsody, and the Schumann D minor symphony. The movements of the Humperdinck rhapsody bear the titles, "Tarifa, or an Elegy to Sunset," and "Tangier, or a Night in a Moorish Café." It is not very individual music that Humperdinck has written, but it is pleasing in its melodic outlines and full of characteristic coloring in the instrumentation. The elegy opens with a suave melody sung by the muted violins pianissimo; then follows the soft, mournful shepherd's song, played by the English horn; the depressing influence of the Oriental fatalism revealed in this is relieved by a lively theme for oboe. The "Night in a Moorish Café" is illustrated by themes and harmonies that are very suggestive; there is life and color in this movement. As a whole, however, the music of the rhapsody lacks the stamp of a strong individuality. Nikisch closed the program with an admirable performance of the Schumann symphony.
6Godowsky gave a Chopin recital in the large hall of the Philharmonie, and he showed that he acted wisely in choosing for this purpose Berlin's largest concert hall, for an audience turned out that filled it almost to the last seat. The program was popular in character and comprised the F minor fantasy, the B flat minor sonata and the better known etudes, preludes and waltzes. At the beginning the great pianist seemed a bit tired, but he soon warmed up to his work and he has never played better than he did in the latter part of the program. Godowsky's plastic touch, his golden, singing tone, and his marvelous execution, combined with his exquisite refinement of interpretation, make his Chopin playing a thing of joy. At the end of the program he had at least a dozen recalls and he responded with some half dozen encores.
8As Frieda Hempel, Berlin's star coloratura singer, will be singing at the Metropolitan next season, the management of the Royal Opera is looking for a substitute. Mlle. Dufau, of Milan, has sung here in the "Barber of Seville" and "Traviata," with such a temporary engagement in view. Frieda Hempel will return to Berlin, of course, after the New York season. Mlle. Dufau has a light, flexible voice and a very considerable degree of technical skill. In the first act of the "Barber" she was nervous and sang a bit off the key, but in Proch's variations, in which she was heard in the second act, she did some admirable coloratura work. In "Traviata," too, she was nervous in the first two acts, but later on she braced up and did very well. To be sure, her voice lacks individual charm and she could by no means fill the place of Hempel, but she is a singer of many merits.
10Moritz Mayer-Mahr gave a recital in Blüthner Hall on Wednesday evening before a good sized audience, demonstrating again that he is entitled to a high rank among the piano virtuosi of the day. Mayer-Mahr combines in a high degree brilliancy and accuracy of execution with poetry and sentiment of conception. His interpretations are straightforward, legitimate and in excellent taste. He has a beautiful legato, which is always in evidence, not only in his cantabile playing, but also in rapid passage work. His program comprised the Beethoven thirty-two variations in C minor, Brahms' intermezzo, Liszt's "Legend of the Holy St. Francis Walking on the Waves," the Rubinstein E flat polonaise and four of his own compositions, entitled "Elfenspiel," "Devotionale," "Fantasietück" and "Bagatelle." Although a very busy teacher, both with private lessons and with his large class conducted at the Scharwenka Conservatory, Mayer-Mahr finds time to keep his technic and repertory up to concert pitch, and whenever he appears in public as a soloist one is sure of hearing some admirable piano playing.
12A gifted young violinist made his debut in Beethoven Hall with the Philharmonic Orchestra, playing the Mozart E flat, Spohr's eighth and the Tchaikowsky concertos. The boy is a pupil of Alexander Petschnikoff, who conducted the orchestra. Zdzislaw Jahnke, the youthful debutant, made an excellent impression, displaying a technic that was remarkable for a youth of his age, and he seems also to have an instinctive knowledge of musical values, for his phrasing and his accents were in splendid taste. He is a very promising boy.
14On Thursday evening a concert was given in the Singakademie by Heinrich Maurer, pianist, with the assistance of Prof. Hugo Heermann, violin, and Jacques van Lier, cello. Maurer seems to make a specialty of chamber music, for he was heard only in works of that nature. The program consisted of the Brahms C minor trio, Saint-Saëns' sonata in the same key, for piano and cello, and the Schubert B flat trio. Maurer proved to be an admirable pianist and musician. His playing was technically finished, tonally sympathetic and well balanced as to ensemble; he did not give too much, as pianists are apt to do when playing with violin and cello, nor on the other hand did he give too little. He found just the happy medium; his conceptions were very artistic and his phrasing tasteful. Maurer is an ensemble player to be reckoned with. He has also been heard here several times this winter as an accompanist to singers in which capacity he also made an excellent impression. His two distinguished partners on Tuesday played in the finished manner that was to be expected of such experienced artists.
16Maria Carreras, the Italian pianist, is beginning to find her public in Berlin. By that I mean an audience that can always be reckoned on whenever this artist appears. The program of her second concert consisted chiefly of Chopin; she played, the B minor sonata, three preludes, the A flat ballade, F minor fantasy and the B minor scherzo. Her closing number, however, was Schumann's "Carnival." Madame Carreras plays with the vigor and strength of a man and no tour de force seems to be too much for her. Her technical command of the keyboard is such that there are practically no difficulties for her, so that she is free to give rein to her fantasy and get thoroughly into the spirit of the composition. Works calling for bravura seem to suit her best, yet she has charming lyric moments, and she "sings" beautifully on the piano. She is an artist of great earnestness and seriousness; this is shown by the way she enters into her work with heart and soul, and in a broader sense also by the way she has steadily come to the fore.
18A large audience assembled in the Philharmonie last evening to listen to a Wagnerian program under the leadership of Felix Mottl, consisting of the Vorspiel to the third act of the "Meistersinger," the Vorspiel to "Tristan and Isolde," and "Isolde's Liebestod," the overture to "Lohengrin," the "Trauermusik," and the closing scene from "Götterdämmerung." Mottl is a wonderful conductor of Wagner's music and has long since and justly been considered so by the entire musical world. It cannot be gainsaid, however, that he inclines to drag the tempi and that more enthusiasm could be infused into his interpretations. Yet the impression last evening was on the whole a grand one, so far as instrumental selections were concerned. A decided disappointment was the singing of Zdenska Fassbender, of Munich, who has gained a national reputation as a Wagner singer. She proved disappointing from the standpoint of vocal qualities and of delivery; her voice sounded neither large nor penetrating and a continual excessive tremolo greatly marred the natural beauty of her organ; moreover, she lacks temperament and failed utterly to rise to the grandeur of the "Liebestod." The audience seemed to feel her shortcomings, for she had but scant applause.
20Two young Americans concertized with the Philharmonic Orchestra in Beethoven Hall on the previous evening—Louis Cornell, pianist, and Louis Persinger, violinist. Persinger already has been heard here twice this season and each time with pronounced success. At this concert again he made a splendid impression with his finished and temperamental performance of the Bruch G minor concerto. Cornell, also, if I mistake not, has been heard here before. He is a pupil of Rudolph Ganz. He gave an excellent reading of the Schumann concerto, playing it with a great deal of technical accuracy and finish and with excellent tone coloring. He is a talented youth and serious endeavor is revealed in all that he does.
22The accompanying caricature of Godowsky is by Adelina Sacerdoti, the daughter of the late owner and builder of the Philharmonie. Miss Sacerdoti has pronounced talent for cartooning, and although she has never had any instruction in drawing, she gets remarkable likenesses. The caricature shows Godowsky executing one of his transcendental left-hand Chopin arrangements.
24A new opera, to be called Kurfürsten-Oper, is to be established in Berlin at the corner of the Kurfürsten and Nürnberger streets, close by the Zoo. The director of this new operatic undertaking is to be Maximilian Moris, hitherto chief stage manager at the Berlin Comic Opera. The new opera house is to be built by Hildenbrandt and Nicolaus, the well known architects.
26Richard Strauss' "Rosenkavalier," at its first performance at La Scala, had a comparative fiasco, in spite of the presence of the composer. The Italians would have naught of the waltzes and dance themes and they found the comic parts of the libretto tedious. Nevertheless, Strauss was called out four times after the first act; but after the second the hisses drowned the applause and it was only with great difficulty that the third act could be finished. However, the beautiful trio and duet at the close pleased the audience and compensated in some degree for what they
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