Scan 9
Musical Courier 1911-03-22: Vol 62 Iss 12, 1911
28 lines. Read by computer on 26 September 2026. Printed page 10. See the scan on archive.org.
1LEIPZIG, March 8, 1911.
3The twentieth Gewandhaus concert has Felix Weingartner as guest conductor, in the absence of Arthur Nikisch. The program has Weingartner's own symphony, No. 3, in E major; the overture to Mozart's "Magic Flute," and a Haydn D major symphony. Those who have long known how little composer talent the gifted conductor Weingartner has, felt much curiosity in advance of this symphony. The performance in Leipzig would indicate the symphony as the composer's best work, yet a long way behind the requirements of a good symphony. The principal reason for discredit is that the content is generally in spirit of the prevailing Richard Strauss symphonic poem, interchanged in two movements with broad waltzes by Johan Strauss. Not that there is any moral law against a Johan Strauss theme for symphony, but because Weingartner has neglected to give the waltzes the usual symphonic canonic treatment, and the Richard Strauss spirit also receives no better working out in required symphonic stability. Viewed only as to the manner of composition, the scherzo constituting the second movement might easily seem the best of the four. From the viewpoint of individual inspiration and fine sounding orchestration, the adagio is probably the most valuable, with a good margin. This movement requires nineteen of the sixty-five minutes needed for the whole work. Those persons who would like evidence on alleged relation to Richard Strauss will find it in the gossipping flourish of the very first phrase, with ecstatic up-scale runs for the strings, an up-scale chromatic glide for the flute, and many other touches. This brings the first movement about to the status of a symphonic poem, with the half properly accreditable to the spirit of another composer. After the better written scherzo, with an intentional episode like Johann Strauss, the adagio starts in somber, plain song in major, for low horns and strings. In the course of various plans of extension and development, the movement repeatedly has the power to interest and delight through great melodic warmth. Another theme, almost in archaic spirit and very beautiful, goes visiting over the entire orchestra and helps the entertainment perceptibly. The last movement starts with a mysterious stroke by the piccolos, followed by other high woodwind, then a mysterious figure for cellos and contrabasses before proceeding to the main pastoral or half Scotch material in leisurely six-eight motion. Later the auditor cannot put away the thought of more symphonic poem and Richard Strauss, but the movement may be still of much more value in content than the first and second. An agreeable fugato is also an incident before coming into another long waltz episode on real Johan Strauss themes. As a sign that the atmosphere of the ballroom is intended, both the first and second violin corps accompany briefly on the up beat by pounding the strings with inverted bowsticks. The whole waltz incident is sonorously, if not symphonically, treated, just as the instrumentation in every movement is designed to sound well, as one could only expect from so distinguished a connoisseur of purely orchestral values. The Gewandhaus men played the symphony splendidly under the composer's master-conductor hand, and the public at this morning's rehearsal granted cordial recognition at the conclusion of the work.
5The second Leipsic Bach festival of five concerts is announced for May 20, 21, 22. Karl Straube will direct the combined forces of the Bach Verein and Thomanner Chor, the Leipsic City and Gewandhaus orchestra. Four programs will be given in the Thomas Kirche and one in the Gewandhaus. Besides the "St. John" passion music and various organ and chamber compositions, there will be a total of seven cantatas performed. Straube is in reality a great Bach scholar, and is fully entitled to command at a Bach festival. The first of these three day festivals under his direction was that of May, 1908, on the occasion of the unveiling of the Bach staute by Karl Seffner.
7The operetta, "Meine Tante, Deine Tante," by Amelie Nikisch (Mrs. Arthur Nikisch), is now announced for very first performance on April 1, at the Residenz Theater in Dresden.
9The second concert of the Bach Verein's current season was without choral or orchestral works. With contralto Maria Philippi of Basel, violinist Alexander Petchnikoff of Berlin, cellist Hans Bottermund, and organist Karl Straube of Leipsic, the all Bach program included the Doric toccata and fugue for organ; contralto aria from the cantata "Vergnügte Ruh, beliebte Seelenlust"; the G major suite for cello alone; the four songs for contralto and organ, "Dir, dir Jehova will ich singen," "Todessucht," "So gibst du nun, mein Jesu, gute Nacht," "Ich halte treulich still"; the largo and fugue from the C major sonata for violin alone, and the C minor organ passacaglia. The concert was wholly enjoyable. Along with his other accomplishments Straube is one of the foremost organ virtuosi of the Continent; Maria Philippi is possessor of a noble voice and matchless style for the great content of the Bach works. Young Bottermund is a cellist of great accomplishment and talent that will probably raise him to eminence. Petchnikoff played the largo and monumental fugue in great tonal breadth and beauty of conception. So has his over-refined style of a decade ago evolved to a very ideal type for the presentation of the Bach compositions. In November the Bach Verein will give the great B minor Mass.
11The very gifted pianist, Elly Ney, was heard in the Albert Halle in a magnificent rendition of the Beethoven E flat concerto. Among her many notable appearances of late years was that of her giving of the Brahms B flat concerto in the Gewandhaus. She will soon play the same work in London, with the orchestra under a young Dutch conductor, Van Raalte, a pupil of Arthur Nikisch.
13The three movement "Country Wedding" suite by the American composer, Mortimer Wilson, was heard here last week, conducted by Willi Wolff, of the Leipsic Operetten Theater. The first movement is of a country dance, in heavy accent and oboes, giving a pastoral character. The contrasting theme is a plain waltz. The material of each theme has musical vitality and character, though they were played twice too fast here. The Germans dance just about twice as fast as Americans do. The second movement, called a romanza, is an extraordinarily fine song for orchestra. It is so industriously scored for every instrument that the effect is wholly satisfying, as of a symphonic antante. There is no cross rhythm in evidence, but four or five independent melodies going at once. Hence the impression of greatest possible stability in the writing. The last movement is in full festival spirit, in a light hearted figure accompanied by bells modestly and tastefully employed. The contrasting theme is in agreeable cantabile, and the movement constitutes tuneful entertainment. This movement would also gain by a slower tempo than was here assumed, since the themes have vitality enough to permit much broader playing. The suite was written probably twelve years ago. The honest workmanship therein is strong testimony of rigid instruction that Mr. Wilson had from the late Frederic Grant Gleason in Chicago. It will be strange if the public does not come to know Wilson's works very well in the next few years. As has been formerly written in this correspondence, his talent and his writing facility are immense.
15The piano recital by Mark Günzburg had the Beethoven C minor variations, Mendelssohn rondo capriccioso, Schumann toccata, Schubert's "Wanderer" fantaisie, Chopin A flat ballade, B flat minor scherzo and A flat polonaise, the Saint-Saëns etude en forme d'une valse, Emil Sauer's "Volubilite" and octave study, also the Liszt Spanish rhapsody. The artist interested exceedingly through a really musical nature and decidedly pianistic usage, as if here were a genuine pianist by profession. Your Leipsic correspondent heard Günzburg play the Busoni choral concerto (op. 39) in Dresden in November, 1907. The artist has since played the work there, yet the Busoni American press agent of the season 1910-1911 overlooked those magnificent renditions, in recent American writing about the concerto.
17In a very bad recital, soprano Marta Döhne gave four songs by Schubert, five by Hugo Wolf, Eduard Behm's "Aus weissen Wolken" and "Schmied Schmerz," Elizabeth Urtel's "Mariengarn," Paul Klengel's "Wenn längst der Dichter schied" and "Die helle Sonne leuchtet," also four songs by Brahms. Composer Behm played all the accompaniments in tonal beauty and extreme character. The singer was employing hopelessly bad vocalization. The Behm songs are individual and in much invention, carried out in modest tonalities. The first is sonorous, about as Liszt would have written. The second is vividly drawn in a strong motive. The Urtel song is of total unimportance. The first Klengel song has an agreeable accompanying figure, as by a harp. The second is agreeable in plainest melodic means, just as both songs are far removed from the spirit of the high pressure moderns.
19The Polish pianist-composer, Jules Wertheim, gave a recital to include the Chopin B flat minor sonata, two impromptus and three etudes. Of his own composition there were the six preludes in C sharp, E and C minor, C major, F minor and G flat major, also his F minor variations. The closing group, by Liszt, included the third "Liebestraum," "Loreley," "Au bord d'une source" and the tarantelle "Venezia e Napoli." The artist is a very brilliant performer, in command of fine tone and good pianistic equipment. His variations, as the only one of his compositions heard for this report, are of highly refined material and considerable range of invention. Their smooth writing indicates long years of composer routine. In London, in May, the composer will play the variations of the above program and his rhapsody with orchestra. The same concert will bring the first performance of the artist's first symphony.
21The Neue Zeitschrift für Musik is showing the impetus of additional help in its weekly getting together. It recently came into possession of the brothers Franz and Carl Reinecke, of the firm Gebrüder Reinecke. The paper is still under the editing of Ludwig Frankenstein.
23The last week brought for the first time here in years a harp virtuoso in recital. In co-operation with the Irish violinist, Mary Dickinson, the beautiful young Italian, Maria Teresa Baldini, gave a concert in Feurich Saal. The harp compositions were the late English J. Thomas' "Herbst," A. Hasselman's "Ballade," the "Patuaglia Spagnuola," "Am Bach," "Marionetta" and "Humoreske" by L. M. Tedeschi; also Hasselmann's "Gitana" and "Caprice." Miss Dickinson played the Glazounow concerto, the Goldmark aria, Corelli's "Giga" and a Brahms-Joachim Hungarian dance. The harpist is at home in Florence. She is playing in a half dozen of the metropolitan cities, including Vienna, Berlin and London. She plucks a beautiful tone from the instrument and evinces fine, earnest musicianship in everything she does. With these traits and accomplishments, combined with great personal beauty, the young artist seems scheduled for a brilliant career. She was required to play many additional selections at the close of her Leipsic recital. Miss Dickinson is a violinist of great impulse, who is as yet more intent upon brilliant rendering, rather than technical care or fine musical reading.
25Violinist Rhoda Simpson, of Winnipeg, recently played the Beethoven concerto in regular concert series of the Leipsic Philharmonic Orchestra in Naumburg. Winderstein engaged the young artist upon hearing her play the Tschaikowsky concerto. Her performance of the Beethoven was a highly successful one, since hers is a strong talent in a fine stage of training.
27In St. Petersburg, the distinguished composer and director of the Conservatory, Alexander Glazounow, is seriously ill, and his duties at the Conservatory are temporarily performed by the inspector, S. J. Gabell. A series of twelve performances of Italian opera, to be given by Italian forces in the large hall of the Conservatory,
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.