Books › Musical Courier 1926-04-22: Vol 92 Iss 16, 1926 › scan 23
Scan 23
Musical Courier 1926-04-22: Vol 92 Iss 16, 1926
40 lines. Read by computer on 27 September 2026. Printed page 24. See the scan on archive.org.
1NEW YORK CONCERTS
2(Continued from page 22)
3increasing the brilliancy. Works by Saint-Saëns, Brahms and Handel closed the concert.
4Harold Bauer played a Bach Partita, at times ingeniously imitating the harpsichord for which it was written; Schumann's Arabesque, and Brahms Rhapsody, all with such finish and charm that everyone listened absorbedly; later he gave a performance of Chopin's scherzo in C sharp minor, which was dramatic, poetic, indeed, all things in one; after each appearance the audience expressed great appreciation of his particular style of piano-playing.
6Granberry Piano School
7It was a pleasure last Saturday morning to see the huge main floor of Carnegie Hall packed to capacity—and mostly with children—for the concert given by pupils of the Granberry Piano School. The program also was broadcast over WEAF, thereby enabling thousands of others to enjoy the music. George Folsom Granberry, the director of the school, believes that preliminary experience in appearing before the public gained by artists in their student days has been of tremendous value to them. He is of the opinion that this method of procedure is not followed extensively enough, and therefore it is one of the aims of his school to present programs such as that of last Saturday in order to give pupils an opportunity to appear before the public, to play together and to gain poise and experience.
8There were so many participants and the program was such an extensive one last Saturday that it would be advisable at this time to comment on individual offerings. The majority of the selections were ensemble numbers, there being seven grand pianos on the stage, but there also were solos by about ten pianists of various ages, a number of them displaying decided talent. These soloists were pupils of Dr. Elsenheimer, Mr. Granberry, Miss Mount and Mr. Clement. Some of the youngsters participating in the program were not more than six or seven years old, and all of them apparently thoroughly enjoyed gaining their "preliminary experience." There also were two transcription numbers—the Enke Hungarian Dance, written in D minor and played, at the request of some one in the audience, in A sharp minor, and the Lynes Huntsman's Horn, written in G flat major and played in D major and F sharp major. The final number was Weber's Invitation to the Dance, played by the older students at seven pianos, three at an instrument. The program was varied by having Mary Craig, soprano, assist the students, singing the Waltz Song from Romeo and Juliette and several songs. She was well received.
10Samuel Ljungkvist
11Samuel Ljungkvist, tenor, and Grace Kerns, soprano, were heard in recital on April 17 at the Studio Guild, Steinway Hall, Mr. Ljungkvist sang as his first number Israël, by Ada Weigel Powers, with the composer at the piano. The song was heard for the first time, and in manuscript form. This beautiful poem of Edgar Allan Poe's was originally written for dramatic tenor with orchestra—an unusually interesting composition, which delighted the capacity audience. The second group offered by Mr. Ljungkvist contained: Total Eclipse (Samson), by Handel; Time Was When I in Anguish Lay, by Griffes; May Day Carol, by Deems Taylor, and Hills, by La Forge. Mr. Ljungkvist was in particularly fine voice on Saturday and his interpretation of this varied program was excellent. This special recital was in connection with the exhibition of painting and sculpturing, which is being held at Studio Guild.
13Rotary Club Concert
14On April 17, the second annual entertainment of the Rotary Club, of New York, was held at the Manhattan Opera House. A long list of artists contributed their services to a delightful evening. Among those representing the concert stage were Edmund Burke, Metropolitan Opera bass, a Rotarian himself, with Berthe Rich at the piano, and Rudolph Polk, violinist.
16Oratorio Society of New York
17On April 17, at Carnegie Hall, Bach's Mass in B minor was heard in New York for the first time in years. It was given by the Oratorio Society of New York with the assistance of Olive Marshall, soprano; Grace Leslie, contralto; Lewis James, tenor; Frazer Gange, baritone, and Mischa Mischakoff, violin, as soloists, and the chorus of the Society and the orchestra of the New York Symphony Society. Albert Stoeszel conducted.
18There is probably no composition in the literature of liturgical music that remotely compares to the Bach B Minor Mass either in loftiness of conception, majesty of effect, or fidelity to the central motif in every detail. It is a work of tremendous difficulty for the performer. Bach apparently had little patience with vocal limitations, treating his vocal passages instrumentally. The four principals, however, were especially to be commended not alone in surmounting their technical difficulties but also in demonstrating at the same time a fine fluency, clarity, and homogeneity of feeling and balance.
19The chorus showed the effects of arduous training. It is said that over forty rehearsals were held in preparation for this event, starting last fall and continuing intermittently throughout the musical season. Somewhere, somehow, during the course of that long preliminary training period, the very spirit of Bach seemed to have been instilled into that chorus. For example, few more beautiful things have been heard in oratorio work than the choral, "Crucifixus etiam pro nobis sub Pontio Pilato, passus et sepultus est," which was sung with the terrible repression of a great and irredeemable grief. Albert Stoeszel conducted with his usual finesse and fidelity to the text, as well as the spirit of the Bach opus.
21APRIL 18
22Young Men's Symphony
23On April 18, the Young Men's Symphony Orchestra, founded by Alfred Lincoln Seligman and now in its twenty-fourth year, gave its Aeolian Hall concert under the capable direction of Paul Henneberg. The young men showed the result of their thorough training in Der Freischütz overture, Beethoven's eighth symphony and Smetana's Vltava. The soloist was Sol Ruden, who played the Bruch concerto very well indeed.
25Mischa Elman
26The Elmans, Mischa and Liza, appeared in something of a joint program at Carnegie Hall, on April 18. This was announced as Mischa Elman's last recital for a period of about three years. Mr. Elman's program was a rather conventional one, and many of the numbers were by no means new, but what matters this when it is Elman who plays them; they are ever fresh in their sentiment, especially so when the violinist's moods are so varying as they were on this occasion. Then that luscious tone is always there, a tone that makes one forget the importance of a flawless technic. The violin under his fingers spoke eloquently in all his selections; he was indeed in capital form, and the huge audience at the close demanded a goodly number of encores. The program comprised Beethoven's sonata in D, the Bach Chaconne (unaccompanied), proving the violinist's understanding and mastery of polyphonic problems; arrangements by Franko and Joachim, and excerpts from Ernest Bloch's Baal Shem and Saint-Saëns' Rondo Capriccioso. In the sonata Miss Elman aided the violinist in a musicianly interpretation in which there were excellent balance and adjustment of instruments. Josef Bonime furnished the accompaniments for the balance of the concert.
28Boris Levenson
29At the Little Theater, on April 18, Boris Levenson, composer, gave a concert entirely of his own compositions. He was assisted by the Russian String Quartet, composed of Yasha Fishberg and Fima Fidelman, violinists; Mitja Stillman, viola, and Gdal Saleski, cellist. At the piano was Vladimir Bremner, and also Mr. Levenson. The soloists were Mary Leavitt, soprano; Mischa Mischakoff, violinist, concertmaster of the New York Symphony Orchestra, and Simeon Bellison, clarinetist.
30Mr. Levenson has a considerable reputation as a composer, and the entire program given on Sunday showed him at his best as a composer and one who had a sufficient combination of interesting numbers to give an entire program as varied and unusual as this one was. Miss Leavitt's contribution consisted of three Japanese Songs entitled The Pavilion. These were in manuscript form and heard for the first time. Her second contribution was a Cradle song, Schlaf Mein Kind, and an original melody, Dort Wo die Zeder, both of these numbers also being heard for the first time. Mr. Mischakoff also played a new composition, Dreams and Danse Orientale.
31The program opened with three Jewish folk songs, for clarinet solo with the string quartet, entitled In Synagogue, Cradle Song and Jolly Dance. The quartet ended the program with two Jewish folk songs with the clarinetist as soloist, and Mr. Bellison and Mr. Levenson at the piano. The concert was thoroughly enjoyed and the selections which Mr. Levenson presented were especially interesting. The event was certainly an artistic success for the composer.
33Martha Graham
34Martha Graham presented a diversified program at the Forty-eighth Street Theater on April 18, assisted by the Martha Graham Concert Group, and Mabel Zoeckler, soprano, with Louis Horst at the piano. Miss Graham displayed the same grace and skill in her work which won for her a splendid reputation as a member of the Denishawn company. She is now conducting classes at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N. Y.
36San Francisco Master School of Musical Art Faculty
37A distinguished group of artist teachers will assemble in San Francisco this summer for the Master School of Musical Arts, directed by Lazar S. Samoiloff, this being the second summer session. Indications point to added enrollments over its first season, when students came from thirty-seven cities and eleven states.
38The invigorating climate of San Francisco is added inducement for teachers and students desirous of coaching programs and gaining new inspiration for their work. The proximity to many natural scenic wonders, enjoyed on weekends, makes for a delightful combination of recreation and study.
39Alice Seckles again is manager of the school, with studios at the Fairmont Hotel, and the following distinguished faculty is announced: Sigismund Stojowski, noted Polish pianist and disciple of Paderewski, piano and composition; Lazar S. Samoiloff, New York vocal pedagogue, who will teach for the third consecutive season; Emil J. Polak, noted New York coach, who will return for his second season; A. Kostelanetz, giving classes in sight reading and ear training and accompanying; and Annie Louise David, noted harpist, who will go to the coast for her fifth consecutive season. The headquarters of the school are located in the Fairmont Hotel.
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