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Musical Courier 1926-05-20: Vol 92 Iss 20, 1926
79 lines. Read by computer on 27 September 2026. Printed page 6. See the scan on archive.org.
1MUSICAL COURIER
2STRARAM CONCERTS APPEAL TO PARISIANS
3Recitals and Concerts a-Plenty for Resident and Visiting Music Lovers—Lapse of Memory the Principal Fault to be Found with Americans Invading Paris for First Time
5PARIS.—Six times during the past few months I have heard American artists, more or less young, suffer from lapses of memory in their recitals here and either break down completely or fumble about for a while before finding their places again. All young artists are subject to fits of nervousness, I know. Nevertheless I am afraid that too many young American students come to Europe with an overstock of self-confidence and an understock of solid preparation. Pope's line about fools rushing in where angels fear to tread is not altogether suitable, for they are not fools. Neither are they conceited nor lazy. Most of them are serious and hard working students. They are attentive and honest workers. The worst that can be said about them is that they are more self satisfied than self critical. The first six months in Europe are spent in criticising the manners and customs of the old world, and also incidentally learning that to be born under the Stars and Stripes does not necessarily imply increase of intellect.
7But my conviction, after many years of experience, is that when the American student becomes adjusted to the new surroundings, there is no student more serious, ambitious, and modest, than the best that the United States can send. I do not think that Americans are liked or disliked simply because they are Americans. This is always a personal matter. One touch of genius makes the whole world kin, as Shakespear would undoubtedly have said, had he written this letter.
9At the Straram orchestral concerts, which are among the most important of the new musical organizations of the past few seasons in Paris, many modern and old words have relieved the monotony of the usual classical programs of symphony concerts. Handel and Bach, Migot and Maugue, Hindemith and Stravinsky have occupied much of the space recently given to Beethoven, Brahms, Tschaikowsky and Wagner. It occurred to me while listening to Haydn's E flat symphony that Haydn might have written as powerfully as Beethoven if he had been cursed with all Beethoven's diseases and emotional stimulants. He could have expressed a stormy and melancholy life as well as he depicted his pleasant and prosperous career. Haydn criticisms are out of date, however.
11THE STRARAM CONCERTS LIKED
12On the first of April the program of the Straram concert consisted of Mozart's Requiem mass, and Florent Schmitt's 47th Psalm for solo voice and chorus. I did not hear the Schmitt work, as I was compelled to attend another function, but the Mozart work was excellently rendered. The soloists were Ganna Walska, Mme. Englebert, M. Weynandt and M. Dufrane, with the Mixed Choir of Paris. Mozart's vocal music is always difficult because the melody stands out clear and distinct, without a thick orchestral mass of sound to repose upon. The singers acquitted themselves admirably of their tasks and were repeatedly called to the platform at the end. Walther Straram is popular with his public and his orchestra alike, and it would be a decided loss to Paris if these concerts, for some unforeseen reason, had to be discontinued.
14Some of the music at these concerts—as well as at other concerts in Paris during the present season—is evidently pure experiment. The composers have gone as far as their ingenuity permitted in combining novel sounds, much after the manner of the painters of the Independent school. I am glad that my household cat did not hear this music, as he can make enough peculiar noises at night without encouragement. There is no cause for alarm, however, as a few years of the fierce test of public performance will soon kill off the music which is not alive with the pure inspiration of an honest emotional impulse.
16MUSIC ON THE WING
17With the echoes of the last Straram concert in my ears, I boarded the train and hurried to the south of France and the north of Italy for a little change of air and scene during the concert lull of Easter.
19As a private individual I might have had a few days without the golden eloquence of music, as the poet calls it. But as a representative of the MUSICAL COURIER I had music thrust upon me. There was a performance of Strauss' Rosenkavalier at the Casino in Monte Carlo. There was the first performance of a new opera, called Nazareth, by the young Italian composer, Franco Vittadini, who was born in 1884, and is at present director of church music in Varèse. The scene is laid in Palestine, and the work in general differs from an oratorio mainly by its dramatic scenes and its action. This composer is often said to be the successor of Lorenzo Perosi, of whom much was heard twenty years ago. May the works of Vittadini fare better. In this new opera the child Jesus performs a miracle by making his little clay birds take wing and begin to sing.
21REGINA DE SALES BUSY
22At St-Jean, Cap Ferrat, I found Regina de Sales, happy in the glorious sunshine, and busy with a large class of serious vocal students. I suppose it would be called a master class in America. Regina de Sales called the students "her dear girls," which sounds even more interesting. Isadora Duncan, in merry mood and the pink of sartorial perfection, recalled a brief interview we had in New York, once upon a time, and passed on amid the gay throngs of the Mediterranean promenades.
24Sarah Fischer was there to repeat the performances of Melisande which have drawn such crowded houses at the Opera Comique in Paris this past winter and spring. She maintains that the words I wrote about her when she was still a student in London some six years or so ago had encouraged her to hold out until the turn of the tide gave her publicity—which proves that even a signpost along the way is often useful to the traveller.
26John Heath, American pianist, was giving recitals in several of the towns along the southern coast, previous to his tour in Belgium, his recital in Paris, and a summer season in England. I shall have more to say about him when he plays in Paris. In the meantime he it recorded that a fellow student of his who now lives in Kansas, wrote to me a few days ago to scold me for leaving the name of John Heath out of the list of Leschetizky pupils. The fault is not mine, however. If the old master was careless enough of his reputation to omit the name of John Heath from his list, that is his affair.
28In San Remo, which is to Italy what Newport is to fashionable America, I heard Florence Field play a long list of violin works with the finish and tonal beauty which made such an impression on me in Paris last December. She had arranged the recital in order to get the sun cure for a persistent cold which had worried her all winter in Switzerland and Germany.
30Six days were all I could spare from my work in Paris, but the reputed "gay Paree" was cold and grey after the bright flowers and balmy air of the Riviera.
32ARTHUR HACKETT-GRANVILLE COMING HOME
33The first person to greet me on my return was the American tenor, Arthur Hackett-Granville, who had just returned from a long tour of the British Isles with Melba. He was in splendid condition, very keen on his chosen art, and looking forward with buoyant hopes to a concert tour in his native United States in the near future.
35A closely packed Salle Gaveau gave Enesco a vigorous reception when he appeared upon the stage to give a violin recital, and the results were so satisfactory that a second recital was immediately announced. His circle of friends in Paris embraces more than his fellow countrymen. Much as I admire his interpretation, I find his tone a little dry.
37Among the singers who have pleased me most this season I must certainly place Nika Cunelli. She is a soprano with a voice of luscious quality, and is an artist of the best class. I heard her at a festival of Italian music in the Salle Gaveau, in which concert the young Italian-American, Anton Bilotti, also appeared, not only as a pianist but also as a composer. He has quickly made a name for himself in Paris.
39Sonia Verbitzky, Russian soprano, who interpreted a goodly number of Alexandre Gretchaninoff's songs, made the most of a natural voice which leaves much to be desired. The tone quality is poor and the volume is small. Notwithstanding these serious drawbacks she achieved a pronounced success in the Russian songs she interpreted admirably with the help of the composer at the piano.
41Michel Wilkomirski, a young man from Russia, and therefore a violinist, proved his prowess in the Salle des Agriculteurs by an authoritative performance of a Bach sonata, and a number of difficult modern works. I see no reason why he should not take rank with the best violinists of the day if he can keep before the public long enough to establish the necessary prestige.
43PIANISTS
44Needless to say, the pianists have not been idle. Denyse-Molié, a young French woman of decided ability, had a large audience to hear her play a selection of ultra modern music, to which three pieces of Debussy served as classical preambles, even as Bach does to most programs. I think this fine artist would sooner gain her ends by tempering her programs with a few old-fashioned works by Chopin and Liszt, but I suppose that, like Joan of Arc, she has to follow the guidance of an inner voice. Her program convinced me that when a composer has very little to say, he takes a long time to say it. So does César Franck sometimes.
46MARGUERITE MORGAN
47Marguerite Morgan's popularity in Paris was attested by the large audience which gathered in the Salle des Agriculteurs on April 15, to hear her interpret a number of classical and romantic works for the piano. Her first group was impressively important, with a prelude and fugue by Bach; Beethoven's lovely sonata in E flat, op. 31, No. 3, in which she was particularly happy; Mendelssohn's Variations Sérieuses. The fair pianist suffered somewhat from the tension of adjusting nerves so young to the exigencies of music so old, but she accomplished her task admirably and was rewarded with prolonged applause. The second group was Chopin, the third Russian, and the fourth Debussy. The fifth group consisted of extra numbers by Liszt and Chopin which the cheering audience demanded at the close of the printed list.
49Not the least of Marguerite Morgan's assets is a pleasing personality which holds the attention of the audience. This, together with a brilliant technic, a singing tone, and a quick, retentive memory, warrant her in undertaking another recital as soon as possible.
51Among those present I noted Ganna Walska, the soprano, who is interested in so many musical enterprises in Paris; the baroness van Eys van Lienden; Sarah Fischer, from the Opéra Comique; Isidore Philipp, George Antheil, and a large contingent of students from the Latin Quarter, for whom Marguerite Morgan makes music every Sunday night at the university.
53On the following evening, and in the same hall, Youra Guller, Russian pianist, gave a recital to an audience which filled every part of the concert room. I had occasion to write about the exceptional merits of this artist when I heard her in London several years ago. In the intervening years she has added to her stature as a pianist, no doubt, and has played often enough in Paris, where her home is located, to make a large circle of friends. Her performance of Schumann's Etudes Symphoniques was excellent. She was vociferously cheered for her brilliant playing of two pieces by Stravinsky, and her Chopin numbers were poetic and delicate. It would hardly be fair to this comparatively frail woman to compare her with some of the male giants of the keyboard. Yet she challenges comparisons when she selects Liszt's Mephisto Valse as a medium for her virtuosity. To those who know the irony, the mocking lilt, the power, the insinuating charm, which certain famous pianists can find in this strange tone poem of Liszt, the bright and breezy playing of Youra Guller must have been a little disappointing. Her audience gave her a generous reward of applause, however, and demanded several extra numbers. Two extra recitals were immediately announced. I believe an American manager would do well with this attractive and capable pianist.
55PAUL McCOOLE IMPRESSES
56Paul McCoole, a young man from the western states, arrived in Paris about a year ago, set to work immediately, and thoroughly prepared himself for his first recital which he gave in the old hall of the Conservatoire recently. I see no reason why he should not eventually become one of the pianists of his day and generation. He has an admirable technic, he is self poised, and he showed clear evidence of temperament. Schumann's G minor sonata was his opening number. He showed no signs of nervousness and he gave an acceptable interpretation of it. In several of the smaller pieces he was so much applauded that he had to repeat them. In the Spanish music by Albeniz and Infanta he was unquestionably too heavy and rhythmically frigid. There was no crack of the whip or flash of the eye in it, which is not extraordinary in a young man in the early twenties who knows nothing of Spain and Spanish ways. It may truthfully be said of him, nevertheless, that everything on the program was well played, but some things were better played than others were. As this was his first recital, it is hard to know how strongly he may yet learn to hold his hearers' attention. His manner before the public is free alike from stiffness and affectation. He seems to have a future.
58HE FORGOT
59I wish I could write as enthusiastically about a young American called M. Funes. He has plenty of finger skill and he succeeded in making Liszt's sixth rhapsody sufficiently brilliant. The veil of charity must be drawn across his performance of Chopin's B flat minor sonata, however. Let us give him the benefit of the doubt and lay the blame on nervousness. The climax came where it should—that is to say, in the last movement. But it was not the kind of climax Chopin intended. The young pianist could not remember the notes Chopin put in his version of it, so a new and unexpected finale of brief dimensions was improvised. I am quite prepared to believe that time and experience will yet make an excellent pianist out of this young artist. He seems to have the natural material.
61I was more than pleased to see the return of Joseph Slavinski to the concert platform a few days ago. A fine audience greeted him when he appeared on the stage of the Salle Gaveau, and the same audience was vigorously demanding extra numbers when I left the hall at a quarter to twelve. I used to admire the playing of this pianist immensely some twenty or more years ago, and there is no reason why he should not recover the fleetness and lightness of finger which the work and worries of the war and afterwards have diminished. He is still much younger than many of the famous pianists now before the public, and he has the head and the heart of a great artist. His interpretations of Chopin and Liszt were beautifully poetic and at once stamped him as a musician of the highest interpretive ability. I believe there is a prospect of an American tour in the not distant future. His style and personality ought to ensure his success. The technical finish is only a matter of a few months of hard work.
63HIS NAME IS HOROWITZ
64Horowitz is a name that soon should make the welkin ring, so to speak, after the old English manner. He is a pianist of very much more than the usual ability, and he is a finished artist. No excuses are to be made on the score of youthful nervousness or lack of experience. He makes no technical mistakes, he manages the pedal with the utmost discretion, and his interpretations are intelligent and poetic. I waited in line by the box office at his recital in the old Conservatoire and was half an hour in getting into the hall, so great was the crowd.
66I had a better opportunity of hearing him under more favorable conditions when Ganna Walska invited a number of guests to hear him give a short recital in her spacious drawingroom. The vitality, rhythmical firmness, rich tone, unfailing finger skill, made his playing a delight.
68DUSHKIN IN RECITAL
69A goodly number of violinists have fiddled, if not while Rome burned, at least while Paris deluged and soaked itself in endless rain. The flowers that bloom in the spring, tra la, have been very late in disclosing their beauty to the sun, mainly because the sun has been hidden so long by these abominable clouds. Converts have flourished however, even when the water weary public remained by the inviting fireside. I heard an excellent violinist play as well as possible in a cavernous hall that was garnished with exactly thirty-nine spectators. I also was present when the concert room was packed full with kind friends who gave a rousing reception to a smiling mediocrity whose E string was almost flat enough to play the solo introduction to Saint-Saëns' Danse Macabre.
71Samuel Duskin belongs in neither of these two categories. He played with exquisite finish and with a tone which is certainly more beautiful than large. And, moreover, he had a splendid audience in the Salle Gaveau. He began his program with a genial old work by Boccherini, of which the geniality however, was hardly sufficient to counterbalance the tonal monotony. That was not the fault of the performer. His work throughout the evening was excellent. After Lili Boulanger, Debussy, Ravel and Pierné, he played an unaccompanied sonata by Bach with very marked effect. The public never cares at all about chronological sequence.
73MME. LEBLANC JAZZES
74Georgette Leblanc, formerly of the Opera, and remembered in musical circles in the United States, gave a vocal recital in the Salle Gaveau, which drew together a very large circle of friends. She was warmly applauded for every number, and had to repeat some of her songs in the course of the evening. Her program was called From Bach To Jazz. It began with Come, Sweet Death (Bach) and ended with George Gershwin's Lady Be Good. The skill of an experienced artist was apparent in every phrase, and the voice still has an immense range, but its quality is not as fresh as it used to be. A young and inexperienced singer could not have interpreted so satisfactorily so varied a program. I did not altogether like her rendering of Schubert's Serenade without words. To me a violin or a cello would have been more acceptable than the song on the one vocable Ah.
76When she had finished the serious part of her work and reached the jazz section, I left the hall and went to the smaller hall upstairs where the American baritone, Bernard Friedman, was also giving a vocal recital. His voice is sombre, and he frequently lacks sufficient vitality to avoid monotony. But on the whole his recital, of which I heard the last half, was very satisfactory. He has a fine command of languages and great versatility in styles. This was his first recital in Paris. It seemed to me he got the spirit
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