Scan 6
Musical Courier 1927-04-07: Vol 94 Iss 14, 1927
39 lines. Read by computer on 27 September 2026, twice; the two readings disagreed in places. Printed page 7. See the scan on archive.org.
1BERLIN HAS FOUR OPERA REVIVALS
3Falstaff Most Enjoyable Performance in Months—Others Less Successful—Buhlig Plays New Concerto—Bloch's Shelomo Has Berlin Première—Kurt Thomas' Passion Music a Valuable Choral Work—Latest Piano Has Two Keyboards—New Jewish Composer.
5BERLIN.—Verdi's Falstaff shares the fate, together with a few other fine comic operas, of being enthusiastically admired by most musicians, but regarded with respectful indifference by the great public. The experience of German producers, during the last thirty years, has been that Falstaff had always to be withdrawn after four or five performances owing to lack of public interest, and that, in spite of the almost unanimously enthusiastic approval of the press.
7The reason for this unusual attitude lies in the fact that the subject of Falstaff had already been treated, fifty years previously, in one of the most popular German operas, Nicolai's Merry Wives of Windsor. Moreover, the peculiar humor of Verdi's score seems to be too subtle, too fine, too much in the nature of chamber music for tastes accustomed to the usual al-fresco manner of theater music. Whether public taste has now been refined to the point of appreciating this product of Verdi's genius remains to be seen, for Bruno Walter has once more brought out Falstaff after a lapse of many years.
9The performance was admirable in everything pertaining to the orchestra, and the carefully studied ensemble work. But the singing and acting, with the exception of Wilhelm Guttman's altogether remarkable Ford, were only second rate. New scenic decorations by the Munich specialist, Leo Pasetti, were partly very attractive, but not of uniform value. A departure from the general rule was the entrusting of the mise-en-scène to a well known Berlin play producer, Karlheinz Martin, who tried his hand at the operatic stage with only partial success. After all, Verdi's glorious music made up for the various little shortcomings, and one went home with the consciousness of having attended one of the most enjoyable operatic performances in months.
11ALMOST RIDICULOUS
13Another attempt of the Municipal Opera to revive comic opera was less successful. It was Halevy's L'éclair, written nearly a hundred years ago. One might perhaps have listened with a certain pleasure to the pretty, unpretentious music, had not the unhappy idea of modernizing—even Americanizing—the opera been carried out. The action was transposed to California and all the singers were in 1927 garb. The effect dangerously approached the ridiculous, as the contrast between the modern dress and scenery and the old-fashioned music was conspicuously marked. And as this contrast worked to the detriment of the music the experiment missed its point.
15In the State Opera, Rossini's Barber of Seville was produced with a new cast and very attractive new decorations by Emil Pirchan. It was a good performance, but without any extraordinary traits. Also Leo Janacek's opera, Jenůfa, was newly staged. The successful run which followed its original premiere had to be interrupted in December, 1925, when Zenaide Yuryevskia, Russian soprano, whose touching interpretation of Jenůfa was so much admired, passed away under such tragic circumstances. Jenůfa is now being sung by Violetta de Strozzi, whose power of emotion, however, cannot be compared with that of her predecessor.
17NEW PASSION MUSIC ACCLAIMED AS MASTER WORKS
19Representatives of the music students of the state conservatories and high schools in Berlin, Munich, Cologne and Stuttgart had an official meeting in Berlin, devoted to conferences about matters pertaining to music study and students. A students' congress of this sort is a sign of the new state of affairs in the German republic; it would have been impossible in the days of the empire. The Berlin High School gave four public performances in honor of this meeting, including an operatic production of Puccini's Bohème.
21One of the concerts especially deserves to be singled out for its exceptional qualities. The Domchor, conducted by Hugo Rüdel, sang new choral compositions. Of these, the Passion music for mixed chorus, a cappella, by Kurt Thomas, young Leipzig composer, must be rated as one of the most valuable modern contributions to choral music. Young Thomas attracted public attention for the first time at the Kiel festival, in 1925, by his mass for double chorus, a cappella. The success of the new passion music was almost phenomenal; it was universally recognized by all the critics as the work of a genuine artist, even a young master. Also an eight-part motet, a cappella, by Hans Gal, gifted Viennese composer, is a remarkable composition in its combination of modern and classical part writing.
23Bruno Walter's fifth symphony concert had, as its first number, Pfitzner's Overture, Kaetchen von Heilbronn, a romantic piece of decided artistic qualities and individuality, although Weber, Schumann and Wagner are clearly recognizable as the sources of Pfitzner's invention and technical treatment. A much stronger impression was produced by Berlioz's Harold in Italy, interpreted by Walter with consummate art. In spite of the numerous and obviously weak points, this symphony had a fascinating effect, and many an episode sounds extremely modern even now, a century after its composition. Adolf Busch played the Brahms violin concerto in a truly classical style, with perfect command of its technical demands and with that peculiar Brahmsian emotional atmosphere which is his special domain.
25MORE MODERN MUSIC
27The greater part of Emil Bohmke's last symphony concert was devoted to modern music. Heinz Thiessen's Prelude to a Revolutionary Drama is neither a concession to Schönberg nor to Stravinsky. It is a solidly built, straightforward piece of music by no means easy to listen to, but offering no problems. It is manly, strong and effective. It was followed by Bohmke's piano concerto, an involved compound of Brahms and Reger, with a sort of modern surface varnish. To the pianist it presents a rather difficult, but hardly grateful task, its interest centering in the symphonic complication of the orchestra. Nevertheless the score contains many interesting episodes and is not lacking in stretches of good, genuine, unproblematic music. one of two readings
28The greater part of Emil Bohmke's last symphony concert was devoted to modern music. Heinz Thiesesen's Prelude to a Revolutionary Drama is neither a concession to Schönberg nor to Stravinsky. It is a solidly built, straightforward piece of music by no means easy to listen to, but offering no problems. It is manly, strong and effective. It was followed by Bohmke's piano concerto, an involved compound of Brahms and Reger, with a sort of modern surface varnish. To the pianist it presents a rather difficult, but hardly grateful task, its interest centering in the symphonic complication of the orchestra. Nevertheless the score contains many interesting episodes and is not lacking in stretches of good, genuine, unproblematic music. one of two readings
30Bohmke must be congratulated on having secured the cooperation of a pianist like Richard Buhlig, who presented the work to the greatest possible advantage, again manifesting his great capacities as an interpretative artist of rare power.
32Erich Sternberg, a young Berlin composer, is following in the footsteps of Ernest Bloch and a few Russian composers, intent on creating a modern Jewish music. He has given a recital of his songs, with the assistance of two good singers, Lilly Dreyfuss and Dr. Barczinski. Most of the eighteen songs presented were decidedly Jewish, in character and modern in verse. Sternberg's talent, however, is not very flexible. In fact he has practically only one emotional key at his disposal, but this—full of pathos and bitter grief—is sincere and expressive. One group of songs, to poems by the great Hispano-Jewish poet, Jehuda Halevy, was written for baritone solo without accompaniment, producing a decidedly original effect. Another group accompanied by viola and cello, showed Sternberg's command of the modern so-called "linear" style of contrapuntal writing. The rest was accompanied by the piano. Heinz Jolles was an excellent interpreter of the very complex and strange piano parts.
34A PIANO THAT SOUNDS LIKE TWO
36Of pianistic events, the most remarkable has been the demonstration of the new type of modern piano, designed by Emanuel Móór, the Hungarian-Swiss composer. The Paris firm of Pleyel has built a new instrument according to Móór's plans, and on this piano the inventor demonstrated his ideas to an invited audience of musicians. Móór's piano has two keyboards, like the organ, the second keyboard being tuned an octave higher; moreover it possesses an octave coupler, thus making all octave passages in the ordinary manner superfluous.
38The results obtained by the skillful management of these technical improvements seemed indeed astonishing. The new piano sounds like two pianos, like an orchestra or an organ; new sound effects of the most surprising kind can be achieved and many technical difficulties in playing disappear entirely. Mme. Moor, a pianist of consummate skill, played a long program of monumental works by Bach,
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