Books › Musical Courier 1927-04-28: Vol 94 Iss 17, 1927 › scan 31
Scan 31
Musical Courier 1927-04-28: Vol 94 Iss 17, 1927
52 lines. Read by computer on 29 September 2026. Printed page 32. See the scan on archive.org.
A town on its own line is one of the directory's headings. That is where the town on a maker's page comes from.
1CHICAGO
3CHICAGO.—The week of April 17 has been a busy one in musical Chicago. Not only has this city harbored the thousand delegates and visitors of the National Federation of Music Clubs, but also concerts and recitals have been more numerous than in the last few weeks.
5Easter Sunday brought forth the last concert this season of Galli-Curci, who invaded the enormous Medinah Temple with her exquisite art; Benno Moiseiwitsch, who, after an absence of several seasons, was greeted by an immense house at the Studebaker; the glee club of the University of Notre Dame, at Orchestra Hall, and Jacques Gordon and his String Quartet, at the James Simpson Theater under the auspices of the Library of Congress and Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation.
7GALLI CURCI
9The Galli-Curci concert was given for the benefit of the Home Club for Working Mothers. Although the weather was magnificent for Easter Sunday, many forsook a ride in the country, or a walk through the park, to listen to the songs of the ever-popular coloratura, who was found at her very best, and who scored another huge success at the hands of her innumerable admirers who crowded the huge hall from pit to dome. Her program was well built to suit all tastes and rendered in her incomparable art. The singer was ably seconded by Homer Samuels, who performed in the dual capacity of accompanist and pianist, playing several small pieces after the intermission, and his rendition of these caught the fancy of the public, which insisted upon an encore.
11GORDON STRING QUARTET
13Jacques Gordon, first violin; John Weicher, Jr., second violin; Clarence Evans, viola, and Richard Wagner, cello, forming the personnel of the Gordon String Quartet, played the following at their recent concert quartet, op. 70, by Gretchaninoff; Euehain's quartet, and Mozart's quartet in B flat.
15BENNO MOISEIWITSCH
17Moiseiwitsch made such a deep impression when he appeared in Chicago a few seasons ago that the Studebaker Theater was jammed at his first appearance here this season on Sunday afternoon. Heard for the purpose of this review in his second group, which included Ravel's Jeux d'eau, Debussy's Minstrels, Stravinsky's Etude, Ibert's Le petit ane and Rachmaninoff's Prelude in B minor and Prelude in B flat major, Moiseiwitsch disclosed anew his incomparable technic, which permits him to play each number with perfect accuracy. His interpretation charmed the mind, while his tone, delicate in pianissimos and virile in fortissimos, delighted the ear. A stupendous success at the hands of a musical audience made up mostly of local pianists and their friends, was a just token of appreciation for remarkable piano playing.
19NOTRE DAME UNIVERSITY GLEE CLUB
21The glee club of Notre Dame University appeared at Orchestra Hall on Sunday afternoon and sang under the direction of Dr. J. Lewis Browne. The various songs were sung with great nobility and eloquence of tone, the most enjoyable being a ballad and chorus, "Come With Me to Romany," from the pen of Dr. J. Lewis Browne, noted composer and organist. The number, written in a humorous vein, caught the fancy of the listeners who were not slow in showing their appreciation by salvos of plaudits at its conclusion. The program was directed by Dr. Browne and Joseph Cansantas. The Notre Dame glee club does not only sing notes; it sings with great intelligence, every inflection having its own meaning. Worthy of notice was the beautiful contrast between lofty pianissimos and beautiful fortissimos generally built in a crescendo manner that made the climaxes doubly forceful. The concert was well attended and the Choir Guild of St. Patrick's Church, of which Dr. Browne is the able choirmaster, benefitted by it.
23THE APOLLO MUSICAL CLUB
25The final concert of the season by the Apollo Musical Club is reviewed in another part of this paper, as it was given as one of the big events of the National Federation of Music Clubs' biennial.
27WOMAN'S SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA OF CHICAGO
29The Woman's Symphony Orchestra of Chicago brought Ethel Leginska to this city as guest-conductor and soloist. Leginska's directing of the Woman's Symphony Orchestra may be regarded as one of the most important musical events of this season. Glowing reports have often been published in the MUSICAL COURIER regarding Leginska's conducting, but it was the first time that we had an opportunity to visualize what a woman of brains can accomplish with a stick, even with an orchestra that has as yet a few amateurs in its personnel. Mme. Leginska is not only a great pianist, but she well deserves the appellation of "super-woman" and by her conducting she brought us to the highest pitch of enthusiasm. A practically sold-out house welcomed her and the Woman's Symphony Orchestra on April 19 at the Goodman Theater. With but one week of rehearsals, Leginska shaped the Woman's Orchestra to meet her most minute demands. The program was opened with a beautiful reading of Weber's Overture to Euryanthe. Mme. Leginska had her players practically on their toes, and though here and there one or two of the young women dragged, they were quickly brought to order by a single motion of the conductor. Thus what could have been a serious mishap passed unnoticed, so well had the conductor drilled her forces. The orchestra played the overture brilliantly, after which a tempest of applause broke forth from every corner of the house, and Leginska, after coming back some seven times, finally motioned to the young women to stand up and share in the enthusiasm of the listeners. The second number was the Mozart concerto in A major for piano and orchestra, Leginska playing the piano part and directing the orchestra. This is nothing short of a tour de force—not because other conductor-pianists have not done the same in the past—(Gabrilowitsch, Ganz, Rachmaninoff and many others have played a concerto and directed it at the same time; Ysaye and other violinist-conductors have done the same, but with professional orchestras.) This is not to say that the Woman's Orchestra of Chicago is not a good instrument, but it is a new orchestra, one that does not seek comparison with the Chicago Symphony, the New York, the Detroit, or any of our great orchestras. Thus Leginska took a big chance and came out of the ordeal with flying colors. She played the piano beautifully. Her rendition of the concerto was exquisite and the orchestra gave her, under her own command, splendid support, the accompaniment leaving but little to be desired.
31After the intermission, the Beethoven fifth symphony, the real piece de resistance of the concert, showed Leginska at her very best as a conductor of the first order. Worth singling out were the wonderful pianissimos that she got out of the orchestra—better pianissimos could really not be rendered by a virtuoso orchestra, and had the work of the brass been of the same high standard as that of the rest, the interpretation given the fifth symphony could have been compared favorably with others we have heard in other seasons in Chicago. The balance of the program was not heard by this reporter. It consisted of Ildebrando Pizzetti's Suite for Orchestra and the Tchaikowsky Marche Slav, which concluded the program. Though much space has already been taken to review this concert, it opened such an era for the Woman's Symphony Orchestra of Chicago as to presage hereafter for this new and deserving organization many successes in years to come. Could not a Chicago philanthropist be found who would open his purse strings and help the Woman's Symphony Orchestra to bring Leginska to Chicago several times during the year. She would quickly put the orchestra, if not on a paying basis, at least on a most artistic one—not forgetting that Richard Czerwonky, who generally directs the orchestra, has done wonders with his forces. Nevertheless, a woman's orchestra should be directed by a woman, and it should be made up solely of women. Chicago does not need any other orchestras, it has the famous Chicago Symphony which fills the bill. But Chicago wants a woman's orchestra—one that will not compete with the Chicago Symphony but one that will bring out many novelties by American composers, novelties that could not be given by the Chicago Symphony. The Chicago Symphony is doing a great deal for American composers, yet in a twenty-eight weeks' season one cannot expect an orchestra to present American works all the time. However, a woman's orchestra could have one composition in each of its concerts. The Woman's Symphony Orchestra of Chicago can expect a bright future as the coming of Leginska has made Chicago speak more than ever about it. She has placed it on the musical map, not only of this city, but of America.
33CHINESE OPERA
35Martin Franck, who has been a constant reader of the MUSICAL COURIER for the past forty-odd years, recently heard a Chinese performance in a South Side Theater of Chicago, and reported it for this paper as follows:
37"There is war in China, but that fact has no effect on Chinese opera being given on the South Side in Chicago. Anyone having a hankering for the Occult and mysterious of Oriental lore can have that desire fulfilled by attending the performances.
39"A very capable organization is giving the same, and in every respect it is unique and interesting. The performances seemingly have no beginning and no end, so it makes little difference when you arrive and you witness what apparently is a continuous show.
41"The orchestra of about ten men is situated on a raised platform on one side of the stage, and Chinese fiddles, tam-tams, Chinese bird whistles, and other seemingly noise-producing instruments are used. They form a continuous accompaniment to the singer and actors. The music is exceedingly weird, and jazz and syncopation can be heard in its most malignant form.
43"The property room is an open one, situated on the other side of the stage, and the property man is continually busy placing draperies and other paraphernalia used for the different acts right on the open scene during the performance. The female performers are, in the main, celestial beauties, and the costumes are very rich and colorful. The character portrayed by the star seemed to be a Chinese Violetta in La Traviata, and during her act she is obliged to faint about six times. There is no applause and no demand for encores. Whether there are rules against the same the program does not state. Refreshments during the performance are supplied by attendants, lichee nuts, preserved ginger and other Chinese delicacies are continuously being eaten, but the audience never seems to lose the trend of the play.
45"There is no 'Golden Horse Shoe' a la the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City, but in the boxes were the Hop Lungs, the Tong Lees Choco, Mein Foos and other notable celestials of the elite of Chinatown."
47Mr. Franck also brought us the program, which he said contained the synopsis of the opera, but as it was written in Chinese characters we could not make head nor tail of it. Perhaps some day we may publish it in these columns.
49THE WESSELS AT HOME
51This office acknowledges with thanks a card from Mr. and Mrs. Frederick J. Wessels, which bears the inscription "At home after April 20, 1927, Upalong Hill Road, Saratoga, Cal." On the same card there is a picture of the beautiful home that the Wessels have just built in California, where the former manager of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra has retired after many years of labor in behalf of the Chicago Symphony, which orchestra, under his management has reached the place it now occupies in
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.