Books › Musical Courier 1927-10-27: Vol 95 Iss 17, 1927 › scan 15
Scan 15
Musical Courier 1927-10-27: Vol 95 Iss 17, 1927
52 lines. Read by computer on 27 September 2026. Printed page 16. 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.
1BERLIN
2(Continued from page 5)
3sion to become acquainted with this remarkable and extraordinarily impressive artist when he appears as guest-conductor in St. Louis, following a series of symphony concerts in Stockholm. In Berlin he achieved a splendid success with his masterly interpretation of Frederick Delius' Mass of Life. This great choral work, without doubt the summit of Delius' art, though written about twenty-five years ago, has, strange to say, never before been performed in Berlin.
5Schuricht prepared it with the greatest care, finally presenting a magnificent performance, and Delius, well known to Berlin musicians from his residence here about two decades ago, earned a rather belated though none the less genuine triumph. Four soloists of rare quality assisted materially toward the brilliant success of the performance. Lotte Leonard's beautiful soprano soared clearly above the big chorus, Nevada van der Veer and George Meader, two highly esteemed American singers, proved worthy partners of so excellent an ensemble, and Hermann Schey sang the part of Zarathustra impressively.
7Mrs. Elizabeth Coolidge, the liberal patroness of musical art in America, has spent the autumn in Europe, presenting to audiences here some of the choicest crops grown in her gardens. We heard a program of compositions crowned with the Coolidge Prize and dedicated to Mrs. Coolidge. It was a generous, even luxurious affair, presenting two of the composers in person, Arthur Bliss and Ottorino Respighi. Likewise a brilliant array of first-rate performers, like the splendid Viennese Kolisch-Quartet, the masterly English viola player, Lionel Tertis, the fine oboist, Leon Goossens, and a numerous body of chamber orchestral players, picked from the Philharmonic Orchestra.
9A BITTER QUARTET
10The most sensational offering of the program was Arnold Schönberg's new string quartet No. 3, heard for the first time. Its mastery of logical development is admirable in the highest degree, but to relish its intricate art one must really be profoundly initiated into Schönberg's mysterious twelve-tone system. Save in a few episodes, especially in the slow movement, how little there is of music in the accepted sense in this stern, joyless and better score! Respighi goes to the opposite extreme in his Trittico Botticelliano, a series of three pieces for chamber orchestra, illustrative of some of Botticelli's famous pictures. What naive tone-painting, what revelling in beautiful sound and sentimental melody! This score, nevertheless, shows the hand of a master in the treatment of the orchestral means!
12Arthur Bliss' Quintet for oboe and strings is well-tempered, gentlemanlike music with a pastoral tinge. Although a mixture of French and English manners, it is well written and inoffensive. Ernest Bloch's serious and highly effective, though somewhat too extended suite for viola and piano is well-known in America. It made a profound impression here.
14MUSIC OF THE ETHER
15The Leningrad engineer, Leo Theremin, who gave a demonstration of his new electric musical apparatus at the Frankfort Exhibition, recently created a sensation with it in Berlin. He played pieces by Saint-Saëns, Tchaikowsky, Schubert and Scriabine, with the most surprising sound effects accompanied by a piano. Still more surprising were pieces in a strange Persian scale and melodies of South-Russian Cossacks, with their novel and fascinating harmonic effects. These were accompanied on Prof. Avramoff's specially constructed harmonium, which can render the faintest shadings of quarter-tones and even smaller intervals with perfect accuracy.
17What the Russian inventor demonstrated in Berlin means no less than a glance into the music of future ages, the commencement of a complete revolution, compared with which the endeavors of our most prominent radical musicians appear almost infantile. For these artists are trying to create new music with a tonal material entirely insufficient for their aims. Theremin points out a path through this dilemma which seems surprisingly simple and which opens a perspective of almost magical fascination. A highly cultivated public, in which the greatest scientists and leading artists of Berlin were conspicuous, followed the demonstrations with the keenest interest.
19CROOKS PLEASES PRESS
20The young American tenor, Richard Crooks has had an extremely flattering success both in opera and in the concert-hall. He made his debut in the Municipal Opera House as Cavaradossi in Tosca and immediately won the favor of the public and of the Berlin press by his brilliant and extremely agreeable voice, by his cultivated singing and by his manifest talent for acting. A good deal is being expected here from his further artistic activity after this satisfactory start. Also in Hamburg this young artist enjoyed unusual success as Cavaradossi.
22There has been an abundance of concerts given by operatic stars of the first and second magnitude, like Mattia Battistini (who is said to have given up his plan of seeking refuge from the troubles of this wicked world in a monastery), Leo Slezak, Heinrich Schlusnus and Alexander Kipnis. All of them have so often been praised in these columns in the major keys from four to seven sharps, that it may suffice for once to merely mention the fact of their public appearance.
24MORE AMERICANS
25Margherita Marsden, a young American singer, gave a song-recital with fair success. She has a voluminous voice of good material, which, however, is not yet perfectly polished. A group of Spanish songs showed her talent and her accomplishments to the best advantage. Lucy Stern, the very youthful pianist, already well known to the American public, manifested a prodigious pianistic talent. She would rank very high among the youngest pianistic generation, if only her musical culture, her taste, her sense for purity of style and her capacities as a musician were not so far behind her purely mechanical achievements. It must be her aim to correct these artistic shortcomings by assiduous and adequate study.
27A FINE COSI FAN TUTTE
28Musical education has become a topic of prime importance in Germany of late. The Berlin Central Institute for Education and Teaching, run by the Prussian Government, is the leading factor in these serious endeavors, and its practical activity leaves nothing to be desired. During the first week in October the Central Institute, in collaboration with the Saxon Minister for Education, arranged the sixth Federal School Music Week in Dresden, dedicated to an exhaustive discussion of all the problems connected with music in the public schools.
30Lectures were delivered by many of the leading authorities on pedagogical questions, and by many directors of the great German music schools. Of the musical offerings the most important and enjoyable event was a revival of Mozart's Cosi fan Tutte in a carefully prepared and excellent performance, conducted by Fritz Busch.
32MAGDEBURG EXHIBITION CLOSES
33The Magdeburg Exhibition for the German Theater closed on September 30. The last musical event of note was Mahler's Eighth Symphony, the so-called Symphony of the Thousand, conducted by Prof. Mikorey from Brunswick. Choral forces of about 800 singers were recruited from Brunswick and Magdeburg. As an introduction to this impressive performance, Josef Pembaur from Munich played Beethoven's E-flat Piano Concerto. The concert formed a worthy close to so many interesting operatic, ballet and symphonic performances during the summer months in Magdeburg.
35Dr. Hugo Leichtentritt.
37Flonzaley Quartet Repertory
38In the choice of the Flonzaley Quartet repertory for the coming season one finds a happy balancing of the old and the new. For the ninety odd programs which these musicians will be called upon to play, they have drawn upon both classics and moderns. It goes without saying that Haydn, Handel with his Sonata a tre, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann and Brahms make up a substantial portion of the programs—Beethoven leading with a choice of four quartets. Hugo Wolf's Italienische Serenade is also listed.
40In the matter of novelties, there are five works which they will play from manuscript; viz., Ernest Bloch's Recueillement, Rubaiyat by Adolfo Salazar, Indian Suite by Alfred Pochon, a quartet by Leopold Mannes, and two compositions by Suzanne Bloch the daughter of Ernest Bloch, entitled prelude and Greek Folk-Song. In addition to these works still in manuscript, there are three works which will have their first American performance—the second quartet of Arnold Bax, a quartet by Erwin Schulhoff, and Caprichos Romanticos by a Spanish composer, Conrado del Campo. The quartet opened its twenty-fourth season on October 26 at Northampton (Smith College) playing its thirteenth engagement at that institution.
42Valentina Aksarova's Continued Success
43Mme. Valentina Aksarova, formerly of the Petrograd Royal Opera, is now a resident in London, where she is pursuing her career with a steadily increasing success. Among her other recent appearances were two at the Promenade Concerts, just ended, where the enthusiasm she evoked was typical of her reception whenever she sings. On these occasions she gave excellent performances of the aria from Tchaikowsky's Jeanne d'Arc, Vissi d'arte from Tosca, and songs by Moussorgsky, Tchaikowsky, Rachmaninoff and Vasilenko. At each concert Aksarova had to grant encores and was still repeatedly recalled by the capacity audience.
45SUMMY'S CORNER
46The book, "VIOLIN BOW TECHNIC," by Henry Hoaré, is a series of exercises based on various bowings handed down by renowned masters of the violin. It makes possible the careful following of well known and acknowledged styles of bowing through the presentation of them by the simplest possible exercises which Mr. Hoaré has provided. This makes the book invaluable to every serious student of the Violin, be he beginner or advanced. Teachers will readily recognize the advantages that the book provides.
48Price, $1.50
50CLAYTON F. SUMMY CO., Publishers
51429 South Wabash Ave., Chicago, Ill.
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