Music Trade Review

THE
With which is incorporated THE MUSIC TRADE JOURNAL.
VOL. III.
NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 5TH, 1S80.
No. 3.
relations, the students are provided with a plan of the daily lessons and can begin
CALUMNY.
E. J. H. MAPLESON had during the London season several German work."
Into the system of study adopted at the Leipsic Conservatoire Miss Bessie Richards
artists in his prospectus, who must have been badly treated by him.
does not enter in detail. She merely says that each student or " Conser-
There is a general outcry against him in the press of the Fatherland, and Lon- unfortunately
vatorist" and " Conservatoristi," as they are called, has a right to from six to eight
don correspondents of German papers denounce the English manager as a man lessons a week in piano, violin, violoncello, or singing, and harmony; besides which there
who does not keep his word, and makes contracts which actually do not mean are weekly lectures, ensemble classes for the practice of concerted music, and entertain-
^anything, and are only signed by the poor victims because they do not ments (Abendunterhaltungen), every Friday evening, arranged for the purpose of ac-
exactly understand the meaning of the contract in the French language. customing the inexperienced artists to perform in public. These take place in the con-
Now we consider it very wrong to accuse the Colonel of breaking his word. cert-hall, a room capable of holding from four to five hundred people; and all interested
During his American career, we have found him a man who makes a great in the success of the Conservatorium are admitted. Miss Richards complains that at the
many promises, but he only does so on provocation. The interviewers get Conservatoire "the male and female classes are kept carefully apart: a precaution which
hold of him, and he feels bound to say something. He cannot be expected appeared to me very unnecessary, since I never met a member of the institution who could
succeeded in diverting my attention for one moment from my studies.'' After some
to state that his troupe does not amount to much, so he is forced into an have
cursory remarks on the hats of the gilded youth of Leipsic, Miss Richards proceeds to
enthusiasm which he never would dream of, if let alone. He is asked how describe
the amusements of the city. She says :
many new operas he is going to perform during the season, and he immedi-
The amusements offered in Leipsic during the winter are the theatres, numerous con-
ately mentions a complete list of all the great lyric works which have been certs, " and
The new theatre is a large and handsome building, where operas and
written in the last century. All these statements are not exactly to be con- dramas are skating.
given alternately every evening. Although the ' stars' of London, Paris and
sidered promises, because they are given under pressure. The real promises St. Petersburg are seldom heard there, great attention is paid to the orchestra and chorus,
are those which are announced in the shape of advertisements, paid for—and resulting in a generally good performance. The low prices (the most expensive seats
in that regard Mr. Mapleson is very cautious. Maybe, that the subscribers costing only four shillings on ordinary occasions) enable even persons of slender means to
have reason to complain, for the prospectus, which induces them to send indulge frequently in these entertainments. The principal orchestral concerts are the
their cheeks to the Box Office, may be couched in somewhat exaggerated Gewandhaus, the Euterpe, and occasional church concerts for the performances of ora-
terms ; but the more clever part of the public, which buys tickets for single torios, masses, &c. There are also the Kammermusik Soireen, or chamber-music
performances, cannot say that Mr. Mapleson has ever ("ever " may be a rather soirees once a week, and occasional concerts organized by stray artists visiting the town.
strong word) broken faith with them, at least not willingly; and la force The Gewandhaus concerts every Thursday evening are the event of the week. The re-
at which members of the Conservatorium have the privilege of being present,
majeure exculpates any manager. We are perfectly satisfied with Mr. Maple- hearsals,
place on Wednesday morning, beginning at nine o'clock—the early hour raising
son's management, as far as it goes, and accept him willingly, till a better one take
murmurs, in which even the most enthusiastic amateurs cannot but join. All the numb-
succeeds him. What must he have done to the German singers that the out- ered
seats having been subscribed for by the same families for years, and being looked
cry in the German press is so general? A correspondent of a well-known upon as heirlooms, outsiders wishing to be present at these concerts are condemned to sit
Vienna paper writes thus : " Colonel James Henry Mapleson, director of the in the Kleiner Saal, where it is possible to see, but not, except from the few seats facing
Italian Opera at Her Majesty's theatre, has closed his season with " Mephis- the door which leads into the large room, to hear. To secure these coveted chairs is the
tofele," and in the interest of our German vocalists something ought to be ambition of all; and a formidable party may be found assembled on the stairs of the
known about the manner in which the manager keeps his contracts. The Gewandhaus an hour before the doors are opened, prepared on the ringing of the bell,
prospectus mentions every year a host of foreign, especially German singers, the signal for their admission, to incur any risks in compassing this end. The new
with whom Mapleson has signed for the season, to be paid per performance. comers, uninitiated in these customs, are slightly astonished on arriving shortly before the
of the concert, to find all chance of obtaining a seat at an end. But, shortly
The artistes pay their own traveling expenses, spend their savings in London beginning
the novice, who a few weeks earlier would probably have been sauntering leisurely
•during the season, and must acquire new dresses in the expectation of a after,
St. James' Hall in all the splendor of evening array, might be seen scampering madly
debut. But many among them never get a debut, and never earn a shilling, into
along the passages of the Gewandhaus, upsetting anyone who barred the way to the
after having spent hundreds. Even the stipulated monthly salaries have not longed-for seat. The discovery of a less-frequented entrance on the other side of the
been paid at all, or only partially paid during the last two seasons ; and even hall caused at one time a certain amount of excitement, and a few admitted to the secret
his crack artists had to look for salary in vain. With the exception of the were missed from their usual posts on the stairs. The result was that the two parties,
-choristers there is hardly a single individual connected with Mapleson's rushing frantically from opposite directions, fell into each other's arms; and in the struggle
troupe, to whom the manager does not owe amounts of, from 100 to 12,000 the seats which had been the object of this unseemly encounter fell to the lot of the less
francs. The artistes could not gain anything by carrying their affairs into enterprising competitors bringing up the rear. The Euterpe concerts are also of consid-
court, for the receipts for weeks ahead have been attached by real or fictitious erable repute, but not sufficiently so to necessitate a resort to strong measures in order to
creditors. If the whole affair is mentioned here, it is only to warn German obtain a stall."
artistes to sign contracts with Mr. Mapleson, and to ask payment of salary
AMBEOISE THOMAS.
and traveling expenses in advance." The whole article shows personal spite
Against the ruler of our Academy of Music, nothing but personal recucuse.
AMBROISE THOMAS, says the Paris Figaro, was born in Metz ; his father was a com-
We know the Colonel, and are sure that he has done nothing of the kind. poser and publisher of music. At seven years old Ambrose had already attained to pro-
When he was in this country, he always had plenty of money, and even ficiency upon the piano and the violin. When but ten years old he took part in a concert
more than he needed. He said so himself last season, when some dissatisfied given for the benefit of a local charity. He was so small and slight that he could not be
member of the company was ready to make a disturbance. A man who has seen by those in the audience over the top of the piano at which he presided and which
so much money in America cannot be so poor in London; and we have come had the appearance of playing by itself, after the fashion of an orchestrion. At the Con-
in Paris he was awarded the prize for mastery of the piano, and later was fortu-
to the conclusion that an intrigue must be at the bottom of their correspon- servatoire
enough to gain the grand " Prix de Rome." In the villa Medtcis Thomas had for
dence—a kind of conspiracy of some German singers who have made fiasco nate
director Horace Vernet, and was associated with Simart, Jouffroy, Baltard, and Flan-
at the rehearsal in London, and could not be allowed to make their appear- his
drin. He was very fond of going into society at Rome.
ance. We must ask the Colonel about the whole matter, and we feel sure
Returning to Paris after three years, he carried with him a profound impression of the
that he will explain the whole history of that conspiracy. Very soon he will grandeur
and sublimity of Dante, to whose works he had given careful study. A suc-
be here, hale and hearty, and his bank account will be in a flourishing con- cessful comic opera enabled him to double his price for music lessons, and at the age oi
dition. He will fight his way through the next season ; but let him beware twenty-six his position was assured. Unlike many musicians of talent, he never was
of German prime donne and their friends who write for German newspapers. obliged to struggle with the demon of poverty. A portrait by Flandrin of Ambroise
People in Germany do not know him ao well, and they may feel inclined to Thomas at twenty.four, represents the young artist as fair in complexion, serious in ex-
believe if not the whole, a part of the statement; and why should the repu- pression and of slender frame. Rossini said, alluding to his grave appearance : " Ambrofse
Thomas was born old."
tation of a great man be soiled in that manner ?
M
STUDENT LIFE IN LEIPSIO.
In the columns of the Parisian Miss Bessie Richards gives a brief but interesting
-description of life in Leipsic, with special reference to the career of young ladies who
•enter at the Leipsic Conservatoire. Miss Bessie Richards was, it is well known, a student
at the Leipsic Conservatoire, and she therefore speaks from experience. Altogether her
picture of life in the Saxon city is a highly favorable one. For a home you have the
-choice of boarding with a family—married officers and persons of similar standing freely
receiving boarders—or of having private apartments. Miss Bessie Richards chose the
latter alternative, but she had a room which served at once as a bed, sitting, and recep-
tion room. A large Berlin stove, without any visible fire, but which warms the apartment
far more effectually than the open fireplaces, a wooden bed, which is concealed by a
screen during the day, a few chairs, a table, two or three rugs, and a parquet floor, ren-
dering a carpet unnecessary, form the furniture of these apartments. The examination to
secure admission to the Conservatoire is almost nominal, and the thing is clenched by the
reading aloud of the rules and the payment oi the fees. Miss Be'ssie Richards says :
" As the professors present did not understand English, I fear, when on one occasion
I was deputed to read the above-mentioned rules to some of my country-people, my sense
of the humorous overcame my respect for the authorities; and some clauses which I added
on my own account, delivered with a gravity btfitung the occasion, slightly astonished
ray hearers. After giving the dates of their birth, with brief biographies of their nearest
In his walks about Paris Thomas is generally seen alone. In the din and confusion
of a Paris crowd he finds some song for which he is searching. This mingling with men
keeps the artist always in sympathy with the age. Amid the noises of the busy day he
walks like a somnambulist, reading invisible libretti signed by Shakespeare, Goethe or
Dante.
He spends his vacations at his country-house in Treguier, an odd house, built with
rough stones and situated upon the sea-shore. Thomas loves the roar of the sea. An ir-
resistible force draws him toward the grand in Nature.
He sometimes had Berlioz for a c®mpanion in his walks. These two men of genius
were much attached to each other. Berlioz had an impassioned fondness for Shakespeare,
of whom the two masters used to converse with ardor. So absorbed would they become
that they would stop and gesticulate until, perhaps, they found themselves surrounded by
a gaping crowd of men and boys who thought them both mad.
Thomas should be seen in the office which he occupies as Director of the Paris Con-
servatoire. Among his predecessors Cherubim was too severe, and Auber too lenient at
times. But with what grace, benevolence and distinction Thomas governs this world of
singers, which is sometimes swept by little tempests of temper ! In his private room he
gives himself up wholly to his art. The room is furnished with the striking taste displayed
in his house at Argenteuil. Pictures and statuettes abound, together with interesting
souvenirs gathered in his travels. There is a sort of piano-secretary at which he sits. It
would seem that he wrote with one hand and played with the other.
Age has brought to Ambroise Thomas only new strength and deeper insight into the
human heart, and in " Francoise de Rimini " there is all the passion of fervent youth.