Classic Mode

Music Trade Review

Issue: 1881 Vol. 4 N. 7

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
May 5th, 1881.
107
THE MUSICAL CRITIC AND TRADE REVIEW.
" I say, pard," said Goskin, "don't you want a little rest?"
" I feel tired," the old man said. " Perhaps you'll let me rest here for
the matter of a day or so."
He walked behind the bar, where some old blankets were lying, and
stretched himself upon them.
" I feel pretty sick. I guess I won't last long. I've got a brother down
the ravine—his name's Driscoll. He don't know I'm here. Can you get
him before morning? I'd like to see his face once more before I die."
Goskin started up at the mention of the name. He knew Driscoll well.
" He your brother? I'll have him here in half an hour."
As he dashed out in the storm the musician pressed his hand to his side
and groaned. Goskin heard the word " Hurry!" and sped down the ravine
;
$100 Eeward
:
to Driscoll's cabin.
It was quite light in the room when the two men returned. Driscoll was
I To a compitant Pianer Player. ;
as pale as death.
" My God! I hope he's alive! I wronged him when we lived in England,
This he stuck up on the music rack, and, though the inscription glared
at the frequenters of the room until midnight, it failed to draw any musi- twenty years ago."
They saw the old man had drawn the blankets over his face. The two
cian from the shell.
So the merry-making went on; the hilarity grew apace. Men danced and stood a moment, awed by the thought that he might be dead. Goskin lifted
sang to the music of the squeaky fiddle and worn-out guitar, as the jolly crowd the blanket and pulled it down astonished. There was no one there!
"Gone!" cried Driscoll, wildly.
within tried to drown the howling of the storm without. Suddenly they
"Gone!" echoed Goskin, pulling out his cash-drawer. Ten thousand
became aware of the presence of a white-haired man crouching near the fire-
place. His garments, such as were left, were wet with melting snow, and dollars in the sack, and the Lord knows how much loose change in tha
he had a half-starved, half-crazed expression. He held his thin, trembling drawer!"
next day the boys got out, followed a horse's tracks through the
hands toward the fire, and the light of the blazing wood made them almost snow, The
and lost them in the trail leading toward Pioche.
transparent.
There was a man missing from the camp- It was the three-card monte
He looked about him once in a while, as if in search of something, and
who used to deny point-blank that he could play the scale. One day
his presence cast such a chill over the place that gradually the sound of man,
they
found
wig of white hair, and called to mind when the " stranger"
revelry was hushed, and it seemed that this waif of the storm had brought had pushed a those
back when he looked toward the ceiling for inspira-
in with it all the gloom and coldness of the warring elements. Goskin, tion, on the night locks
of December 24, 1858.—[Sam Davis.
mixing up a cup of hot-egg-nog, advanced and remarked, cheerily:
"Here, stranger, brace up! This is the real stuff."
WHO AKE THEY?—A London contemporary informs us, that Strauss's,
The man drained the cup, smacked his lips, and seemed more at home.
" Been prospecting, eh? Out in the mountains—caught in the storm? father and son, are to organize the Historical Concert at Milan, during the
Musical and Industrial Exhibition next May. Who are Strauss's, father
Lively night, this!"
and son? Old Johann has been dead many years, and the present genera-
"Pretty bad," said the man.
tion, Johann and Edouard, has no successors old enough to take part in
musical entertainments. The mistake will be probably rectified in time.
"Must feel pretty dry?"
The man looked at his streaming clothes and laughed, as if Goskin's
OPPOSITION.—When Boito's " Mefistofele " began to arouse the curiosity
of the general public and the interest of musicians, it was to be expected
remark was a sarcasm.
that Germany would not remain inactive. Many theatres bought the work
" How long out?'-'
and put it in immediate rehearsal. The opera was received in many places
" Four days."
with gre at favor, but in Cologne hisses were audible amid the applause at
"Hungry?"
The man rose up, and, walking over to the lunch counter, fell to work the end of each act and on the final descent of the curtain. If Boito does
upon roast bear, devouring it like any wild animal would have done. As not come to the front with a new opera very soon, we are afraid his reputa-
meat and drink and warmth began to permeate the stranger, he seemed to tion will not last very long.
expand and brighten up. His features lost their pallor, and he grew more
A correspondent of the Eichmond Dispatch, writing from Staunton, Va.,
and more content with the idea that he was not in the grave. As he under- relates the following: "The most wonderful feat of memory I recollect of
went these changes the people about him got merry and happier, and threw was displayed by Blind Tom on the stage while giving a concert here
off the temporary feeling of depression which he had laid upon them.
recently. Twenty-one years ago—in 1860—Prof. E. L. Ide, a music teacher
Presently his eye fell upon the piano.
at the Wesleyan Female Seminary here, attended one of Tom's concerts at
"Where's the player?" he asked.
Frederick, Md., and, to test the genius of the boy, played a German waltz
" Never had any," said Goskin, blushing at the confession.
then but little known, and made some little changes of his own in playing
" I used to play when I was young."
it. Tom played it off at once correctly. The other night Prof. Ide went
Goskin almost fainted at the admission.
on the stage and asked Tom what was the name of the hall in which he
" Stranger, do tackle it, and give us a tune. Nary man in this camp played in Frederick in 1860. Tom without hesitation gave the name of the
ever had the nerve to wrestle with that music-box." His pulse beat faster, hall. He was then asked who played for him, and he said Prof. Ide. He
for he feared that the man would refuse.
was then asked to repeat the piece that had been played for him there, and,
" I'll do the best I can," he said.
sitting down at the piano, he accurately gave it as he had heard it from Prof.
There was no stool, but seizing a candlebox, he drew it up and seated Ide, twenty-one years ago, note for note, including the change made by the
himself before the instrument. It only required a few seconds for a hush to Professor at that time.
come over the room.
_
. . , , , .
. ,1 „
The opera season in London opened Tuesday, April 19th. Mr. Gye, at
"That old coon is going to give the thing a rattle.
Covent Garden, promises a brilliant repertoire. Adelina Patti, Mme. Albani,
The sight of a man at the piano was something so unusal that even the and Mme. Sembrich, and Nicolini, as leading tenor, are engaged. Eubin-
faro-dealer, who was about to take in a fifty-dollar bet on the tray, paused, stein's new opera "H Demonio," with the principal characters by Albani and
and did not reach for the money. Men stopped drinking with the glasses M. Lassalle, will be produced, and Eossini's " Otello " will be revived with
at their lips. Conversation appeared to have been struck with a sort of Patti and Nicolini in the cast.
paralysis, and cards were no longer shuffled^
Phillipe von Weber, son of Carl Maria von Weber, the composer, is
The old man brushed back his long, white locks, looked up to the ceil-
ing half closed his eyes, and in a mystic sort of reverie passed his fingers dead.
With a concert at the Theatre Koyal, Stuttgart, Miss Emma Thursby
over the keys. He touched but a single note, yet the sound thrilled the
room It was the key to his improvisation, and as he wove his cords to completed the fifty-two concerts of the German tour for which she was en-
aether the music laid its spell upon every ear and heart. He felt his way gaged by Maurice Strakosch.
It is stated that Herr Neumann, a Leipsic manager, has purchased the
along the keys, like a man treading uncertain paths; but he gained confid-
ence as he progressed, and presently bent to his work like a master. The exclusive right to perform the "Eing of the Nibelungen " in France, Eng-
instrument was not in exact tune, but the ears of his audience, through long land, America and Eussia until the year 1886.
disuse, did not detect anything radically wrong. They heard a succession
Eubinstein has been giving concerts in Spain. He was to go to Portugal
of grand chords, a suggestion of paradise, melodies here and there, and it after the termination of the Spanish tour.
" See him counter with his left!" said an old rough, enraptured.
Mme. Essipoff has been giving concerts with brilliant success in Kiev,
" He calls the turn every time on the upper end of the board, "responded Odessa and other towns in Southern Eussia. She is now in St. Petersburg.
a man with a stack of chips in his hand.
_,,_._,
, .,
...
Mr. Sims Eeeves, the famous English tenor, is taking his leave of the
The player wandered off into the old ballads he had heard at home. Ail English
public in an extremely deliberate fashion. He bade farewell to
the sad and melancholy and touching songs, that came up like dreams of it in ballads
in a series of three concerts, and he was to sing, for the last
childhood, this unknown player drew from the keys. His hands kneaded time, at the Philharmonic
concert on March 24. This month he will com-
their hearts like dough, and squeezed out the tears as from a wet sponge. mence his farewell performance
in oratorios, and will have associated with
As the strains flowed one upon the other, they saw their homes of the long him many of the most distinguished
vocalists of the day, including Mme.
ago reared a they
were
playing
once
more
where
the
apple
blossoms
0
Albani,
Mme.
Christine
Nilsson,
probably
Adelina Patti, and certainly
sank through the soft air to join the violets on the green turf of the old New Mr Santley. His " farewell performances Mme.
"
are
almost
as those
England States; they saw the glories of the Wisconsin maples and the kaze which the late Ole Bull gave in this country, but _ as at numerous
least he does not
of the Indian summer blending their hues together; they saw the heather of announce each one as "positively his last appearance."
the Scottish hills, the white cliffs of Briton, and heard the sullen roar of the
M. Gounod's new opera " Le Tribut de Zamora," was produced at the
sea as it beat upon their memories vaguely.
Then came all the old Christmas carols, such as they had sung in the Grand Opera House, Paris, on the evening of April 1. It was a great success.
church thirty years before; the subtle music that brings up the glimmer of M Gounod himself conducted the opera, and he was received with much
wax taper, the solemn shrines, the evergreen, holly, mistletoe and aurphced applause, as were also the principal singers. The libretto is founded on
connected with an embassy sent by the Caliph of Cordova to
choirs. Then the remorseless performer planted his stab in every heart with episodes
Oviedo to claim tribute of a number of maidens, exacted after the battle of
" Home, Sweet Home."
The principal parts are: Xaima, one of the maidens, by Mile.
When the player ceased the crowd slunk away from him. I here waa no Zamora
Daran- her lover, Manuel, by M. Sellier; Ben Said, the Caliph's Envoy, by
more revelry left in his audience. Each man wanted to sneak off to his M. Lassalle, and Hermosa, Xaimct's mother, by Mme. Krauss. The honors
cabin and write the old folks a letter. The day was breaking as the last of the evening fell to Mme. Krauss and M. Lassalle.
man left the place, and the player, laying his head down on the piano, fell
asleep.
THE FIRST PIANO IN THE MINING CAMP.
T was Christmas Eve in a California mining town in 1858, and Goskin,
according to his custom, had decorated his gambling-house with sprigs
of mountain cedar, and a shrub whose crimson berries did not seem a bad im-
itation of English holly. The piano was covered with evergreens, and all
that was wanting to completely fill the cup of Goskin's contentment was a
man to play that piano.
"Christmas night and no piano pounder," he said. "This is a nice
country for a Christian to live in."
Getting a piece of paper he scrawled the words:
I
108
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from May
namm.org
5th, 1881.
THE MUSICAL CRITIC AND TRADE REVIEW.
arrangements for erecting a statue of Beethoven in Central Park. Mr. J. W.
Drexel was made chairman at the suggestion of Mr. Rietzel, the flutist of the
Philharmonic Society, and Mr. S. Johnson was appointed secretary. The
AT HOME.
following committee was appointed and was authorized to add to its mem-
Louis Blumenberg, the celebrated violoncellist, is expected to make bers: Mr. J. W. Drexel, Mr. Havemeyer, Mr. G. Matzka, Mr. J. B. Mus-
another concert tour this coining summer in Canada, and the New England grave, Mr. E. P. Fabbri and Mr. Jesse Seligman. It is intended that the
statue shall be erected by the Philharmonic Society, of which Mr. Theodore
States.
A muaicale complimentary to Signor Augusto Bendelari was given Apri Thomas is conductor.
About 4,000 people enjoyed a foretaste of the festival music of next
20th at Delmonico's by his friends and pupils. The large ball-room on the
second floor was used for the concert, and in it a temporary stage was erected. week at the first full rehearsal which took place in the changed drill room
The programmes were hand-painted upon the covers, and were tastefully of the Seventh Regiment Armory, on the afternoon of April 25. The re-
prepared. The following ladies were patronesses of the affair: Mrs. L. hearsal was called a private one, but admission was granted on complimen-
Seymour Ashley, Mrs. John Aviles, Mrs. Wilbur Bloodgood, Mrs. William tary tickets which the singers and the directors of the Festival Association
A. Bigelow, Mrs. E. Buch, Mrs. Amos Cotting, Mrs. W. P. Draper, Mrs. gave to their friends. The music studio yesterday was that of Handel's
Edward S. Jaffray, Mrs. Howard Jaffray, Mrs. Pierre Lorillard, Jr., Mrs. oratorio, "The Messiah," and the vocal part of Beethoven's Ninth
James McVicker, Mrs. John Pohn Peoli, Mrs. J. F. Plummer, Mrs. Freder- Symphony.
ick Robert, Mrs. M. H. Sanford, Mrs. T. Shriver, Mrs. Antonio E. Terry,
Mme. Marie Roze appeared for the last time prior to her departure for
Mrs. Henry Thompson, Mrs. F. Warren and Mrs. J. R. P. Woodruff. The Europe at Mr. Saalfleld's benefit concert at Steinway Hall, April 25. Mr.
following pupils and friends volunteered to assist: Miss F. Ashley, Miss William Courtney, Miss Amy Sherwin, Miss Zippora Monteith, Mme. Con-
Caro Aviles, Mrs. W. Bloodgood, Mrs. A. Cotting, Miss Cotting, Mrs. F. F. stance Howard, Mrs. Sybella Mcllwaine, Mr. Charles Bonney, Mr. Maro L.
Coleman, Miss A. Hoffman, Miss Edith E. Jaflray, Miss Laura Peoli, Mrs. F. Bartlett, and the Bent Brothers were the other soloists.
Robert, Miss Secor, Miss A. Shriver, Mrs. A. E. Terry, Mrs. H. Thomp-
A handsome lamp was given Sunday, April 24, by the members of the
son, Mr. Benjamin, Dr. Durant, Signor Ferranti, Mr. Keyes, F. F. Mar-
tinez, Ivan Morowski, Antonio Terry, John Trenor, J. Van Loan and Mr. Plymouth Church choir to Henry Eyre Browne, the retiring organist. Mr.
Weed. The programme included eighteen numbers—choruses, solos, duets, Browne will begin his duties as organist in the Clinton Avenue Congrega-
tional Church next Sunday. His successor in Plymouth Church is Frederic
trios and quartets. Most of the numbers had to be repeated.
Archer, who recently came to this country from England.
Mrs. Florence Rice-Knox entertained her friends on April 20th, from 4
Miss Emma Juch, a promising young soprano, gave a concert April 26,
to 7 p.m., at No. 46 West Tenth street. The parlors were prof usely decorated
•with flowers. Among the artists who were invited and who favored the com- at Steinway Hall, which was well attended. Miss Juch was assisted by the
pany with music were Mra. Imogen Brown, Theodore J. Toedt, Macgrane following artists:—Mme. Vanoni, mezzo soprano; Miss A. Stoffregen, con-
Coxe, Miss Blanche Roosevelt, Mrs. Kennan, Mr. Jameson, Signor Belari, tralto; Mr. Henry Brandeis, tenor; Mr. Oscar Steins, baritone; Mr. F. Carri,
Charles Pratt, Signor Agramonte, Messrs. King and Sohat, Miss Ida Hub- violinist; Miss Florence Copleston, pianist; Mr. J. A. Davis, organist, and
bell, Mr. Courtney, Miss Hattie Louise Sims, Mr. Hyman, Miss Copleaton, Mr. Justin Juch, accompanist.
Alfred H. Pease, W. R. Case, Carl Walter, S. B. Mills, Miss Anna Bishop
A literary and musical entertainment was given on the evening of April
and H. O. C. Kortheuer, Henry Gait and Miss Julia Thomas read selections 28, at Steck Hall, by Miss Nellie Kline. She was assisted by a number of
Mrs. Rice-Knox sang four times, Mrs. Brown three times, Miss Roosevelt artists who added to the performance and made it quite acceptable to the
twice and Mr. Toedt twice.
many friends who were present on the occasion.
Theodore Thomas will begin a series of concerts in Boston on May 9.
" The Cecilian " Society of Philadelphia sang Handel's sacred oratorio,
His programmes there include two performances each of Berlioz's " Romeo " Judas Maccabeus," April 28th, in the Academy of Music in that city, under
et Juliette" Symphony, and his " Damnation de Faust." The former has the baton of Mr. Michael H. Cross.
never been given in Boston before.
At the final meeting this season of the Brooklyn Philharmonic Chorus
Now it seems to be all settled again about Mme. Adelina Patti's com- a set of resolutions complimentary to Mr. Theodore Thomas were signed by
ing to this country next winter, but it is the other way. They say she does 300 of the members, and Mr. Rafael Joseffy was elected the first honorary
not intend to come here at all, and naturally enough, if the current reports member.
of the receipts of her performances are true, i. e., from $6,000 to $7,000
There was a large assemblage of lovers of music at Plymouth Church,
nightly, of which she gets half.
Brooklyn, on the evening of April 27, the attraction being Mr. E. J. Fitzhugh's
A very enjoyable little concert was given at Steck Hall, in Fourteenth annual concert. The array of talent, which was varied and excellent, in-
street, on the evening of April 20, by Signor Luigi Lencioni, assisted by cluded the Brooklyn Vocal Society, of which Mr. Fitzhugh is president; the
Miles. Zelle de Lussan, Florence d'Arona and Delviniotti, and Mme. Sybella Plainfield Society, and a chorus of 150 voices. The principal artists were
McHvain, Signors Brigiotti and Godoy and Professor Paola La Villa.
Miss Hattie Louise Simms, soprano; Miss Emily Winant, contralto; Messrs.
At Chickering Hall, April 21st, the third concert of the series given this William Dennison and F. W. Ritter, tenors; Mr. H. S. Brown, baritone;
season by the New York Vocal Union (Mr. Samuel P. Warren, conductor) Mr. E. W. Bray, bass. Mr. George W. Morgan presided at the organ. The
took place with great success. The programme included a number of part concert was a musical success.
songs, including a new Barcarolle by Frederick Brandeis, solos for soprano
A farewell concert was given at Steinway Hall on the evening of April
(Miss Hattie Sims), contralto (Mrs. Blinn) and some instrumental selections 28th by the Carri Brothers, assisted by Miss Conron, soprano; Herr Rem-
by the New York Philharmonic Club.
mertz, baritone, and Mr. Mollenhauer, violoncellist. Mr. Carri played
Judge Morris, of the United States Circuit Court in Baltimore, April "Romanza," by Vieuxtemps, for violin, and his Brother (on the piano), a
19th, refused the application of Messrs. Rice and Carte for an injunction to transcription, " Oh! du Best Mein Abendstein," from Tannhauser. Mr.
Remmertz sang "Am Meer," by Schubert, and a duo by Donizetti.
to restrain John T. Ford from producing the opera of '• Bilee Taylor."
A performance of " La Belle Helene " was given at the Thalia Theatre,
It is not expected that the new series of weekly orchestral concerts, con-
ducted by Mr. George Henschel, which Boston is to have next winter, will be on April 20th with Marie Geistinger and Max Lube, in the principal roles.
self-supporting. Mr. Henry L. Higginson, a well-known Boston citizen,
Mr. Constantine Sternberg has returned from San Francisco, and will
intends to supply from his own purse the deficit, which is likely to be a large give some farewell concerts in this City and Boston about the 1st of June,
one, since the concerts will be expensive and the price of admission low.
prior to his return to Europe.
Mr. Alfred F. Toulmin gave a concert "April 23d at Chickering Hall.
The May Festival chorus and orchestra rehearsed the " Tower of Babel,"
His assistants were Miss Emily Winant, Miss Maud Morgan, Miss Werneke, by Rubinstein, and the Dettengen " Te Deum," by Handel, on the evening
Mr. Feininger, Mr. George W. Morgan, and Mr. Toedt.
of April 26th in the Seventh Regiment Armory. There was an invited
Misa Maud Morgan, the harpist, assisted by her father, Mr. George W. audience present, numbering some three or four thousand persons, largely
Morgan, recently gave a successful performance in Hartford. They are composed of young women who are engaged in business occupations in the
ity and whose time and means are such as to forbid their attending the
engaged to appear in Boston on the 5th of May.
oming festival. The music went very well, the chorus singing in fine style
A letter from the Maestro Strauss to Mr. Rudolph Aronson, dated and the large orchestra acquitting itself with great credit. The "Tower of
Vienna, April 6, announces that illness will prevent his visiting America this Babel " made a decided impression, and the whole performance gave promise
summer and that his journey is postponed until the spring of 1882. Mean- of an exceedingly interesting series of musical entertainments next week.
while Mr. Aronson is engaged on his operetta, " Captain Kidd," which he
The directors of the Festival Association have sent letters inviting the Presi-
expects to produce in New York next fall.
dent and his family and the Vice-President to be present at the festival, and a
Mapleson and his company, with the exception of Gerster and Cam- box has been set apart for their use. General Arthur has replied, stating that
panini, who remained to sing at the music festival in May, and Marie Roze, President Garfield had promised to attend provided he could get away from
who sailed on the 28th in the same steamer with Ada Cavendish, took flight Washington; as for the Vice-President, he will surely be on hand unless
April 23d for Europe in the City of Berlin. #
detained by the deadlock in the Senate.
At a special musical service, April 24th, in St. John's Chapel, Varick
Annie Beere, a contralto singer, gave her annual concert at Chick-
street, about one hundred and fifty girls belonging to Trinity Parish, who ering Miss
Hall, April 26th, at which the principal performers were Miss Lizzie
have heretofore taken part in the congregational singing, sang in a chorus for Arbuckle,
Christian Fritsch, Mr. W. F. Mills, Mr. Arbuckle, Mr. Sea-
the first time. In the anthems, chants and hymns the chorus alternated man, Mr. J. Mr.
Holden,
and Mr. George Colby.
with the chancel choir. The chorus was under the direction of the organist,
Mr.
Korbay,
who
is known in New York musical circles as a capable
Mr. G. F. Le Jeune, and showed careful training.
vocalist, pianist, teacher and critic, refined and highly cultivated
The managers of the Musical Festival have sent to the New York daily musician,
every branch of his art, will give a vocal recital at Chickering Hall on
papers the following communication, which speaks for itself :—" The Music in
Festival Association is desirous of admitting to the private rehearsals at the Thursday, May 12.
Mr. Alfred H. Pease gave a very enjoyable piano recital at Haines's
Seventh Regiment Armory self-supporting women who are unable to pay for
admission to the festival concerts, and would suggest that you ask through your piano rooms, in Fifth avenue, on the afternoon of April 28th, which was at-
columns that responsible persons should send to us the number of women in tended by a fashionable audience.
The Mendelssohn Quintette Club gave its first concert, at San Francisco,
their employ wishing to avail themselves of this invitation. Application
should be made not later than Tuesday morning, April 26, when we will fur- on Friday evening, April 22, to a select and appreciative audience.
nish to employers, as far as it is in our power, the neeessary tickets. Address
Messrs. J. H. Ryley, Wm. Henderson, W. F. Morse, Chas. Harris, Alfred
'Manager of the Festival Association.' "
Cellier, Signor Brocolini, J. C. Scanlan, Ernest Neyer, H. B. Lonsdale, J.
A private meeting was held at Steinway Hall, April 19th, to make Barton Key and A. W- F, MacCollin, a committee on behalf of the member*
MUSICAL NOTES.

Download Page 5: PDF File | Image

Download Page 6 PDF File | Image

Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).

Pro Tip: You can flip pages on the issue easily by using the left and right arrow keys on your keyboard.