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VOL. XVIIL No. 4.
published Every Saturday.
OUR EUROPEAN
THE
RETGN OF OPERA ENDED—STANFORD'S
WORK—A PROMINENT MINSTREL
DEAD—BARRY SULLIVAN'S
MEMOIRS IN PRINT—
TRADE NOTES.
•
\ie\u YorK, flugust 19, 1893.
press criticisms of the work, which is worth
giving:
'' The melodies are, for the most part, note-
worthy for breadth and a certain manliness of
style which may be described as English,
coupled at times with appropriate Oriental
phraseology. The concerted music shows the
hand of a first-rate musician at every point;
and, indeed, the only defect in the opera is the
absence of that individuality which is generally
necessary to ensure lasting success. In every
other respect, ' The Veiled Prophet' is a fine
work of art. It certainly could not have been
more effectively cast. Madame Nordica and Sig-
nor Vignas as the lovers, who in the opera are
united at the close ; Signor Ancona as the False
Prophet, and Miss Lucile Hill in the part of the
slave, Fatinia, all singing splendidly, while the
orchestra and the chorus were almost above re-
proach, and the mounting was as picturesque
as could have been desired."
DEATH OF FRED BURGESS.
The passing away of Mr. Fred Burgess, of the
Moore & Burgess Minstrels, formerly well-
known in the United States, of which he was a
LONDON, August 6th, 1893.
native, called forth warm tributes from the
DEAR MUSIC TRADE REVIEW :
press. He was a deservedly popular figure in
The Covent Garden Opera season is over. the musical and dramatic life of London. Clem-
It closed last week with a brilliant performance ent Scott has the following to say of him :
of '' Faust.'' Sir Augustus Harris celebrated
'' He did more than many people know to
the occasion by a brief speech in which he in- give an artistic tone and influence to one of the
formed his hearers that the De Reszkes had most creditable and wholesome amusements of
promised to come again, and that next year the people. Some of us still living can remem-
would witness still greater enterprises on his ber the days of the first colored comedians who
part, and a brilliant gathering applauded enthu- ever brought the native songs of America to
siastically. That reminds me that he is to this country. Nearly fifty years ago, ' Oh !
produce Cowen's " Signa," and " H a r o l d " Poor Lucy Neal' and ' Mary Blane,' and such-
next season ; also Puccini's " Manon Lescant," like pathetic airs were the stock-in-trade of the
and better still, Verdi's " Falstaff. " The past middle-class parlors, and kept the wholesome
season has been in every sense one of the most domestic ballad firmly fixed to the hired or pur-
significant on record, and it is pleasant to have chased piano. Fred. Burgess, who was always
to add that Sir Augustus Harris has been re- to be found, year in and out, in his humble
warded for his pluck and managerial daring, office on the ground floor of St. James's Hall,
la the meantime, Covent Garden is being pre- was not only an admirable man of business, but
pared for the Promenade Concert season, which a student of dramatic literature, and the friend
is .soon to commence. Mr. Farley Sinkins will of the artistic portion of the dramatic profes-
open with a remarkable program which will con- sion. Although nominally the business part-
tain such names as Madame Valda, Mr. Ben ner of the ' Moore and Burgess Minstrels,' and
Davies, Madame Belle Cole, Miss Marion. proud of their lead among the legitimate amuse-
MacKenzie, Mr. Pierpont, Mons. Dufriche and ments of the people, he was passionately at-
Mr. Ysaye. The orchestra combined with the tached to the stage, and very learned in its his-
Coldstream Guard band will make a grand total tory. At his beautiful home, Burgess Hall, at
of 100 instrumentalists, and this combined with Finchley, he had collected a fine dramatic
the numerous special features will, without library, stocked with rare editions and valuable
doubt, render the opening concert a great suc- originals of Dickens and Thackeray. Here,
cess.
among his pictures, flowers and antique furni-
ture, he was wont in old days to welcome, on
" T H E VEILED PROPHET."
The Italian version of Villier Stanford's new summer Sundays, most of the actors and
opera, " The Veiled Prophet," recently produced actresses of renown who flourished in his day.
at Covent Garden, has added materially to his Fred Burgess was, in fact, a character, misun-
fame and reputation. Though produced at the derstood by many, but by those who studied
fag end of the season, it was interpreted with his curious character generously admired. It
s quite clear that his influence and taste had a
notable spirit and intelligence, and staged mag-
good
deal to do in keeping the minstrels, with
nificently. This is a clipping from one of the
$4.00 PER YEAR.
SINGLE COPIES, 10 CENTS.
their blackened faces and part songs, an estab-
lished English glee club—a lay choir, as it
were, and an amusement of infinite interest
and charm."
A NEW BIOGRAPHICAL WORK.
A life of the late Barry Sullivan, the eminent
actor, has just been published by W. & G.
Baird, of Ludgate Hill. The author is W. J.
Laurence, a young Irishman, a nephew of the
great Gustavus V. Brooks, whose biography he
is also the author of. From this we learn many
facts about the great actor's life. Barry Sulli-
van was born at Birmingham, on April 23, 1824,
but his parents took him when a child to their
native city, Cork. There he was brought up,
and it was there he made his debut in the comic
opera, "Love in a Village," in 1837. He ap-
peared as an amateur, but the result was made
manifest in his subsequent career. In 1840 he
supported Mrs. Charles Kean, in an emergency,
during an engagement in Cork, and that deter-
mined his future. Later on he went to Edin-
burgh, got on the stage and worked his way up
to the summit familiar to all students of the
recent history of British drama.
Mr. Laurence's biographical work is written
in a discriminating and able manner, if eulogis-
tic and sympathetic. It ought to find a host of
subscribers.
THE AUTOHARP.
Alfred Dolge & Son are publishing a very
necessary '' caution ' * on the trade press here,
warning musical instrument dealers and pur-
chasers of the autoharp that the original and
only instrument entitled to the name is that
manufactured by the C. F. Zimmerman Co.,
Dolgeville, N. Y. The authorized British gene-
ral agents are Beare & Son, Thos. Dawkins &
Co., Metzler & Co., aud Voight &Co., London,
and Hershaw & Loebell, Manchester. That
action was very essential as the market is filled
with cheap and inferior imitations of the auto-
harp.
AMERICAN ORGANS.
Murdoch & Co., of 91 & 93 Farringdon
Road, are not complaining of hard times. I
learn that they are experiencing quite a brisk
demand for American organs. They were among
the first to introduce those instruments to the
British-Irish and Colonial market, and they
are as much attached to them as ever as articles
of commerce. Murdoch & Co. represent not
one, but several American houses, for instance,
the E. P. Carpenter Co., of Brattleboro, Farrand
& Votey, Detroit, and Lyon & Healy, Chicago.
Meantime, business is generally flat in
London and throughout the provinces, and
from away in the Colonies comes a sharp note
of depression which is somewhat emphasized
by reports from your side of the ocean.
NIRVANA.
MR. FRED. THOMAS, of Cluett & Son's music
store, Troy, N. Y., is visiting Hartford, Conn.,
He will also take a trip to Boston, Mass.