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VOL. XVIII. No.
published Every Saturday.
OUR
£UROP£AN
THE COVENT GARDEN CONCERTS- A SINGER'S
BROOCH AND A ROYAL SCANDAL—A SPICY
PARAGRAPH—A STEINWAY PIANO FOR
THE " VALIANT "—GENERAL POINTS.
LONDON, Aug.
DEAR MUSIC TRADE REVIEW :
14th,
1893.
The Covent Garden Promenade Concerts are on,
and with such conductors as Mr. F. H. Cowen and
Mr. G. H. Betjemann, an orchestra of excellent
quality, and a remarkable array of vocalists,
they bid fair to excel all previous records in
point of musical excellence and attendance. I
am told that Sims Reeves is to emerge tempo-
rarily from retirement to appear at some special
concerts of the series. That will prove a draw-
ing card. More, I am informed that Saint
Saens' Opera, " Samson et Delila, " will also be
performed concert fashion during the season.
This work cannot be given on the English
stage, therefore its production in this form will
be another strong card for the management. So
as to cater to the various tastes of patrons,
there will be classical programs on Wednes-
days ; Mondays and Saturdays will be devoted
to popular works, and on Fridays English com-
posers will have a representation. That is an
admirable arrangement.
ABOUT DRURY LANE.
It now seems that Drury Lane Theatre will
continue to exist despite of what has been
written concerning it. Early next month it is
to be opened with a new drama of the sensa-
tional order by Henry Pettit and Sir Augustus
Harris. There will be the usual pantomime
later on—this time it is to be devoted to '' Ro-
binson Crusoe "—and after the Christmas taste
is satiated Shakspeare's "Henry V." will be
brought out in sumptuous style.
NORDIC A'S BROOCH.
Certain society papers here are indulging in
much gossip about the brooch which mysteri-
ously disappeared during Madame Nordica's
recent visit to the Queen. This is one spicy
paragraph from a weekly of that class :
" By the way, the loss of Madame Nordica's
brooch at Osborne, while on a visit to the
•
fiew YorH, /lugust 26, 1893.
Queen, has caused Her Majesty much annoy-
ance. This, coming so close upon the loss by
theft of Lady Wilton's and Lady Howe's jewel-
lery, has given a very plain warning to the
Scotland Yard people that some of our most ex-
perienced thieves are now busy.
'' It must not be for one moment imagined that
our police authorities have not a very distinct
idea who are the guiding spirits of these auda-
cious robberies ; but, of course, a distinct idea
is not sufficient to arrest on. People who fondly
imagine that the fruits of these thefts—these
thousands of pounds' worth of jewels—are en-
joyed by the horny-handed ruffians who actually
break into the house and remove the " swag "
are lamentably in error, and by no means up-
to-date in criminal matters.
" The real thieves, or, to speak with greater
precision, the chief thieves, are gentlemen who
by no means have horny hands or live in the
slums, but very ornate individuals, who live in
sumptuous dwelling places in the West-end,
have horses, carriages, and so forth, and belong
to tolerably good clubs."
PLAIN ENGLISH.
Nordica, however, found the brooch. Refer-
ring to a well-known titled thief called "The
Bart, " the same organ says :
" Could the Bart, they asked themselves, have
actually got hold of—i. e., tampered with—any
of the Royal servants, and was the Artful
Dodger thus brought into close proximity to
the Sovereign herself? The thought was pain-
ful, indeed, and great was the general relief
when poor Nordica's brooch was discovered so
mysteriously in the drawing-room at Osborne
in the morning, and this, notwithstanding the
fact that the moment she had discovered the
loss, the evening before, the cantatrice had
given the alarm, and that the most natural
place to look for the missing jewel was, one
would have thought, the room in which the
lady had last worn it.
"The Queen, we hear, well rewarded Mr.
Charles Fraser for finding Madame Nordica's
^250 diamond brooch on one of the rugs in
Osborne House drawing-room. But one wonders
what the Queen would have done had Nordica
not found her brooch. Would Mrs. Great Brit-
ain have made good the loss by a cheque or by
another brooch ? Her Majesty would not, of
course, have been in one way responsible, but
yet in another way she would, for the entertain-
ment the other night at Osborne was a small
and private one, and the distance from Osborne
House, where Nordica sang, to East Cowes,
where she stayed, was a short one, so it was not
like a big State concert at Buckingham Palace,
where the singer would have had to come all the
way from her residence at Hampstead. If the
Queen cannot entertain a few friends at her
private residence in the Isle of Wight, and in-
vite a singer who is staying almost next door to
drop in and give them a song, without the said
$4.00 PER YEAR.
SINGLE COPIES, 10 CENTS.
singer being robbed of her property, why, all
we can say is, the sooner ' Beware of Pick-
pockets ' is written up on all the walls of our
Royal residences, the better."
En passant, I am surprised that Labouchere
has not paid more attention to this matter.
"Labby," a prince of snobs, himself, albeit a
"radical"—save the mark!—always loves to
dabble in such questions.
A YOUNG LADY OF TALENT.
The most notable prize winner at the Royal
Academy of Music this year has been Miss
Llewela Davies, to whom was awarded the
medal of the Worshipful Company of Musicians
for being the most distinguished student in the
Academy. Miss Davies holds medals and
certificates for harmony, the piano-forte, sight
singing and reading, besides the John Thomas
scholarship, the Macfarren scholarship, the
Santley prize, the Louisa Hopkins prize, and
the Sterndale Bennett prize, and, finally, the
bachelorship of music at London University.
Such a musical record in any academical career
is unique, and the greatest hopes are enter-
tained of Miss Davies' future achievements as
a musician.
THE NEW VANDERBILT YACHT.
A newspaper friend of mine who went down
to Birkenhead last week to see the yacht
" Valiant," which has just been completed for
Mr. W. K. Vanderbilt, of New York, tells me
that she is a magnificent and luxurious vessel—
one of the finest afloat. She cost over $750,000.
However, these particulars have doubtless al-
ready been published on the American press.
The " V a l i a n t " contains about twenty state-
rooms, exclusive of the dining saloon, library,
and smoke room. The dining saloon has been
fitted by a Parisian firm in the Louis Quatorze
style. The dome of the saloon rises to the
upper deck, and a soft, subdued light is shed
from its stained-glass panes to the saloon below.
The carpet, both here and in the passages, cost
some three guineas a yard, The library is
furnished in dark walnut, with beautifully
carved panels and pilasters ; the panels contain-
ing some beautiful paintings.
What will interest you particularly is the fact
that music will be furnished this floating palace
by a " Steinway " piano, an elaborate and beau-
tiful instrument in appearance.
PATTI'S MOVEMENTS.
Madame Patti has now arranged to sail for
New York by the Lucania on October 27th.
Signor Nicolini will accompany her, and the
rest of the company, which includes Madame
Fabbri, MM. Galassi, Lely, Novara, and Mas-
cheroni, with Signor Arditi as conductor, will
leave by the Paris from Southampton on the
same day. The season will open in New York
on November 9th, and in all 40 concerts will be
given, the first part of each program being de-
voted to an act from a favorite opera. Towards
the end of the season also Madame Patti will
produce a one-act opera from the pen of Signor
Lizzi.
NIRVANA.