Classic Mode

Music Trade Review

Issue: 1897 Vol. 24 N. 14

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
the modern school, and still find place for tantly priced stars, singing over and over a
WANTED: OPERA IN ENGLISH.
If I were given carte blanche to set in the pure lyric melody which touches the very limited repertory; at the other end of
operation some one device calculated to heart. Wagner, who certainly was not a the scale, the traveling so-called "light
promote American musical culture more critic biased in this direction, remarks that opera," like "El Capitan," "Half a King,"
rapidly than another, I should know exact- when he was conducting Italian opera, he etc., in which everything is made subser-
ly what to do. I would set in operation in noticed that some of the less celebrated vient to the capers of the comedian star.
at least twenty of the cities of the second works, along with much that was conven- Of course Messrs. Wilson and Hopper are
class (in magnitude,) such as Cleveland, tional and mediocre, often contained mo- very amusing; and they can afford to be,
Buffalo, Newark, Cincinnati, St. Louis, ments where the musical expression reached for they are well paid for it. All this
Chicago, Minneapolis, St. Paul, Kansas a fine point of pathos. At such moments
City, Omaha, and the like, English opera he found his heart quickened and his feel-
by stock companies. In a recent number ings stirred, whereas up to that moment he
Caeb, jEycbanae, IRentet), also
of Music, Mr. Karleton Hackett traced the had experienced little more agreeable than
Slfc on £a0£ payments
workings of endowed opera in the smaller contempt for music so shallow and futile.
Italian cities, and showed that by a com-
Opera is the great school of musical ex-
paratively small outlay on the part of pub- pression. Melody was first acquired from
lic-spirited citizens, enjoyable opera could the violin, and not originated by the voice;
be carried on in any of our cities upon a but once acquired, the voice has carried it
self-sustaining basis.
very far, and as between a violinist of
In order to do this, it is first necessary to common powers and a singer of ordinary
find a manager—a sensible business rran, talent, the singer will touch the heart more
who need not be especially gifted in music. easily and surely. The voice is an instru-
It is his business to canvass the field with ment not only more agreeable to the lis-
the musical director, in order to ascertain tener than any other instrument, and more
what the necessary expense of opera with expressive, but it is even capable of doing
such and such a stock company must be. many things which an instrument cannot.
N5:54EASri3 T - K
THREE O00RS
WESTOF BROADW
It must have two or three sopranos for first When the violin has done its best it still
J TMRFP
nnn»<3WFSToi
and second roles,—good American girls, lacks the word—the idea. This the voice
well-trained singers, able to deliver an Eng- always has.
Hazelton
^
lish text intelligibly,—and at least two
Opera is also a school of musical expres-
singers for each of the other registers of sion in the descriptive music. With the
Piano- Fortes
*•*
voice,—tenor, baritone, contralto, and bass. scene open before the listener, and the
FACTORY AND WAREROOMS
These would necessitate a salary list aggre- dramatic story emphasized by the action,
35" & 36 University PI.
gating from $1,200 to $1,500 a week. The the music can go farther and do unusual
NEW YORK
chorus would cost about $400; orchestra things for the sake of intensification, which
$400; director and chorus-master both $200. if done apart from the dramatic scene
House on shares, say twenty-five per cent, would seem merely extravagances. True,
of the gross receipts. Total for forty a program can be furnished the audience,
weeks, $88,000, or a total intake of $117,- as is now done in some descriptive music
000 for about two hundred and eighty per- of the symphonic-poem class; but this is a
formances, an average of about $420 for mere clumsy makeshift. The listener, even
each performance. Any theatre-manager by aid of the libretto, is often at sea as to
will at once see that this expectation could the meaning or intention of the passage
easily be met. It will be objected that immediately "before him. Take, for in-
this estimate makes no allowance for dress- stance, the most remarkable example of
ing, stage settings, etc. True, and we this kind which the art has yet produced,
will have to enlarge our ideas by whatever Richard Strauss's symphonic poem of
sums are necessary to do this part of the "Thus Spake Zarusthra," and it is impos-
work in a proper manner.
sible for any listener, however careful he
The advantages of domestic opera" in may be, to follow the changes, and to say
English are many. First of all, its place with any certainty what particular moment
in musical cultivation. Opeia, particu- the music has reached.
larly English opera and Italian, illustrates
Meanwhile, the music itself is full of ex-
singable melody in a peculiarly fascinating travagant combinations, some of them
way. * In spite of all that is now being absurd and cacophonic—every tone of the
done in the so-called higher departments scale going at the same time, and most of
MONARCH CYCLE MRi CO. CHICAGO
of music to get along without lyric melody, them with chromatic trills involving the
NEW-YORK «=.«•» «.«.«»-. L O N D O N
the Anglo-Saxon heredity has a bent for entire chromatic scale sounding practically
cantabile melody whii-h will certainly en- at once. From such mixtures nothing
dure a generation yet, if indeed it is ever musical is to be learned, unless it may be
60 YEARS*
overcome. Even such an opera as Balfe's the instructive fact that the human ear can
EXPERIENCE.
"Bohemian Girl," a work which is utterly absorb and correlate only a certain number
inane upon the dramatic side, is one of the of musical impressions at once; and that
best-drawing operas in the repertory. It when a great number of contradictory im-
receives all sorts of shabby treatment, be- pressions assault it at once, it attends to
ing put on for Saturday nights, and with those only which seem to belong together,
TRADE MARKS,
DESICNS,
the poorest singers; nevertheless, it draws ignoring the others. In this way only can
COPYRICHTS Ac.
Anyone sending a sketch and description may
remarkably.
such aggregations of dissonance become
quietly ascertain, free, whether an invention is
probably patentable. Communications Btrictly
confidential. Oldest agency for securing patents
But it is not necessary that an opera tolerable.
in America. We have a Washington office.
Patents taken through lluua & Co. receive
There is something pathetic in the man-
should be so utterly wanting as this upon
special notice in the
the dramatic side in order to attract by rea- ner in which American appetite for opera
SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN,
beautifully illustrated, largest circulation of
son of its melody. Some day a new com- is being abused, says W. S. B. Mathews,
any scientific journal, weekly, terms$3.0(1 a ye v j
S1.50 six months. Specimen copies and iLLxiO
poser will find a way of writing the dra- in the Musical Record. At the top, the
BOOK ON I'ATEXTS seut free. Addresa
MUNN & CO.,
matic parts of his work dramatically, after Metropolitan Opera, made up of exorbi-
361 Broadway t New York*
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
might be had, however, without in any de-
gree cutting the ground from under the
feet of sincere opera in the English lan-
guage.
The English language is the language in
which all vocal music has to take place in
the United States, if it is intended to be
intelligible to a miscellaneous audience.
Our people speak mainly this tongue. The
vernacular is the proper tongue for all
singing, because it leaves the listener free
to follow the text and music together with-
out effort, in such a way that the music in-
tensifies the text, and the text the music.
Moreover, we have in this country a
large and constantly increasing number of
young singers able to do well the leading
roles of the lighter standard opera, and now
and then coming in a most creditable man-
ner to the very highest, as the Castle
Square company in Boston to "Lohengrin."
It is just as possible to give enjoyable per-
formances of such operas as "Tannhauser,"
"Lohengrin," "Fidelio," and the standard
repertory generally in this country, as it is
to do the same thing in the smaller towns
of Germany or Italy. It is continually
done there.
Opera properly precedes symphony con-
certs. Opera is a more elementary and
less differentiated taste. It appeals to a
wider circle, and affords more enjoyment.
Symphony belongs later. We try to begin
at the top. It would pay us better to be-
gin with opera.
SIQNORINA C. COSENZA.
Signorina Carmela Cosenza, a young pi-
aniste, who by her marked talents has been
commanding considerable notice in musical
and society circles, will give a concert at
the Madison Square Garden Concert Hall,
on the evening of April 21, assisted by dis-
tinguished vocal soloists. The program is
an interesting one, and opens with Beetho-
ven's vSonata Op. 2 No. 3, followed by
"Hark, Hark the Lark," Schubert-Liszt;
Impromptu Op. 90 No. 4, Schubert; Im-
promptu, Op. 36, Etudes, Op. 25 No. 7,
No. 9, Berceuse, Op. 57, Valse brillante,
Op. 34, No. 1, Chopin; Pezzo Fantastica,
opus 44, No. 2, Martucci; "Barcarole,"
Op. 30, No. T, Rubinstein; "Campanella,"
Paganini-Liszt and several vocal numbers.
The concert is under the distinguished
patronage of Baroness Fava, Countess L.
0
Olean, N. Y., is to have a music festival
on May 4 and 5. A chorus of 120 voices
will sing Rossini's "Stabat Mater" to-
gether with excerpts from oratorio. Prom-
inent artists will participate.
Sousa and his band will give a concert at
CARMELA COSENZA.
the Broadway Theatre to-morrow, Sunday,
evening. Elizabeth Northrop and Martina P. di Cesnola, Countess di Brazzi-Savorg-
Johnstone will be the soloists.
nan, Mrs. Seth Low and twenty other
Martinus Sieveking,the celebrated Dutch ladies prominent in the society world.
pianist, has been scoring many successes in Signorina Cosenza is a young American
his recent recitals. He has been termed pianiste who possesses the essential temper-
"one of the very great pianists," and ament and training to become a great art-
"might properly be called a second Rubin- ist. We trust her recital will be a great
success and we bespeak for all who attend a
stein." .
rare
treat.
Mme. Calve has closed a contract with
George Stewart of Boston to appear in
fifteen concerts after the supplemental
season of opera. She will sing in Albany,
Buffalo, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Min-
neapolis and other Western cities.
Two new operas, Mascagni's "Iride,"
a Japanese story, and "La Vie de Boheme"
by Leoncavallo, will soon be produced in
Italy.
Pinsuti's well-known song, " True Till
Death," recently changed hands in Lon-
don for $3,000. There is money occasion-
ally in a meritorious song; here is an
instance.
Gilbert and Sullivan's "Mikado" has
been adapted into French and will shortly
have a performance at Brussels.
That young old composer, Verdi, is said to
be learning to ride the bicycle at 82. What
next?
©
capital interpretation by the Misses Agnes
Harcourt, K. Clorer, and the Messrs. Pas-
ternack, Moszkowitz and Schoner. Miss
Agnes Harcourt was heard to great ad-
vantage in Vieuxtetnps' Ballade and Polo-
naise. Miss Harcourt's technic is facile and
sure, and she uses her bow with freedom
and grace. One of the many features in
her playing is the beautiful tone she draws
from her violin. In conjunction with
Carl Schoner she also played Sarasate's
Navarra for two violins exceedingly well.
Both young artists were recalled several
times. Carl Schoner gave an excellent
rendition of that tricky and difficult Rondo
Papageno by Ernst. He took the last
movement at an immense speed. Carl
Moszkowitz played Vieuxtemps' Air Varie
op. 22, in which he had an opportunity to
exhibit his skill, especially in rapid down
and up bow staccato. David Pasternack
played one of Hermann Carri's songs ar-
ranged for the violin with much sentiment
and a mazurka by Wieniawski with much
verve. Moszkowitz and Pasternack also
excelled in Spohr's great concerto for two
violins. Mr. Gnyon Locke, a handsome
looking young man, played the two last
movements of De Beriot's Seventh Con-
certo with much brilliancy. He draws a
big tone from his instrument. Little Ida
Wanoscheck took the audience by storm.
It is really wonderful to see a child hardly
over eight years old, swing the bow as she
does. The Misses K. Eichhorn, Flora
Boyd, Jessie Everitt gave an excellent
performance of a brilliant Marche by Pa-
pini for three violins, and three talented
little boys, Valentine Eselgroth, Charlie
David and I. Moszkowitz, made a very
good impression in a Duo by Dancla and a
Trio by Carri. The Ave Maria by Bach-
Gounod performed on eighteen violins
with organ and piano produced a tremen-
dous tonal effect and was played by the
Misses Agnes Harcourt, K. Eichhorn, F.
Boyd, J. Everitt, M. Gray, I. Wanoscheck,
Nan Brown, C. Kenney and the Messrs.
C. Schoner, C. Moszkowitz, D. Pasternack,
G. Locke, C. Van Deventer, H. Bossert,
E. Cannon, V. Eselgroth, C. David and
I. Moszkowitz. The concert was all in all
a great success and an excellent illustration
of Mr. Ferdinand Carri's qualification as a
FERDINAND CARRI'S PUPILS' RECITAL.
There was a very large and enthusiastic violin pedagogue.
©
audience present at the violin recital given
Victor Herbert and his Twenty-second
at Chickering Hall, Thursday evening,
March 18, by the pupils of Mr. Ferdinand Regiment Band, fresh from the inaugural
Carri, the well-known violin virtuoso, and ceremonies in Washington, gave a pop-
director of the violin department of the ular concert in Carnegie Hall on Sunday
New York Institute for Violin Playing and evening, March 7. The program was
School for Piano and Vocal Culture. The made up of selections played by the
program, which was composed exclusively band at the inauguration concerts. The
of violin music, wasinterpreted by theyoung principal soloists were Miss Marie Dona-
artists in amanner highly creditable to their vin, soprano fErnest H. Clarke, trombone,
instructor. True intonation, especially in and Victor Herbert, violoncellist.
the double stopping, and polyphonic play-
o
ing, sound tone production, good phrasing,
Marie von Hammer, the distinguished
and that rare accomplishment in violin pianiste and composer, gave a concert at
playing, free and graceful bowing, was Carnegie Lyceum March 8. The program
illustrated at this recital in the highest de- will consisted exclusively of her own com-
gree. A transcription of De Beriot's Scene positions. She was assisted by Sig. de
de Ballet for four violins and viola by F. Gogorza, Fraulein Gaertner,^'celliste, and
Carri opened the concert and received a Mrs. Katherine Bloodgood.

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