Music Trade Review

Issue: 1899 Vol. 29 N. 23

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
10
Mendelssohn Hall on Tuesday evening,
when she was assisted by.Emilio de Gor-
gorza, baritone, and Albert Lockwood,
pianist.
At the piano recital, given in the same
hall Wednesday afternoon, Albert Lock-
wood interpreted an unusually interesting
program in his customary masterly style.
Another affair which was well attended
was the song recital given by the popular
American contralto Emma A. Dambmann
who was assisted by Marguerite Stillwell
pianist, Albertus Shelley, violinist, Frank-
lin D. Lawson, tenor, and Edward O'Ma-
hony, basso.
. L. YOUNG, the prominent New
York manager, has won general com-
mendation for his decision not to allow
encores at the concerts which have been
under his direction at the Metropolitan
Opera House. It is earnestly to be hoped
that this reform will be taken up by man-
agers generally and strictly enforced. The
matter of encores is becoming a positive
nuisance and, notwithstanding all talk to
the contrary, the remedy is in the hands
of the managers and artists themselves.
There was a time when an encore demand
was a recognition of the pleasure which
the artist afforded the audience, but to-day
through the abuse of this courtesy a recall
has been robbed of much of its value. As
practised at our Sunday night concerts the
encore habit is an annoyance to all decent
lovers of music and ought to be frowned
down. There should be no longer any
pandering to the unsatiable appetite of the
encore fiend. Mr. Young has pointed the
way and with success. Others can do the
same.
*
CMMANUEL WAD, one of our gifted
•^ artists and head of the piano depart-
ment of the Peabody Conservatory of
Music in Baltimore, is again at his post,
after his accustomed vacation in Europe.
Having first paid a short visit to his old
home in Copenhagen, he started southward
for the purpose of making a long-expected
visit to Italy. Journeying on in a leisurely
manner, with frequent stops at the many
points of interest en route, the trip was
not only robbed of fatigue but rendered
most delightful. The first stop, which
was but a short one, was in Hamburg,
with which busy seaport numerous former
visits had rendered him quite familiar.
Next he visited Berlin, a city always at-
tractive to musicians, and then after an-
other short trip, he found himself in Dres-
den, the beautiful Saxon capital, famed
throughout the world for its magnificent gal-
leries of painting and sculpture. There, with
that enthusiastic devotion to art in every field
which is ever noted as a distinguishing
mark of the true artist, he enjoyed, renew-
ing the acquaintance of previous years
with the greatest masters of the brush ever
known. He next took a short rest in quaint
Frankfort-on Main, from which point he
went through Schaffhausen and the great
St. Gothard tunnel to the beautiful region
of the Italian lakes, where, after being
joined by friends from Denmark, he spent
the remainder of the summer. During
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
this interval, a number of short excursions
were made to the cities in the north of
Italy, where he met many charming friends.
Near Milan, he visited his colleague, Signor
Pietro Minetti, head of the vocml depart-
ment of the same conservatory with which
he is himself connected, and by the shore
of Lake Maggiore, he visited the dowager-
Princess Troubetskoi at her beautiful villa,
and delighted his charming hostess by his
masterful playing. A week was spent in
Venice, and several days in Verona, a place
quite commonly overlooked by tourists, but
which well repays a visit.
Mr. Wad's years of teaching are showing
great results in Baltimore. His elaborate
training with the great master Leschetit-
EMMANUEL WAD.
sky, developed by years of experience, has
produced in him the perfection of a teach-
er, and one hears rarely such creditable
piano students' recitals as those given by
his pupils at the Peabody. His intelligent,
earnest study of the classics is so thorough
and effective, as to be a revelation to his
advanced pupils, and his interpretation of
the modern romantic school is simply de-
lightful. His pupils who are teaching in
Baltimore are most favorably received, and
several have been selected as teachers in
the preparatory department of the Peabody
Conservatory.
*
INCE the performance of "Tristan und
Isolde" Paris is Wagner mad, despite
the fact that the famous composer avowed
in one of his essays that to be great was to
be German, and the leading critics of
the capital are reproaching the musical
public for treating as a novelty a mu-
sical work which is thirty-four years old.
M. Paul Milliet of the "Monde Artiste"
declares "Tristan " to be a masterpiece in
the absolute sense of the word, and recalls
Wagner's remarks concerning the opera:
" In ' Tristan ' I forgot every theory, I al-
lowed myself complete freedom and inde-
pendence, and while I was composing the
music I felt how woefully my endeavors
exceeded the limits of my method."
*
T H E following is worth quoting from W.
* J. Henderson's always enjoyable feu-
illeton in the Times: "It has been said that
in art there is no such thing as standing
still. But the appreciation of art is surely
a different matter. Music, the youngest
of the arts, is in the very press of her first
forward march. She is in the possession
of the priceless gift of unwearied strength.
Her technical resources have not as yet
been fully explored. She has mines of mere
matter which have not yet been opened up.
Her future is big with promise. But what-
ever that future may be, it will be the
direct product of her past. She will never
be able to ait the chains that bind her to
Bach any more than poetry can break the
bonds which tie her to David, the son of
Jesse. Some of us are prone to forget this
and to think that we are of the army of
progress when we neglect Bach and Beet-
hoven and the prophets for the preachers
of our own era. But there would have
been no Brahms without a Haydn, and
there would have been no Wagner without
a Mozart."
*
Jl/IILKA TERNINA, who has come to
** * sing some of the leading Wagner
roles with the company at the Metro-
politan this year, is to-day the most
famous interpreter of those parts which
have been associated in the past with
the names of Amalia Materna, Rosa Sucher
and Therese Malten. She has concluded
PLAYS WIGS *
Mous-
taches
Fj Beards. Grease
Faints, Stage Make-Ups, etc
for
Parades, ?
I L Masquerades,
K School
I Wi Hoards.
Farlor»
and Stage En-
t e r t a i n m e n t s . Moustaches, 7 cts.
Beards, 20 cts., Negro Wigs, 25cts. Wild West. Indian.
Chinese, Farmer, Irish,Bald and Ladies' CharacterWIg*
only "5 cts. each, any color and made to fit any size head.
All goods sent post paid on receipt of price. I also manu-
facture tricks and novelties. 111s. catalogue of late piny s
and new characters free. Agents wanted, costumers
supplied. CUAH.E. MAKSllAL.L,Mrr.,Lockport,N.Y.
Cast), Eycbange, IRentefc, also
Slfc on £
p t
Grand, Square and Upright
PIANOFORTES
. These instruments have been before the pub-
lic for fifty years, and upon their excellence
alone have attained an
Unpurchased Pre-Emlnence,
Which establishes them as UNEQUALrED
in Tone, Touch, Workmanship and
Puralrility.
Every Piano Fully Warranted for Five Year*
No. 2l East 14thIStreet,
NEW YORK.
WM. KNABE & CO.
WAREROOMS
48 5th Ave., near 20th St., New York
83 & 24 E. Baltimore St., Baltimore
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
U
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
a long engagement in the Court Theatre
at Munich, and had sung before that in
Leipsic, Bremen and Hamburg. She ap-
peared here several times during Walter
Damrosch's second season, but attracted no
great attention, as that series of perform-
ances given at the Academy was successful
in few particulars. Fraulein Ternina has
just refused the place of leading dramatic
soprano at the Royal Opera House in Berlin,
which selected her as the best possible suc-
cessor to Rosa Sucher.
*
DADEREWSKI'S much beparagraphed
*
Polish opera is at last finished, but
there does not seem to be any chance that
it will be performed before the pianist's
American tour has taken place.
C M I L PAUR was
*-~* very success-
ful in conducting
" Tannhauser " in
Chicago. The Times-
Herald says: "The
opportunities for an
orchestra in this op
era are, of course,
almost limitless; this
may be realized when
you stop to consider
how many concert
selections it embraces. Mr. Paur, it should
be noted, had never before directed an oper-
atic performance, at least in America, and
therefore his really unusual success is to be
emphasized. Reasons there were for an-
ticipating a depressing lack of enthusiasm,
and it must be admitted that nothing ap-
proaching a tumult was stirred by any of
the singers; but the orchestra won
frequent and cordial demonsrations. The
climaxes were tellingly given; the Ven-
usberg music was read with a feel-
ing and discrimination, while the splen-
did choruses and marches could not
have been improved. Mr. Paur, how-
ever, did not make the mistake of drown-
ing the artists in his endeavor to advance
a comprehensive interpretation of the
score; his reading of 'Dich Theure Halle'
in the second act and the 'Evening Star'
romanza in the last showed how the or-
chestra can be used for accompaniments as
well as aids to the voice; other conductors
seem to entertain the notion sometimes
that the composer's idea includes the sub-
jection of the singers." Mr. Paur has not
conducted opera in recent years, but he has
had abundant experience in this line of
work, and returns to it with enthusiasm.
*
/^•EORGE L. HUMPHREY, the musical
^ * director of the Herald Square Thea-
tre, has been appointed band-master of the
Seventh Regiment, N. G. N. Y., the posi-
tion held by the late Ernest Neyer.
*
IN a conversation with the musical critic
' of a London paper, Horatio Parker,
professor of music at Yale University, has
declared that in a few years all the world
will sicken of Tchaikowsky's music, and
that Wagner is a great bore, and less a mu-
sician with fine inspiration than an archi-
tect of music. Of Wagner, too, he declared
that a great deal will be blown away before
we are very much older. On the other
hand, Puccini's "Boheme"—oh, that's a
very different thing. "All I can say of it,"
quoth Horatio Parker, "is that I think it
great—very great."
*
A LL indications point to a phenomenal
^*- season of grand opera in this city.
The subscriptions have been so large that
when the box office begins the sale of seats
for single performances, on Dec. 12th, it
will be a case of Hobson's choice. The re-
ceipts so far for the advance sale of seats
and boxes approximated $350,000.
The programs for the first week have
been selected. Gounod, who was dispos-
sessed of his traditional rights last win-
ter, will have the honor of opening the
season restored to him. His "Romeo and
Juliet" will be sung on Monday, Dec. 18, and
will serve to introduce Mr. Alvarez to the
New York public. Mme. Eames will be the
Juliet. On Wednesday, Dec. 20, "Carmen,"
with Calve, Saleza and Campanari, will be the
bill. On Friday, Dec. 22, "Tannhauser"
will be sung, with Ternina, Susan Strong,
Schumann-Heink and Van Dyck, Emil
Paur conducting. "Faust,"with Calve as
Marguerite, at the first Saturday matinee
will end the week.
Maurice Grau has announced that he
will not venture again to Chicago with a
good opera company unless he gets a guar-
antee. He declares the Windy City is
apathetic; doesn't know when it sees a
good thing at $3.50 for which more aesthetic
New Yorkers gladly pay $5 and $7, and
that his philanthropy so far as Chicago is
concerned has reached its limit.
*
TXAISER WILHELM is at work on an
* ^ improvement of Weber's Oberon. He
has set Major Lauff, his private dramatist,
to rewrite the libretto, a Vienna decorator
will rearrange the scenery and costumes,
and a Wiesbaden Kapellmeister will correct
Weber's music. Next?
*
A MONG the artists assisting Mme. Ne-
** vada at her first appearance this sea-
son at the Metropolitan Opera House, Nov.
12th, was Mme. Rosa Linde, who has come
to the front within the last few years as
one of our leading contraltos. The range,
volume and quality of her voice, as well as
her artistic interpretation, have deservedly
won for her the widest recognition from
music lovers and leading critics. She will
be heard in a number of prominent mu-
sical affairs this season. She well deserves
the success which is coming her way.
*
R. HARRY FARJEON has just re-
ceived the gold medal of the Musici-
ans' Company of London. He is a son of
the novelist while his moth'er is a daughter
of the distinguished actor, Joseph Jefferson.
*
OME time ago Saint-Saens protested a-
gainst the growing habit of making
speed the main consideration in the perfor-
mance of piano pieces. A London critic took
up the matter, evidently to the relief of
concert-goers, one of whom wrote to him:
" Thank you for speaking out respecting
the absurd tempi now in vogue. Of
M
S
course, a virtuoso can, if he or she chooses,
force the speed of a presto. But is it real-
ly artistic to do so? Surely, the artist's ob-
ject is not vulgarly to 'go one better,' but
to bring out all the grace, all the vivacity,
of the work played."
the past few weeks high-class music
has had full sway. There has been
chamber music concerts, instrumental and
vocal recitals, lectures with musical illus-
trations, orchestral concerts—in fact, exam-
ples of every form of function devoted to
the glorification of the Divine Art. Consid-
ered from an abstract point of view, it serves
to emphasize the oft-repeated assertion that
New York is to-day one of the world's
musical centres. It was not only from
MME. KOSA LINDE.
the range and the character of the offerings
that our musical metropolitanism could be
deduced, but also from the character and
constitution of the audiences. These gath-
erings were of all sorts and descriptions—
special, general, popular, professional, dis-
criminating and otherwise—all, in com-
bination, testifying in a most eloquent man-
ner to a sincere, deep-rooted love of music. ]
*
PEAKING of the purely fanciful values
placed upon old violins, a London pa-
per declares that, when subjected to the
test of the auction room, no old fiddle has
in the history of the sale room yet reached
the price of $5,000. Some old Italian in-
struments were lately sold in London at
prices ranging from $80 to $r,goo. This
would seem to indicate that genuine old
violins can still be bought at a reasonable
rate, at least in the auction rooms.]
*
O ARDOU'S " La Tosca" is to be sung
^
in Rome this winter with Puccini's
music. The heroine is to be Gemma
Bellincioni. Signor Illica arranged the
libretto, which concludes with La Tosca
stabbing herself, and not leaning from a
parapet, as shj does in the Sardou original.
The playwright objected to this change at
first, but was persuaded that the Tiber and
the parapet were too far apart to make the
scene possible in Rome. Stabbing is the
more customary form of suicide in Italy.
S

Download Page 8: PDF File | Image

Download Page 9 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.