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THE
flUJIC TRADE
V O L . XXXIII. N o . 5 . Published Every Saturday by Edward Lyman Bill at 3 East Fourteenth Street, New York, Aug. 3,1901.
$2.00 PER YEAR.
SINGLE COPIES, 10 CENTS,
GRAND OPERA NOTES.
FROHMAN ENGAGES KUBELIK.
'T'HE sensation of the coming 1 season of
grand opera at the Metropolitan Opera
House will undoubtedly be the production
of Isidore de Lara's opera, "Messaline,'' with
Calve in the title role. A photograph of
the famous prima donna in the character
of the notorious Roman Empress, taken a
few weeks ago in London, has just been re-
ceived in this city. She is said to interpret
the role with extraordinary realism. De
Lara's score is" not highly considered by
European critics, and the moralists have
made vigorous attacks on the libretto, which
is said to be over the line of the permissi-
ble in its tale of one of Messaline's numer-
ous intrigues.
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Sibyl Sanderson, who has been engaged
by Maurice Grau, will first join the company
in New Orleans and will then sing in Los
Angeles and San Francisco. It is not im-
probable that "Thais" may be revived for
her at the Metropolitan Opera House, with
Albert Alvarez in the cast. He sang in the
original performance of the work in Paris.
Mile. Breval is to sing Aida next winter
and Brunnhilde in German. This is the
Brunnhilde of "Die Walkure," in which she
was heard last year in Boston. She has re-
peatedly sung the role at the Opera in Paris,
but always in French. Gilbert, the French
tenor engaged for the opera company, has
sung in New Orleans, and was the original
Tristan in the Paris production under La-
mour.
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The engagement of De Marchi, the Ital-
ian tenor, by Manager Grau is a tardy rec-
ognition of a very superior artist. He is a
fine tenor, with a good voice, good style
and finished art. Music lovers will remem-
ber him for his admirable work with the ill-
fated company which Mapleson brought to
the Academy of Music in the autumn, of
1896. Mr. Grau was willing to engage him
then, but De Marchi insisted that Mme.
Darclee, his wife, should be engaged also,
and as there was no place for her at the Met-
ropolitan the negotiations fell through. In
South America, as well as in Italy, De Marchi
is adored by the public.
WORCESTER MUSIC FESTIVAL
pvANIEL FROHMAN has engaged the
^"^ Hungarian vioinist, Kubelik, for an
American tour, commencing in New York
December, 1901. It is said Mr. Frohman
has guaranteed that Kubelik's share of the
proceeds shall not be less than $100,000.
Kubelik will be the first of the noted vio-
linists to play here since Ysaye. Violin
players are not so frequently heard here
as they are in the large European cities,
although a small army of pianists comes
yearly to these shores. The reason for this
is not that the public is so overwhelmingly
devoted to piano playing as to want to hear
five virtuosos of that instrument to every
one that plays the fiddle. The appearance
of the pianists is made possible here through
the support of our piano manufacturers,
who pay the performers for using their in-
struments, and in the case of real celebri-
ties, make the amount large enough to ren-
der it worth their time to come to this coun-
try. The lack of any violin makers who
can compete successfully with such well-
established makers as Stradivarius, Amati,
and a few others of their day, accounts for
the comparative in frequency of the vio-
linist's visits to the United States in com-
parison with the number of pianists.
Kubelik has been the rage of two Lon-
don seasons, especially in the Paganini rep-
ertoire, and it was expected that he would
sooner or later come here, although his
terms were so high, as a result of his Lon-
don success,, that nobody would undertake
the risk. If Mr. Frohman has really guar-
anteed him $100,000 for his season's work his
highest demands must have been met. No
instrumentalist but Paderewski ever earned
so much here in recent years.
'T'HE artists engaged for the Worcester
Musical Festival, to be held Sept. 23d
to 27th, include, among others, such stars as.
Mme. Emma Eames, prima donna, David
Bispham, baritone, Gertrude May Stein, con-
tralto, and Evan Williams, tenor. Mme.
Eames is to sing the soprano role in Verdi's
"Requiem," and on artists' night will appear
in two solos. Miss Stein will originate the
title role in "Judith," George W. Chadwick's
new work. Mr. Bispham will have the honor
of singing the bass role in the same work.
He also it to appear in Cesar Frauck's "Les
Beatitudes," and will have a solo artists'
night.
FOR THE FIRST TIME.
OR the first time in some years the ma-
jority of the seats for the Bayreuth
festival performances were taken by Ger-
mans and not by English and Americans.
The interest of the Germans is attributed
to the fact that this is the twenty-fifth anni-
versary of the festival's foundation.
F
ANOTHER OPERA COMPANY.
TT is said that Miss Rosa Cecilia Shay, the
* young Cincinnati singer, will next sea-
son head an opera company which is now
forming, and which will bear her name.
Col. William A. Thompson is credited with
being back of the new company.
BLAUVELT HER OWN MANAGER.
Mme. Lillian Blauvelt, the soprano, has
announced that hereafter she will be con-
nected with no musical bureau, but will man-
age her own business affairs exclusively.
Jt
NOTHER great musician is to have a
monument in Vienna. Johannes Benk
is at work on a marble monument to Johann
Strauss, which he expects to complete by
October.
A
SLIVINSKI TO MAKE A TOUR.
A RRANGEMENTS have been completed
** to bring to this country Slivinski, the
Polish pianist, for a season of fifty concerts,
beginning the middle of November. Slivin-
ski stands high among the great pianists.
Although comparatively a young man, he
is conceded by eminent European critics to
be a brilliant interpreter of Rubinstein, Liszt
and Schumann, possessing that style and
finesse so greatly admired.
J*
FRANCHETTI'S •• GERMANIA."
'"THE most interesting operatic novelty to
come out of Italy next season will be Bar-
on FranchettiVGermania." It was Verdi who
when he was asked to mention the composer
most likely to become his successor, named
Franchetti, and suggested to the municipal-
ity of Genoa, that wanted him to under-
take an opera on the life of Christopher
Columbus, Baron Franchetti as the man who
would be most successful with the work.
The text of the new opera is by the admir-
able Italian librettist, Luigi Illica, and the
action passes in Germany in 1813, when the
French were in power.
SULLIVAN'S "TE DEUM."
O I R ARTHUR SULLIVAN left in the
^ hands of the St. Paul's Cathedral au-
thorities a Thanksgiving "Te Deum." It is,
we learn, set to English words, and occupies
less than half an hour. The accompaniment
is, it is understood, for organ and certain
military instruments (brass without wood
wind), and one section is partly based on
Sir Arthur's most popular hymn tune, "On-
ward, Christian Soldiers." The "Te Deum"
will not be given to the world till the dec-
laration of peace, a date which, therefore,
will be anxiously awaited alike by the Brit-
ish musician and the British taxpayer.