Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE
MUSIC TRADE
V O L XXXVI. N o . 18.
Published Eiery Saturday by Edward Ljman Bill at l Madison lienu, New York, May 2.1903.
»a.oo PBR YBAR
SINGLE COPIES. 10 CENTS
LONDON'S OPERA SEASON.
HIGH PRICED SOLOISTS DID NOT DRAW.
THE SUNDAY CONCERT QUESTION.
*T HE opera season at Covent Garden, Lon-
don, opened the 27th ult. It is planned to
devote a dozen nights of the first three weeks
of the season to three cycles of "Der Ring
des Nibelungen," the scenery for which will
be specially painted by English artists. The
season's repertoire will include "A'ida," "Bar-
biere di Siviglia," "Boheme," "Carmen," "Ca-
valleria Rusticana," "Der Wald," "Don Gio-
vanni," "Faust," "Fidelio," "Gotterdammer-
ung," "Hansel und Gretel," "Lohengrin,"
"Lucia di Lammermoor," "Manon," "Meis-
tersinger," "Nozze di Figaro," "Otello,"
"Pagliacci," "Philemon et Baucis," "Rhein-
gold," "Rigoletto," "Romeo et Juliette,"
"Siegfried," "Tannhauser," "Traviata," "Tris-
tan und Isolde," "Walkiire" and probably the
"Damnation of Faust" for the Berlioz cen-
tenary and Charpentier's "Louise."
The participating artists are all familiar to
Metropolitan habitues. Among the new com-
ers may be mentioned Mme. Blauvelt, the
concert singer, Fraulein LerBer-Burckhard,the
distinguished prima donna of Wiesbaden,
whose singing in "Oberon," the Kaiser so
highly complimented; Mile. Bolska, the dis-
tinguished prima donna of St. Petersburg;
Fraulein Reinl, of Berlin; Fraulein Gleiss, of
Bayreuth; and Fraulein Deppe, of St. Peters-
burg,
A CCORDING to the treasurer of the Pitts-
burg Orchestra the deficit of the organ-
ization for the season just ended was $28,-
509.51, which is a slight increase over last
year. Nevertheless, almost all the guaran-
tors have renewed their obligations for next
year, and the orchestra will continr.e under
Victor Herbert's direction. Here is an in-
teresting fact as presented by the treasurer's
report:
"At the beginning of the season your com-
mittee decided that it would spend more
money than ever before for the item of solo-
ists with a view to determining just how
much influence the reputation of the soloist
had on the receipts, and the list of soloists
this year was the best ever presented. The
result of the experiment does not seem to
have been satisfactory, for the fine list pre-
sented in our prospectus did not keep up
our receipts either from season ticket sales
or from auction premiums, and, with some
two exceptions, the high-priced soloists failed
to draw as much in single ticket sales as we
paid them for their services."
'T'HE recent agitation of the police in New
* York over the subject of Sunday con-
certs has recalled to a New York musician
the experience he had with a series of Sun-
day concerts in Boston—it was so different,
and also so like the things you read about
Boston. The story is to be credited to Rich-
ard Aldrich. It appears Arthur Whiting gave
last season a series of Sunday evening con-
certs in Boston with the Kneisel Quartet.
Having previously been semi-private, he de-
cided to have them thereafter in a pubilc hall,
and was told that he would have to see the
police Captain of the precinct—not "see" him
in the technical New York sense, but just
submit his programs, for they were just then
very strict about Sunday concerts and very
particular about the truly "sacred" charac-
ter of them.
While there is nothing really subversive
of public morality in the playing of the Knei-
sel Quartet, Mr. Whiting was a little anxious,
because it is difficult to say just what is "sa-
cred" in instrumental music and what is not.
However, one of his programs contained his
vocal settings of lines from the Rubaiyat of
Omar Khayyam, with the words on it, and
he thought this might have its effect on the
Captain; so he sent it around. Word prompt-
ly came back from that official:
"I'm a great reader and admirer of Omar
Khayyam myself, and any concert that hasn't
anything worse than the Rubaiyat in it is
sacred enough for me,. You can go right on
with the show."
Mr. Whiting says he doesn't dare to put
a New York police Captain to the same test.
GABRILOWITSCH'S FAREWELL CONCERTS.
A FTER a remarkable tour in America
** Gabrilowitsch played for the last time
in New York, April 24-29, to houses that
were remarkable for this time of the year.
He played a new composition of his own
which was written during his visit to this
country,. Whether he meant that it should
have any symbolical meaning or not is not
clear, but one thing is certain—it is a most
brilliant thing and well commemorates the
most notable American tour that has been
made in years. His playing seemed more fin-
ished than ever. He is an artist "in his bones,
in his flesh, and in his soul."
j*
FOREIGN TOUR FOR DAMROSCH.
A DISPATCH from Berlin states that
•**• Walter Damrosch has received invita-
tions to conduct symphony concerts in Ber-
lin, Paris, St. Petersburg and Warsaw dur-
ing the spring of 1904. He will go to Eu-
rope in February for that purpose and will
also conduct a number of Wagner operas in
German cities. Mr. Damrosch sails for New
York May 8 on the Hamburg-American line
Steamship "Auguste Victoria."
EMIL PAUR IN MADRID.
old friend Emil Paur, according to
news from Berlin, has accepted an en-
gagement to act as conductor of the Madrid
Royal Opera House. He will produce "Tann-
hauser," "Lohengrin" and "Die Meistersing-
er." He will also give a series of concerts
with the Madrid Philharmonic Society,. Herr
Paur has already gone to Madrid. His many
friends in New York will wish the best of
good fortune for this genial gentleman and
clever conductor and musician.
A NIKISCH JUBILAUM.
honor of the twenty-fifth anniversary of
I N Arthur
Nikisch's beginning as a con-
ductor—one of those Jubilaums that the Ger-
mans are so fond of celebrating—Herr J. H.
Block of Berlin has established an "Arthur
Nikisch Fund" for the members of the Ge-
wandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig, of 20,000
marks, and an Arthur Nikisch Stipendium in
the Leipzig Conservatory of 10,000 marks.
The income of the latter is to be used as a
prize for the best composition submitted.
The composition for Emperor William's
singing contest at Frankfort, selected after
open competition, is by Georg Messner, an
artillery officer (on the active list) of Bres-
lau. The title is "The Song of Victory After
the Battle with Varus,"
A RICHARD STRAUSS FESTIVAL
A T the Richard Strauss Festival to take
** place at St. James' Hall, London, on
the evenings of June 3, 4, 5 and 9, and the
afternoon of June 8, the Amsterdam Sym-
phony Orchestra is to be the instrumental
body and the conductors will be Strauss him-
self and William Mengelberg.
The works to be performed are "Till Eu-
lenspiegel," "Also Sprach Zarathustra," "Don
Juan," "Don Quixote," "Tod und Verkla-
rung," "Macbeth," "Aus Italien" and "Ein
Heldenleben," together with songs from the
Strauss repertory and excerpts from "Gun-
tram" and "Feuersnoth." Pauline Strauss-
de Ahna and John Harrison will sing, as
well as Mr. Ffrangcon-Davies, and Wilhelm
Bachhaus will play the part of the burlesque
for piano and orchestra.