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THE MUSIC TRADE
GRAND OPERA RECORD.
Ninety-Six
Performances in All—Thirty-Two
Operas Brought Forward.
The second season of grand opera under the
management of Herr Conried, which began No-
vember 21, lasted exactly fifteen weeks. Four
subscription performances were given in each
week, together with one performance at popular
prices. Mr. Conried's schedule also introduced
extra performances on nearly all the Thursdays
of the season. 'Parsifal' was presented for sev-
eral weeks on Thursday evenings. Later the
same day was devoted to two presentations of
"Der Ring des Nibelungen."
Some benefit performances, including the no-
torious $10 offering of "Die Fledermaus," also
occupied Thursday nights. Tuesdays, after the
first weeks of the season were devoted to per-
formances in Philadelphia. It was a strenuous
winter for the singers, and it speaks well for
their devotion to their duties that they kept
themselves in such good condition. There were
comparatively few disappointments.
The following table shows the titles of the
operas produced, the dates of first performances
and the number of times each was given:
Opera.
First given.
Alda
Nov. 21
Lucia
Nov. 23
Parsifal
Nov. 24
Carmen
Nov. 25
Travlta
Nov. 20
Tannhiiuser
Nov. 20
Gioconda
Nov. 28
Nozze dl Figaro
Nov. 30
Die Meistersinger
Dec. 3
Lucrezia Borgia
Dec. 5
Cavalleria Husticana . . . .Dec. 9
Don 1'asquale
Dec. 9
Lohengrin
Dec. 10
La Boheme
Dec. 16
Die Walkure
Dec. 17
Barbiere di Siviglia
Dec. 17
Coppelia
Dec. 17
Kigoletto
Dec. 21
Faust
Dec. 23
Elisir d'Amore
Dec. 24
Fidelio
Dec. 24
Pagiiacci
Dec. 23
Rheingold
.Ian. 5
Tristan und Isolde
Jan. 10
Tosca
Jan. 10
Siegfried
Jan. ID
Romeo et Juliette
Jan. 20
Gotterdiiniinerung
Jan. 20
l'uppenfee
Jan. 20..
Les Huguenots
Feb. 3
Hallo In Maschera . . . . . . . Feb. 6
Die Fledermaus
Feb. 16
Mixed Bill
Mar. 8
No.
times.
5
3
8
4
4
3
4
2
7
1
3
2
0
3
4
2
1
2
4
1
1
3
2
2
4
2
4
2
1
4
2
4
1
The addition of the figures foots up 101, but
there were five double bills, not counting the
mixed bill of Friday night. 'Pagiiacci" was
given three times, once with "Cavalleria Rusti-
cana," for the benefit of the Italian Benevolent
Society, and once on a regular night with "II
Barbiere di Siviglia." The ballet "Coppelia" was
given with the "Barber" and "Die Puppenfee,"
the other ballet, was presented together with
"Don Pasquale." Therefore the total number of
performances, evening and afternoon, was ninety-
six, which is five more than Mr. Conried gave
last season.
In the series just ended he brought forward
thirty operas and two ballets. Last season he
produced twenty-six operas and one ballet.
Operas new to- the repertoire of the house this
season were "Lucrezia Borgia" and "Die Fleder-
maus." Revivals were "La Gioconda" and "Un
Ballo in Maschera." The "Puppenfee" ballet was
also a revival. All the other operas were repe-
titions.
REVIEW
GILBERT RAMAKER CO.'S OFFER
SIMPLEX CO. TO ENLARGE.
W i l l Install $1,000 Piano in Oregon Building
at Portland Exposition.
Further Additions to Their Plant Which Will
Give Them Facilities for a Greatly Enlarged
Business—May Make Their Own Pianos.
(Special to The Review.)
Portland, Ore., March 25, 1905.
The first business house in Portland to come
forward with an offer of assistance to the State
Commission in the furnishing of the Oregon
State building, is the Allen & Gilbert-Ramaker
Piano Co. This firm offered at the last meeting
of the commission to install, without cost of any
kind, a $1,000 grand piano in the Oregon build-
ing, for the exposition period. The offer was
accepted with the grateful thanks of the com-
mission, and President Myers is hoping that
some of the furniture houses will next extend
helping hands.
DAMROSCH ROOF CONCERTS.
The New York Symphony Orchestra and its
Conductor Take a New Departure.
Walter Damrosch has decided to give a series
of concerts on the New York roof, beginning May
20. It is an innovation to give high-class con-
certs on a roof garden. Mr. Damrosch has had
the subject in mind for some time.
The New York roof garden is glass covered,
so rain will not interfere with the plan. It is
one of the roomiest roof gardens in town and
seats 2,000 comfortably. Mr. Damrosch will be
assisted by the New York Symphony Orchestra.
There will be concerts nightly, with a change of
programme each night. Every Monday night
will be "Symphony Night" and every Friday
night will be devoted to Wagner music.
The concerts will continue for three weeks, and
possibly longer.
FRITZ KREISLER ON THE PACIFIC COAST.
Fritz Kreisler, the violinist, left New York the
day following his great triumph with the Bos-
ton Symphony Orchestra, for California, where
he opened his Pacific Coast tour last week, in
San Francisco. After twelve concerts in Califor-
nia and the Northwest, Kreisler will play a week
of combination concerts with Josef Hofmann,
opening in Chicago on April 9th, after which
they will visit St. Louis, Cincinnati, Washington,
Trenton and Providence, and finally in this city,
in Carnegie Hall, on Sunday afternoon, April
16th, when they will make their last appearance
here. Kreisler's tour has been a very great suc-
cess, he played in fifty-two concerts since his re-
appearance here on January 3d. He will sail for
Europe on April 18th, going directly to Liver-
pool, where he is to play with the Philharmonic
Society on the 27th, after which he goes to
London, where he will give his first recital, and
thence to Madrid, where he plays on May 7th.
SOME "INFANT PHENOMENA."
The appearance of Franz von Vecsey and Mi-
lada Cerny again draws attention to the everlast-
ing infant phenomenon. These children showed
extraordinary musical intelligence at four, the
age at which Mozart's genius was first revealed.
Schubert at eleven had mastered the violin and
the piano. Beethoven played Bach fugues at
eight;
at thirteen he composed a sonata. Men-
ITALIAN OPERA IN PARIS.
delssohn was a recognized genius at fifteen.
Caruso is to be the leading tenor, and Cam- Richard Strauss composed a symphony at fifteen.
panini the conductor of a six weeks' season of
Henrietta Sonntag sang in public at eight.
Italian opera to be given in Paris in May by the Jennie Lind was a local celebrity at eleven.
company of the Teatro Lirico Internazionale of
Milan. Seven operas, all of them new to Paris,
The Lenten concerts being given at the Ma-
are to be given—Cilea's "Adrienne Lecouvreur," jestic Theatre each Sunday night by Victor Her-
Mascagni's "Amico Fritz," Giordano's "Siberia." bert and his orchestra of fifty musicians, have
"Fedora,"
"Andre
Chenier,"
Leoncavallo's met with a great popular success. The pro-
"Zaza," and Filiasi's "Manuel Menendez." The grams are exceedingly interesting, the orches-
manager is the publisher, Sonzogno, who is thus tra being assisted by well-known soloists. To-
bringing his goods to market.
morrow evening Mr. Herbert will make his ap-
pearance as 'cello soloist.
London mourns the loss of Edward Dann-
reuther, one of its most interesting personalities,
The Charleston (S. C.) News of the 13th inst.
eminent as pianist, educator, essayist and musi- contains a long interview with Frank S. Shaw,
cal missionary—a great force in the musical
president of the Cable Company, who, accom-
progress of England. He was born at Strasburg panied by Mr. F. W. Peavey, a director is visiting
in 1844.
the southern branches of the Cable Company.
(Special to The Review.)
Worcester, Mass., March. 27, 1905.
The Simplex Piano Player Co., of this city,
have arranged to double their capacity within
the next three months. Where the company now
employs about 125 hands, nearly 300 hands will
be required when plans are fully developed. I t
is said the concern have on hand more orders
ahead than at any time since their organization,
and in order to Keep pace with the increasing
demand for their product, the officials have
found it necessary to branch out extensively.
The first step in that direction was taken Fri-
day, when the company bought from the State
Mutual Life Assurance Co., of Worcester, the
four-story brick building at Blackstone and
Charles streets, occupied for some time by Louis
Z. Brodeur, dealer in builders' finish.
With the building, which has about 40,000
square feet of floor area, was acquired the land
upon which it is located, comprising something
over 27,000 square feet of land, the lot being
amply sufficient in size to permit of the erection
of several additional buildings, work upon some
of which will begin immediately.
The building now upon the property is to be
remodeled at once, and thoroughly adapted for
the purposes for which it will be used. The
building will be newly roofed and new floors put
in throughout. New steam pipes and new plumb-
ing will be installed, and everything necessary
will be done to make the building thoroughly
modern throughout.
Theodore P. Brown, president of the company,
told a reporter of a local paper, last night, that in
addition to the repairs upon the present building,
his company planned the immediate erection of
a power house and drying house. The power
house will have engine and dynamo to furnish
power for the entire factory. A private electric
lighting plant will be installed. The drying
house will be 70 by 20 feet, and capable of hous-
ing as much lumber as the company will have
on hand to dry at any one time.
As soon as the improvements have been made
and the additions completed, the company will
remove to their new location from their present
plant at 9 May street, which has been occupied
ever since 1883, and also from the branch plant
on Austin street, taken about three years ago.
With the removal from the old locations to the
new, the company's payroll will number close to
300 hands, or more than twice the size of the
present payroll.
It is the intention of the company to ultimate-
ly erect-upon the property^, building for the
manufacture of pianos, instead of buying them
from other concerns and equipping them with
the player arrangement.
The business of the company has increased
rapidly, especially during the last few years, and
in addition to a large domestic trade, the com-
pany is shipping many of its players abroad,
shipments going out almost every week to Eng-
land and to France, in both of which countries
the Simplex people are represented by agents.
Last fall the company placed upon the market
an inside piano player, which at once jumped
into popularity, and the company is booked way
ahead on orders for that style of player. The
automatic playing arrangement being entirely
within the piano, it is not at all visible, as the
old style of player.
PRUITT FAILS TO ANSWER CHARGE.
(Special to The Review.)
South McAlester, I. T., March 27, 1905.
Ollie Pruitt, who was arrested last week on a
charge of embezzling $2,000 from the Bollinger
music house, of Fort Smith, Ark., of whose South
McAlester branch he was manager, failed to ap-
pear for preliminary hearing before Commis-
sioner McMillan to-day, and his bond was de-
clared forfeited. Pruitt had been in the employ
of the house for several years.