Music Trade Review

THE MUSICAL CRITIC AND TRADE REVIEW.
recalls on the lady, who evidently comes to this country to commence her
career here. We wish her all possible success, but we hardly think that
there are great chances in store for her. It is of no use to disguise facts.
We are used to better singing in Italian opera, and do not care for something
which may be excellent in Italy, but is not wished for here. Maybe that
Miss de Leon will call us a set of barbarians, who do not understand how to
appreciate fine singing ; well, that may be, but a singer who wants to make
money out of the barbarians must try to please them and assume their style,
or, if she is powerful enough, to convert them to her own views.
Miss de Leon was supported by Signora Anna de Berlan (Adalgisa), who
has a nice voice, but sings occasionally flat ; Signor Coda (Pollio), a tenor,
who has good lungs and uses them on the upper tones, and Signor Orlandini
(Oroveso), an artist who has lost his voice, and sings with the style of an
opera singer. We considered him the only redeeming feature of the perform-
ance.
The future movements of the De Leon troupe are not known to us.
Whether New York will be included in the circuit of their triumphs, remains
to be seen.
October 5th, 1880..
fering from the epizootic, which is this year attacking horses, donkeys*
opera-choristers and men. But what was lost in the singing was amply
atoned for in the careful acting.
Of Miss Barry it is unpleasant to say that her voice is no longer good ;
but we have heard her three times, lately, and on no occasion was it able to
second the artistic intelligence of the singer. A strange part of the cast
was the fact that the Count was sung by a tenor, and Grenicheaux by a man
who ought to be a baritone. Mr. Bartlett sang the light music in '' Grand
Opera " style, and sang the gentle cabin-boy's song with a pomp that would
have sufficed for a rear-admiral. The chorus sang well, but as there were
only about a dozen of them, they looked lonely. On the whole, as the
three principals (Mrs. Carter and Messrs. Peakes and Cooper) were well up
to their roles, the performance was quite successful. The piece was well
mounted, and had Manager Wentworth's^time permitted, could have made a
successful two weeks' run.
While speaking of the Gaiety, I must mention that a semi-musical
combination, the Stewart family, is playing a successful engagement here
at present, giving one of that class of pieces of which the Vokes are the
grand-parents, entitled
"RAINBOW EEVEIiS."
COMPOSERS' NIGHTS.
It
contains
some
pretty
music
from " La Fille du Tambour-major." As.
OTH here and in England it has been the custom among orchestral con-
ductors to give occasionally composers' nights, that is, to devote on cer- the family sing all the concerted numbers in unison they do not give a varied!
tain evenings their programme, or the principal part of it, to one single com- effect; but the musical solos range all the way from the National hymn of.
poser. The public may like this arrangement, and nevertheless we should Grease—I mean "Lard-ydah," to " Robert toi quefaime " (without whichi
object to it. If we listen to an opera or oratorio performance we have, of no musical family is complete), and some of the singing was good, while Miss-.
course, the work of the same writer, but opera and oratorio composers are Nellie Stewart is one of the best of soubrettes, and almost the only one who>
expected to have a good deal of versatility, in order to make their works in- wears male clothes like a man. The Gaiety will probably make a hit with a
teresting, and in many cases even the works of the greatest masters have to similar style of piece, the
be cut down to avoid tediousness. The concert programme too must be inter-
" TILE CLUB."
esting from beginning to end, and can be made so ; but the composers' night
As
this
is
chiefly
a
Boston
enterprise
the house has been entirely sold for
excludes this feature. We know of two exceptions. Beethoven and Wagner
can be performed during the whole evening without tiring the listener, pro- the opening night, and a host of friends will attend to give it a good send-off.
vided the works selected for the occasion are well chosen. There is in the If it is half as witty and pleasant as the " Tile Club" papers (in SaHbner's
symphonic Titan and the modern Reformer a great deal of objectivity, which Monthly) were, it will make its way. At the
produces works of different effects. But we could not name a third com-
GLOBE THEATKE
poser who could be listened to the whole evening with interest. Mendelssohn,
music
is
also
reigning,
not
in
its
purity, but mixed with legs (hose-Annas are
for instance, who in spite of all aggressors and assaulters, will continue to
exist and will find his admirers, cannot fill an entire programme in different plenty in the chorus), and the " shakes " are given both with the Glottis and
numbers. Mr. Rudolph Bial, who has done a great deal toward the amelior- the legs ; in fact this class of drama may be said to be " reduced to extremi-
ation of the musical taste in New York, gave not long ago a Mendelssohn ties." They just gave
night. Felix Mendelssohn was of a poetical nature, full of genius; but all his
"CALINO,"
compositions breathe the same air, and consequently exhale the same atmos- which had rather more plot than most of these pieces, and was at times witty
phere. We cannot help saying it, for we feel it, tbat too much Mendelssohn and throughout enjoyable. The idea of the piece is taken from the " Double r
makes us languid and dreary. We do not think that anybody would dare to
" and it is rather frigid for Mr. H. B. Farnieto claim it as his own.
fill an entire evening with Haydn, Mozart, Gluck, Handel or Bach. Mr. Marriage;
Aronson, who devotes his labors to the field of lighter music, tried to regale The troupe contains talent, of its kind, although its star, Mr. Graves, was a
his patrons with a Gounod night. With due respect to M. Gounod, who has disappointment. This week
given us " Faust " and some other less famous operatic works, his orchestral
" THE NEW EVANGELINE "
works are too insignificant to make him the hero of an evening's programme.
is
being
played
to
poor
business.
The "American opera" is fading out. The 1
You could not do that even with modern symphonic writers, a position which
remodeling
was
fruitless.
It
is
punny,
rather than funny, and Harvard Col-
M. Gounod never, to our best knowledge, has aspired to. If there must be
composers' nights, let it be Beethoven or Wagner ; but we think that the lege is beginning to lose interest in its anatomical studies. Vale.
It will not do, in writing from Boston, to omit some reference to the
•whole idea of composers' nights has become old-fashioned and stale and
should be entirely abolished.
250TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
B
L. C. E'S BOSTON, LETTER.
THE LEOTDBE COURSE.
BOSTON, Sept. 30th.
E Lecture Coursea begin to-night. They are called lecture courses
_L because they contain no lectures. But per contra, they contain a
numerous and varied assortment of concerts. Chief of these " music-at-
wholesale " institutions is the " Old Bay State Course," which is admirably
managed by Geo. W. Wheeler. Mr. Wheeler is not a professional manager,
but he simply adheres to the common sense method of keeping his promises
to the public very faithfully. It is a rather out-of-date way of conducting a
course, but it seems to pay very well. Cary, Marie Roze, Rive-King, Chat-
terton-Bohrer, Geo. Riddle, The Ideal Opera Co., The Listemann Concert
Co., Lillian Bailey, Barnabee, Henschel, Cay van, Churchill, and the Phil-
harmonic and Thomas orchestras are only part of the list.
Not far behind this course is the "Roberts Course," which also prom-
ises well. I will write further about it in my next. Have just received the
programme of the Bay State opening—to-night—and it is resplendent with
blue and gold and "Miller " (for that piano will be used).
But I am not totally confined to writing of promises of music. I can
speak of the first notes of the season, and they were high ones, too. At the
of the city. In the procession there was much New York music. Gilmore
was there. He escorted a clothing-house (Jordan, Marsh & Co.), and re-
ceived a cordial welcome all along the line. It must have reminded him of
Jubilee days, when, after the heavy deficit, he saw the other side of (Eben:
D.) Jordan. Dodworth's band made a splendid appearance, and played
well. These two, and the Germania, were the best of the bands. The
repertoire of the others seemed rather monotonous, for I heard "Marching
through Georgia," 9 times; "Boccaccio March," 6 times ; and "Fatinitza
March," 4 times. The displays made by Chickering, Miller, Berry, and
the Smith Organ Manufactory, were all very attractive.
TEACHERS.
Of other notes I have but few. The teachers have begun their labors ;
and that reminds me that one excellent teacher is gathering together some
very poor material to produce an opera with. Among so many vocal inva-
lids it may be he loves labor lost.
BIVE-KING.
I met the jolly face (with body attached) of Frank King in Boston yester-
day. He is in his most sanguine mood, and anticipates a first-rate season.
His company is a strong one, and Mme. Rive-King is a host in herself.
He is to have a fine violinist with his combination, if half that is said of the
gentleman is true.
MENDELSSOHN.
GAIETY THEATKE
And, by the way, the Mendelssohn Quintette Club boast that they have
Mrs. H. E. H. Carter has made a success of the part of Serpolette, in the secured the finest first violin player in the country. His name is Sehintzler,
" Chimes of Normandy" (the " Pinafore " of France), and has nightly emit- I think, but I have neither seen nor heard much of him yet.
ted an E b in altissimo which invariably brought a double encore. Her
OTTO BENDIX.
general acting was good, her singing brilliant, but the E b (like Lefranc's
But I have heard one excellent new arrival lately. Otto Bendix, of Co-
chest C) was what people went wildest about. It was clear, pure and " bell-
like." Now, as the Maud S's and St. Julien's are gradually being trained to penhagen, although unheralded in this country, will, I think, soon gain a
beat 2.10 and other fabulous figures, cannot we by carefully breeding and prominent position by his own abilities. His pianoforte playing is of a most
training singers, eventually produce a warbler who can sing to B b in poetic order, and in no case does virtuosity obtrude itself at the expense of
altissimo ? When this is done, and when violinists are trained to jgive their the composer. His playing of the " Sonata Appassionnate " is a clear and feel-
final notes ppppp, and pyrotechnists—at least pianists, play Bach prestissimo, ing portrayal of Beethoven, not of Bendix, and in the last movement is far
superior to the hurried presto with which Joseffy takes it. I do not imagine
I shall feel that music is advancing—rapidly.
As the cast of the " Chimes " was chiefly a Boston one, I will present it that this pianist will compete with Sherwood's breadth in the Etudes Sym-
phoniques or Rive-King's bravura power ; but in delicacy and refinement, in
to your readers :
Mr. Henry Peakes, as Gaspard, the Miser (in this part he has no equal in Chopin, Grieg, Moszkowski, and the scintillations of Liszt, he is highly satis-
America) ; Mrs. H. E. H. Carter, as Serpolette, her first appearance in this factory. I have only heard him in private as yet, but he will give a concert
city; Mrs. Flora E. Barry, as Germaine; Mr. Percy Cooper, as the Mar- here within a week. He is a competent musician (in the broad sense), an oboist,
and a member of the Chapelle Royale, of Denmark. Such persons
quis ; Mr. J. C. Bartlett, as Jean Grenicheaux ; Mr. James A. Sturges, as of ability,
needed in America, and I hope Mr. Bendix will succeed in locating per-
the Sheriff; Mr. W. H. H. Davis, as the Notary ; Miss Belle Levering, as are
Gertrude ; Miss Abbie Nicholson, as Susanne ; Miss Kate Percy, as Nan- manently, either in Boston or New York.
I had almost forgotten to mention a great and unique merit which ha
nette.
Of Mr. Peakes' it is unnecessary ,to speak ; he is the best Gaspard we have possesses. He has never seen "Pinafore."
L. C. E,
ever seen, eclipsing Mezieres in the part, altogether. He was, however, suf-