Music Trade Review
Issue: 1880 Vol. 3 N. 9 - Page 11
December 5th, 1880.
THE MUSICAL CRITIC AND TRADE REVIEW.
11
but it should have been crowded,—the programmes are so interesting, con-
taining many of the novelties of modern composition, and forming an edu-
cational school for the public, of great value.
The vocal numbers of the concert of November 19, were given by Miss
Oenerally speaking, she is one of those artists whose work is enjoyable, but
not exciting. But in this opera she rose to a height of dramatic fervor which Gertrude Franklin, who was in excellent voice, and sang expressively ; only
-was surprising. Not Qnly was she light and sparking in the rather too in the stretto of the Mozart aira did she blur a trifle. The other numb-
voluptuous garden scene, but she was intense in the prison scene following, ers (German Ueder) were sung finely; better than anything Miss Franklin
and statuesque in the charming Grecian episode. Mr. Conly made a satis- has yet done in Boston.
The orchestral work was of the highest order : precision, fire, and delic-
factory Mefistofele, singing excellently, and acting fairly. Miss Aunandale
did quite well with the minor role of Martha. As to the Faust, Sig. Perug- acy were exhibited. The "Youth of Hercules," by Sain t-Siiens, is full of
ini quavered and wobbled, and made desperate attempts to reach sundry the coloring with which this composer generally invests his work. The
high notes, attempts which sometimes succeeded—within a half tone or so ; temptation of the syrens is pictured by a delicate and tender theme, on the
and was generally afflicted with vocal rickets. The chorus was, throughout, strings. The more delirious joys offered by the Bacchantes, are sketched in
exasperating. The heavenly choruses of the prologue seemed to indicate a whirling, dervish-like theme, wherein triangles, cymbals, piccolos, etc.,
that the golden harps were not in tune ; and the witches music of the third give the expected bizarre effects ; the entrance of a higher thought of mart-
act gave a cold collation of the fiery thoughts of the composer. Why such ial fame and glorious death, is of course given by a broad theme on the
an entire disregard of dramatic unity is allowed in the chorus, is one of the brass, which is followed by pleading and regret, mournfully pictured on the
mysteries of operatic performance. The stage dii'ections say—" The witches strings.
rush frantically on the stage"—they walked in as lazily as if they were a
Without joining the ranks of the "intention finders," one can easily
torchlight procession on its seventh mile. Once in, they stood in that petri- discern the momentary indecision of Hercules, swaying between duty and
fied way which is characteristic of the veteran chorister.
pleasure. The arrangement of Rubinstein'3 Valse Caprice for Orchestra, by
The season came to a mirthful close, with a performance of Halevy's Muller-Berghaus, is certainly a successful bit of scoring, although it is not
** Jewess," by home talent. I know that you may not be able to see any- comparable to the brio which the writer has so successfully reproduced in
*
thing mirthful in an opera which contains a young lady boiled in oil, like a his scoring of Liszt's Polonaise, in E.
The critics were nearly unanimous in their condemnation of Liszt'a
Phillippe & Canaud sardine ; but had you witnessed the performance you
would have agreed with me, that, given as a comic opera, " La Juive" has "Inferno," although the audience seemed to admire it. For myself, I can
cordially side with the " Hoi Polloi ;" I found it a very impressive compo-
mo superior.
But out of the general humor, let me save three parts. Mr. Adams, sition. The brasses are of course obliged to give some diabolical cacophony,
^although his voice did not second him, was most dramatic in the role of but the duet of the doomed lovers was of surpassing beauty; only here
Mleazar. In his acting he recalled (although he did not equal) the great I wondered why the master did not give complete dramatic unity by contin-
I have not space to give further details here, but can compliment
highest praise in all save the last act; I am sorry that so noble an effort
should have been so overweighted by incompetent assistance. Miss Schirmer the leader (Mr. Listeman), and the orchestra, on some musicianly work.
—as the Princess—was aho very acceptable, and the part was immensely In such a modern programme, the trombones had heavy work and did it
-superior to a similar one which she enacted at the Globe a year ago. But finely. The performers in this part were Messrs. Nichols, Rigg, Stewart,
tthe dramatic force of these three caused the performance of the others to and Moore, to whom much praise is due.
tstand out in woeful and ludicrous contrast. Not that they sang badly; the
The Harvard Symphony Concei-ts opened very auspiciously Nov. 18th,
reverse is true, for their careful phrasing and just intonation was better than at the Music Hall. The two orchestras this week seemed to supplement one
ihe work of some of the operatic soloists of the week; bat they were utterly another, for this concert consisted of older and clearer formed classics. To
innocent of any knowledge of the stage, and, as the poorest singers always listen to the pure form and strict style of Cherubini's " Water Carrier," was
-choose the grandest arias, they had chosen to make their debut in the most a delightful contrast. The piece was well played, and the tension of the
•dramatic of operas.
fiery intoxicating orchestration of the newer school was replaced by a calm
The chief end and aim of their performance seemed to be to keep time, and tranquil mood. Miss Bailey was the vocalist of the occasion, and was
And in the most trying situations their thumbs were seen wiggling, as they especially charming in the simple "Folk Songs" which Beethoven has ar-
•counted on their fingers—-" one, two, three, four,—one, two, three, four." The ranged. Beethoven's Seventh Symphony, the most romantic he ever wrote,
Prince (Mr. G. W. Want) chose for his customary attitude, the position of was given with expression and life. Mr. Zerrahn gave a very fine reading of
a new recruit learning the "goose-step;" his hands were at his side, and his the work; and the orchestra, for a first performance, gave the best of ensembles.
eyes directed at the exact centre of the first balcony. He found this to be The overture to "Julius Csesar" (Schumann) was the only representative of
an impregnable position and judiciously declined to leave it, even when modern work on the programme; and this is not modern in one sense.
Rachel (Miss Barton) seized his hand (in the denunciation scene) and drawing Although it uses a motif (immediately announced by oboes, strings and
trombones, forte) its treatment is remarkably clear, a few chromatic runs on
it to her, in pump-handle fashion, exclaimed—" Have you no word?"
and flutes, or a shivering triplet accompaniment of strings, not dis-
The haughty Cardinal (Mr. Kimball) also was greatly embarrassed by violins
the attention in the least. It is Ciesar's character that is depicted,
the sudden perception of the fact that he had hands, and that there were no tracting
Caesar is pictured, who
pockets in his pontifical robes, in which he could hide them from the gaze not his history. The triumphant
" Doth bestride the world
•of a rude and unsympathetic world. He also kept them at his side as a per-
Like a huge colossus,"
manent fixture. Only once when the dramatic situation seemed to impera-
tively demand a change of position, he exclaimed—" Pity a father's anguish" the courageous Caesar—"the elder lion, and more terrible;" but not (unless
it be in a short passage preceding the return to the original theme, as finale)
—and laid them on his stomach !
The audience appreciated all the points, and some were supremely a premonition of the " Ides of March." The really modern school would
have gone into details; the emperor would have been stabbed by at loast a
funny: for example—
Eleazar (dramatically). Your palace was in flames, your wife perished, cymbal, and the bass drum would have suggested his final fall. The over-
ture was broadly played, full justice being done to its majestic effects.
l>ut your child, whom you thought dead—was saved !!
Cardinal, (aside, with thumbs palpably wiggling.) One, two, three, four,— I will close a rather lengthy letter with a short notice of a concert given.
Nov.27th, at Mechanics Hill, by Miss Josephine C. Bates. A well-selected
one, two, three, four, etc.
At the end of the interview, the prelate left the stage in wildest haste. programme was given, as follows: 1. Souato for Piano and Violin, A major,
Mr. Thayer, as the Mayor, coincided with the views of his colleagues, as JT. S. Bach, Miss Bates and Mr. Dannreuther ; 2. " I Greet Thee Now,"
Schubert, Mr. Geo. L. Osgood; 3. a. Trois Nouvelles Etudes, Chopin
tto the use of hands.
The orchestra foundered about every ten bars ; there were two reasons b. Menuett, Moszkowski, c. Novellette, No. 4, Schumann, Miss Bates ; 4. a.
for this: First, cuts were made even between the acts, and the musicians Komanze, b- Rondo Hongrois, Op. 17, Philip Scharwenka, Mr. Dannreuther*
were kept in ignorance of them until the last moment; secondly, the leader 5. a. " On a Thornbush Blooms a Rose Bud," Franz, b. "Now the Shades
and musicians were paralyzed at the histrionic work done on the stage, and are Falling," Franz, Mr. Geo. L. Osgood; 6. Second Grand Sonata, Op. 19,
for Piano and Violin, Rubinstein, Miss Bates and Mr. Dannreuther.
•could not collect their thoughts.
Mr. Osgood was in best voice, and s mg very finely. He sang in Eng-
The bones of Halevy were distinctlv heard to rattle, between the acts.
As to the chorus, dramatic ability is not demanded of a chorus, and they lish. I, for one, do not believe in giving the standard Ueder in English until
-certainly stood still with as much ability as the regular operatic petrifications. much better translations are procured. At present, most of the translations
They sang out of tune and time, but I deem it just to say, that, in their are mere hackwork, and unfit to be sung to such masterly music. For ex-
rehearsals of last season, they did much better. The following letter, which ample, the neat little conceit at the end of On a Thornbush, " Immer Schmol-
I received from one of them, the day following the massacre, partly explains len, Immer Grollen fur ein Ros' war's zu viel Dorn ") becomes insipid as,
" Ever pouting, ever fretting, 111 becomes a rose, I ween." As an encore, he
their difficulties:
" I suppose you were present at the performance of the "Jewess," on gave Schubert's " Wohing," and the " Brook." Mr. Dannreuther played, in
Saturday eve, and will in due time give a characteristic criticism on the per- the main, well ; especially was the "Romance " finely rendered. But in the
formance. Excuse me if I venture a suggestion that the chorus was not two last of his numbers, a desire for power, and possibly a weak instrument,
•wholly to blame for thpir apparent failure. The great cause of it was this: caused him to bow too heavily, and scratchiness and irregular intonation
they had but one rehearsal with the orchestra, and that rehearsal was taken were the results. The final movement of the great sonata was taken rather
up mainly by the orchestra to find out where the " cuts" were. They had too slow.
evidently never attempted the music before. The chorus were used to a
Miss Bates has a phenomenal amount of power, a very firm wrist and
leader, and at the performance found themselves without one—for Mr. elbow action, and no shading at all. The Bach Sonata she played very
Behrens was either so ignorant of the parts himself, or else was obliged to clearly and intelligently, but we do not like to have Chopin played (to bor-
give his whole attention to the orchestra, that he left the chorus to its own row from Old Probabilities) "clear and cold." A refinement in shading is
resources. They played unevenly, too ; and certain instruments having undue necessary (unless the young lady only aims to be a musical steam-ham-
prominence, gave us tones we had never heard, in the " cues ;" and the mer); and with so much intelligence and technique this ought to be attain-
music we had been accustomed to hear was overwhelmed. So we were like able. Mr. Sherwood turned the pages very expressively.
L. C. E.
a flock without a shepherd. A lack of understanding between chorus and
CINCINNATI.
orchestra was the main cause of our trouble, not stage-fright or ignorance of
the part. Hoping you will give this fact a kind place in your criticism,
GOSSIP ABOUT MUSICAL MATTBBS, MUSICAL CRITICS, AND A MUSICAL LAWSUIT
AGAINST HELMICK.
I remain, etc., etc."
CINCINNATI, NOV. 29th, 1880.
Two other events of the opera season, which I was unfortunately
unable to attend, were the appearances of Mdmes. Torriani and Carrington.
N the days when this was just a comfortably zealous musical city, before our
From what I have heard of the voice of the latter lady, I should judge that
people knew all the operas and oratorios by heart, and when other things
ahe will have a brilliant chance.
besides music entered into our everyday existence, the most energetic and.
The second concert by the Philharmonic Orchestra was fairly attended, earnest chorus director in Cincinnati was Mr. Carl Barnes. That really able
OUR STAFF CORRESPONDENTS.
( Continued from page 9.)
J
THE MUSICAL CRITIC AND TRADE REVIEW.
11
but it should have been crowded,—the programmes are so interesting, con-
taining many of the novelties of modern composition, and forming an edu-
cational school for the public, of great value.
The vocal numbers of the concert of November 19, were given by Miss
Oenerally speaking, she is one of those artists whose work is enjoyable, but
not exciting. But in this opera she rose to a height of dramatic fervor which Gertrude Franklin, who was in excellent voice, and sang expressively ; only
-was surprising. Not Qnly was she light and sparking in the rather too in the stretto of the Mozart aira did she blur a trifle. The other numb-
voluptuous garden scene, but she was intense in the prison scene following, ers (German Ueder) were sung finely; better than anything Miss Franklin
and statuesque in the charming Grecian episode. Mr. Conly made a satis- has yet done in Boston.
The orchestral work was of the highest order : precision, fire, and delic-
factory Mefistofele, singing excellently, and acting fairly. Miss Aunandale
did quite well with the minor role of Martha. As to the Faust, Sig. Perug- acy were exhibited. The "Youth of Hercules," by Sain t-Siiens, is full of
ini quavered and wobbled, and made desperate attempts to reach sundry the coloring with which this composer generally invests his work. The
high notes, attempts which sometimes succeeded—within a half tone or so ; temptation of the syrens is pictured by a delicate and tender theme, on the
and was generally afflicted with vocal rickets. The chorus was, throughout, strings. The more delirious joys offered by the Bacchantes, are sketched in
exasperating. The heavenly choruses of the prologue seemed to indicate a whirling, dervish-like theme, wherein triangles, cymbals, piccolos, etc.,
that the golden harps were not in tune ; and the witches music of the third give the expected bizarre effects ; the entrance of a higher thought of mart-
act gave a cold collation of the fiery thoughts of the composer. Why such ial fame and glorious death, is of course given by a broad theme on the
an entire disregard of dramatic unity is allowed in the chorus, is one of the brass, which is followed by pleading and regret, mournfully pictured on the
mysteries of operatic performance. The stage dii'ections say—" The witches strings.
rush frantically on the stage"—they walked in as lazily as if they were a
Without joining the ranks of the "intention finders," one can easily
torchlight procession on its seventh mile. Once in, they stood in that petri- discern the momentary indecision of Hercules, swaying between duty and
fied way which is characteristic of the veteran chorister.
pleasure. The arrangement of Rubinstein'3 Valse Caprice for Orchestra, by
The season came to a mirthful close, with a performance of Halevy's Muller-Berghaus, is certainly a successful bit of scoring, although it is not
** Jewess," by home talent. I know that you may not be able to see any- comparable to the brio which the writer has so successfully reproduced in
*
thing mirthful in an opera which contains a young lady boiled in oil, like a his scoring of Liszt's Polonaise, in E.
The critics were nearly unanimous in their condemnation of Liszt'a
Phillippe & Canaud sardine ; but had you witnessed the performance you
would have agreed with me, that, given as a comic opera, " La Juive" has "Inferno," although the audience seemed to admire it. For myself, I can
cordially side with the " Hoi Polloi ;" I found it a very impressive compo-
mo superior.
But out of the general humor, let me save three parts. Mr. Adams, sition. The brasses are of course obliged to give some diabolical cacophony,
^although his voice did not second him, was most dramatic in the role of but the duet of the doomed lovers was of surpassing beauty; only here
Mleazar. In his acting he recalled (although he did not equal) the great I wondered why the master did not give complete dramatic unity by contin-
I have not space to give further details here, but can compliment
highest praise in all save the last act; I am sorry that so noble an effort
should have been so overweighted by incompetent assistance. Miss Schirmer the leader (Mr. Listeman), and the orchestra, on some musicianly work.
—as the Princess—was aho very acceptable, and the part was immensely In such a modern programme, the trombones had heavy work and did it
-superior to a similar one which she enacted at the Globe a year ago. But finely. The performers in this part were Messrs. Nichols, Rigg, Stewart,
tthe dramatic force of these three caused the performance of the others to and Moore, to whom much praise is due.
tstand out in woeful and ludicrous contrast. Not that they sang badly; the
The Harvard Symphony Concei-ts opened very auspiciously Nov. 18th,
reverse is true, for their careful phrasing and just intonation was better than at the Music Hall. The two orchestras this week seemed to supplement one
ihe work of some of the operatic soloists of the week; bat they were utterly another, for this concert consisted of older and clearer formed classics. To
innocent of any knowledge of the stage, and, as the poorest singers always listen to the pure form and strict style of Cherubini's " Water Carrier," was
-choose the grandest arias, they had chosen to make their debut in the most a delightful contrast. The piece was well played, and the tension of the
•dramatic of operas.
fiery intoxicating orchestration of the newer school was replaced by a calm
The chief end and aim of their performance seemed to be to keep time, and tranquil mood. Miss Bailey was the vocalist of the occasion, and was
And in the most trying situations their thumbs were seen wiggling, as they especially charming in the simple "Folk Songs" which Beethoven has ar-
•counted on their fingers—-" one, two, three, four,—one, two, three, four." The ranged. Beethoven's Seventh Symphony, the most romantic he ever wrote,
Prince (Mr. G. W. Want) chose for his customary attitude, the position of was given with expression and life. Mr. Zerrahn gave a very fine reading of
a new recruit learning the "goose-step;" his hands were at his side, and his the work; and the orchestra, for a first performance, gave the best of ensembles.
eyes directed at the exact centre of the first balcony. He found this to be The overture to "Julius Csesar" (Schumann) was the only representative of
an impregnable position and judiciously declined to leave it, even when modern work on the programme; and this is not modern in one sense.
Rachel (Miss Barton) seized his hand (in the denunciation scene) and drawing Although it uses a motif (immediately announced by oboes, strings and
trombones, forte) its treatment is remarkably clear, a few chromatic runs on
it to her, in pump-handle fashion, exclaimed—" Have you no word?"
and flutes, or a shivering triplet accompaniment of strings, not dis-
The haughty Cardinal (Mr. Kimball) also was greatly embarrassed by violins
the attention in the least. It is Ciesar's character that is depicted,
the sudden perception of the fact that he had hands, and that there were no tracting
Caesar is pictured, who
pockets in his pontifical robes, in which he could hide them from the gaze not his history. The triumphant
" Doth bestride the world
•of a rude and unsympathetic world. He also kept them at his side as a per-
Like a huge colossus,"
manent fixture. Only once when the dramatic situation seemed to impera-
tively demand a change of position, he exclaimed—" Pity a father's anguish" the courageous Caesar—"the elder lion, and more terrible;" but not (unless
it be in a short passage preceding the return to the original theme, as finale)
—and laid them on his stomach !
The audience appreciated all the points, and some were supremely a premonition of the " Ides of March." The really modern school would
have gone into details; the emperor would have been stabbed by at loast a
funny: for example—
Eleazar (dramatically). Your palace was in flames, your wife perished, cymbal, and the bass drum would have suggested his final fall. The over-
ture was broadly played, full justice being done to its majestic effects.
l>ut your child, whom you thought dead—was saved !!
Cardinal, (aside, with thumbs palpably wiggling.) One, two, three, four,— I will close a rather lengthy letter with a short notice of a concert given.
Nov.27th, at Mechanics Hill, by Miss Josephine C. Bates. A well-selected
one, two, three, four, etc.
At the end of the interview, the prelate left the stage in wildest haste. programme was given, as follows: 1. Souato for Piano and Violin, A major,
Mr. Thayer, as the Mayor, coincided with the views of his colleagues, as JT. S. Bach, Miss Bates and Mr. Dannreuther ; 2. " I Greet Thee Now,"
Schubert, Mr. Geo. L. Osgood; 3. a. Trois Nouvelles Etudes, Chopin
tto the use of hands.
The orchestra foundered about every ten bars ; there were two reasons b. Menuett, Moszkowski, c. Novellette, No. 4, Schumann, Miss Bates ; 4. a.
for this: First, cuts were made even between the acts, and the musicians Komanze, b- Rondo Hongrois, Op. 17, Philip Scharwenka, Mr. Dannreuther*
were kept in ignorance of them until the last moment; secondly, the leader 5. a. " On a Thornbush Blooms a Rose Bud," Franz, b. "Now the Shades
and musicians were paralyzed at the histrionic work done on the stage, and are Falling," Franz, Mr. Geo. L. Osgood; 6. Second Grand Sonata, Op. 19,
for Piano and Violin, Rubinstein, Miss Bates and Mr. Dannreuther.
•could not collect their thoughts.
Mr. Osgood was in best voice, and s mg very finely. He sang in Eng-
The bones of Halevy were distinctlv heard to rattle, between the acts.
As to the chorus, dramatic ability is not demanded of a chorus, and they lish. I, for one, do not believe in giving the standard Ueder in English until
-certainly stood still with as much ability as the regular operatic petrifications. much better translations are procured. At present, most of the translations
They sang out of tune and time, but I deem it just to say, that, in their are mere hackwork, and unfit to be sung to such masterly music. For ex-
rehearsals of last season, they did much better. The following letter, which ample, the neat little conceit at the end of On a Thornbush, " Immer Schmol-
I received from one of them, the day following the massacre, partly explains len, Immer Grollen fur ein Ros' war's zu viel Dorn ") becomes insipid as,
" Ever pouting, ever fretting, 111 becomes a rose, I ween." As an encore, he
their difficulties:
" I suppose you were present at the performance of the "Jewess," on gave Schubert's " Wohing," and the " Brook." Mr. Dannreuther played, in
Saturday eve, and will in due time give a characteristic criticism on the per- the main, well ; especially was the "Romance " finely rendered. But in the
formance. Excuse me if I venture a suggestion that the chorus was not two last of his numbers, a desire for power, and possibly a weak instrument,
•wholly to blame for thpir apparent failure. The great cause of it was this: caused him to bow too heavily, and scratchiness and irregular intonation
they had but one rehearsal with the orchestra, and that rehearsal was taken were the results. The final movement of the great sonata was taken rather
up mainly by the orchestra to find out where the " cuts" were. They had too slow.
evidently never attempted the music before. The chorus were used to a
Miss Bates has a phenomenal amount of power, a very firm wrist and
leader, and at the performance found themselves without one—for Mr. elbow action, and no shading at all. The Bach Sonata she played very
Behrens was either so ignorant of the parts himself, or else was obliged to clearly and intelligently, but we do not like to have Chopin played (to bor-
give his whole attention to the orchestra, that he left the chorus to its own row from Old Probabilities) "clear and cold." A refinement in shading is
resources. They played unevenly, too ; and certain instruments having undue necessary (unless the young lady only aims to be a musical steam-ham-
prominence, gave us tones we had never heard, in the " cues ;" and the mer); and with so much intelligence and technique this ought to be attain-
music we had been accustomed to hear was overwhelmed. So we were like able. Mr. Sherwood turned the pages very expressively.
L. C. E.
a flock without a shepherd. A lack of understanding between chorus and
CINCINNATI.
orchestra was the main cause of our trouble, not stage-fright or ignorance of
the part. Hoping you will give this fact a kind place in your criticism,
GOSSIP ABOUT MUSICAL MATTBBS, MUSICAL CRITICS, AND A MUSICAL LAWSUIT
AGAINST HELMICK.
I remain, etc., etc."
CINCINNATI, NOV. 29th, 1880.
Two other events of the opera season, which I was unfortunately
unable to attend, were the appearances of Mdmes. Torriani and Carrington.
N the days when this was just a comfortably zealous musical city, before our
From what I have heard of the voice of the latter lady, I should judge that
people knew all the operas and oratorios by heart, and when other things
ahe will have a brilliant chance.
besides music entered into our everyday existence, the most energetic and.
The second concert by the Philharmonic Orchestra was fairly attended, earnest chorus director in Cincinnati was Mr. Carl Barnes. That really able
OUR STAFF CORRESPONDENTS.
( Continued from page 9.)
J
Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).