Music Trade Review

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February 20th, 1881.
THE MUSICAL CRITIC AND TRADE REVIEW.
35
EXPLANATORY PROGRAMMES.—Our noble friend, Mr. P. S. Gilmore, who
at present wields the biiton at Koster & Bial's Hall, always was a genial fel-
low. If he has musical works to make a good programme with, he is sure to
do it, and if he is slightly embarrassed in regard to novelties, he has a way of
ABROAD.
letting the masses imagine that his programme is one of the choicest ever
One
of
the
two
new
overtures
composed by Brahms, which were played
offered. On one of the last Sunday concerts he had commentary remarks
added in the advertisements, which appeared in the papers on the day of the from the manuscripts at the twelfth Gewandhaus concert in Leipsic, is
concert. For instance: To " Rhapsodie Hongroise " No. 2 is added: "The based on the melodies of German students'songs: "The composer wrote
only military band in America that plays Liszt's ' Rhapsodies.' " For this it," says a correspondent of The London Standard, "in recognition of the
remark we owe thanks not to Mr. Gilmore, but to the other military bands degree conferred on him by Breslau University, where it was first per-
in America. The Paraphrase " Loreley," by Neswadba, written about 20 formed, but in private, on the 4th of January. The orchestration of this
years ago, when the composer was conductor at the Berlin Victoria Theatre, second work is very remarkable, notably some extraordinary effects are pro-
is commented upon in the advertisement thus: "This beautiful morceau duced by stopped horns and by the triangles. The ideas in both overtures
was performed by Gilmore's band during their visit to Germany in passing are very clearly worked out. The reception they met with was favorable,
the Loreley Rock on the Rhine." We hope that our citizens will be able to though, compared with that accorded to some of Brahms' earlier works, it
feel the full weight of this news' importance, an event unparalleled in the can hardly be called enthusiastic."
history of music. That Mr. Gilmore is not always correct in his explanatory
A royal decree of January 6th appoints Mme. Lemmens-Sherrington
remarks, may not be his fault, but he should be careful to avoid exaggera-
tion. Advertising Michaelis' " Turkish Patrol," he added: " This popular professor of singing at the Royal Conservatory of Music, Brussels.
piece was first introduced to the American public and made famous in this
Joseph Hellmesberger has completed a buffo opera, "Der schone Kur-
establishment. It is now played for the first time in many months." This fiirst," which will be produced before the end of the present season at the
is wrong. We heard it played at Koster & Bial's, on Saturday night, Theater an der Wien, Vienna.
January 15. We hope that Mr. Gilmore's explanatory remarks have the
Franz Schubert's opera, "Alphonso und Estrella," "remodelled" by
intended effect.
Herr Fuchs (!) is in rehearsal at Carlsruhe. It was first produced in 1854,.
THE ENTHUSIAST.-—A musical amateur looks into the full orchestral at Weimar, under the direotion of Liszt.
score while a Symphony is being performed. Suddenly the combined sound
As far as at present decided, the " Nibelungen Tetralogie " will be thus
of oboe and clarinet meets his ear, and not being able to follow in the score, cast on its production at the Victoria Theater:—Briinnhilde, Mme. Friedrich-
comes immediately to the conclusion that the conductor has substituted the Materna; Sieglinde, Mme. Vogl; Loge, Herr Vogl; Siegfried, Herr Jager,.
English horn. Of course the conductor is abused for this outrage in private and Siegmund, Herr Lederer. The other characters will be sustained by
circles afterwards, and we can never know what a musical enthusiast in his members of the company at the Stad-Theater, Leipsic, while the Berlin
wrath may be able to do!
" Sinfonie-Capelle"—considerably strengthened for the occasion—will occupy
SERVES HIM RIGHT!—About a month ago Sivori played at the Ohatelet the orchestra.
Concert in Paris, and was hissed. Sivori is a wonderful violinist, but he
There is talk of " Lohengrin," with Stagno as the Knight of the Swan,
dared to come before the public with a work of his own composition, written at the Teatro Real, Madrid.
-without regard for melody, harmony, or anything else, except M. Sivori's
On the occasion of the marriage of the Princess Stephanie and the
musical gymnastics. The audience listened patiently for about fifteen min-
utes, and then began to murmur. Then they groaned, and finally they Crown-Prince Rudolph of Austria, M. Lintermans, President-Director of the
hissed, till at the end of the second movement the virtuoso retired. Mon- vocal association at Brussels, called the Artisans Reunis, will take his singers
sieur Sivori received a severe lesson, and will be wiser in future. No artist to Vienna at a cost of from 8,000 to 10,000 dollars, to be disbursed at his own
has the right to insult an intelligent audience. That Monsieur Remenyi was expense.
not treated in the same way at his recent exploit in Steinway Hall, when pro-
There will shortly be a " Meyerbeer-Cyclus " at the Imperial Opera
ducing his " Liberty Hymn," is solely due to the proverbial good-aatured- House, Vienna.
ness of New Yorkers.
Caggegi, pianist; Pinelli, violinist, and Furino, violoncellist, having
CHEAP!—The Duke of Meiningen has decorated several members of his formed themselves into a trio society, are giving concerts in Rome.
orchestra in consideration of their services in the performance of Beethoven's
At the last meeting of the Society of the Friends of Music, Vienna,
" Ninth Symphony." These gentlemen are »o badly paid that they are very
likely not expected to play well on their instruments on certain occasions, Joachim was unanimously elected an honorary member; and Johannes
except being paid extra for it. An increase of salary may have seemed Brahms, a member of the committee.
preferable to them, but the Duke of Meiningen chose the cheaper way of
When in Madrid, Mdme. Adelina Patti gave 4,000 francs for distribution
expressing his gratitude.
among the poor of that part of the city where she was born.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN?—A lady in New York advertises that she is a
The Duke of Altenburg has oonferred the Gold Medal for Art and
teacher of the traditional Porpora singing method for producing voice. That Science
on Degele, of the Theatre Royal, Dresden.
sounds very elegant, but unfortunately there is no such traditional
Mdme. Artot-Padilla has been singing at the Stadt-Theater, Hamburgh,,
uchool. Porpora, the teacher of the celebrated Farinelli, lived so many years
ago, that his method has been swallowed up by those of Manuele Garcia, in " Carmen" and "Le Domino Noir."
Bordogni, Lablache and other more modern singing masters. The tradi-
Ferdinand Schulz, organist at the Sophia Church, Berlin, has bees
tional Porpora method is pure, undiluted nonsense, and can be only spoken appointed Royal Prussian Musical Director.
of in paid-for advertisements.
Mdme. Mallinger's present engagement at the Royal Opera House,
REFINED TASTE.—Speaking with a well-known musician the other day
about a conductor of music of light character (but ambitious to take a step Berlin, expires in March, and as yet has not been renewed.
occasionally into the garden of forbidden fruits to him on account of his
A Russian version of Wagner's " Tannhauser " is announced in
low musical education and lack of refined taste), the latter gentleman said to Moscow.
us: "This man has one of the greatest talents I have ever seen. He suceeds
A new operetta, " Der Hofconditor," by Zaiz, is accepted at the Carl
in making everything vulgar that comes under his baton. I consider the
introduction to ' Tristan and Isolde'- the most nobly conceived musical Theatre, Vienna.
work I can imagine. Let our friend conduct it and you will see, even this
The sum of 33,288 marks lias been allowed for this year's expenses of the
divine piece will be made vulgar and common place. Now I call that talent, Royal Cathedral Choir, Berlin.
although you may differ with me." But we did not.
Miss Flora Friedenthal, a young Russian pianist, has given a recital at
UNREASONBLE.—After the last concert of the Symphony Society a young
American musician, who had stndied in Leipsic three years, declared him- the concert hall of the Singakadamie, Berlin, with great success.
The Bilse orchestra produced in Berlin, Jan. 12, M. Rubinstein's new
self disappointed in regard to Maurice Dengremont. He said he was led
to believe he would find a second Mozart or Mendelssohn, and he could symphony in G minor, No. 5.
only see in Dengremont a first-class violinist. Either this young American
The Italian papers state that Madame Volpini, has retired from the
is a fool himself, or is surrounded by a set of fools. Dengremont is
announced as violinist and as nothing else, neither more nor less. The stage.
The Italian opera in St. Petersburg, says the London World, seems
American musician, who never heard Mozart or Mendelssohn on the piano
or organ, is not satisfied with Dengremont because he does not do anything likely to come to an end. There is a strong feeling among the Russians in
but violin playing. Let him betake himself to the minstrel shows; there favor of substituting a national opera, and the State no longer gives that
he may find violin players who come nearer his understanding, and will satisfy very substantial aid which in former years enabled the impresario to engage
his fancies in regard to Mozart and Mendelssohn. If this musican had his artists regardless of expense.
heard Dengremont in Leipsic, where every body raved about him, he would
Vieuxtemps, who is now living in Algiers for the sake of his health, has
have raved with the crowd; but in his own country it looks more refined to
written a new concerto for the violin and dedicated it to his pupil V.
appear somewhat blase. Musical shoddyism!
Bulewski.
CALUMNY.—A London weekly says, that it was only to be expected,
Mme. Marie Blanc, of Monaco, has made a present to Adelina Patti of
that Mr. Henschel should not have made any great success in New York, a diadem worth 80,000f.
and calls the voice of the artist harsh, cold and unsympathetic. Our Lon-
The London Italian opera season at Covent Garden is announced to
don contemporary based its opinion upon a letter Mme. Fanny Raymond-
Bitter sent to a Boston paper, in which she says, "that the part of Mephis- begin on Saturday, April 16, and at Her Majesty's on Saturday, April 30.
MM. Albert Wolff and Hennequin are putting the last touch to a three-
lopheles in Berlioz's ' Faus*t' was unsuited to Mr. Henschel's voice." It may
be that Mr. Henschel's prospects in America were spoiled to a certain degree act comedy for the Nouveautes, Paris, under the title "La Vente a Tata."
by the over-puffing done by his friends and people interested in his welfare
Mr. Frederic Clay, the composer, has accepted a commission from Mr.
in this country. It is furthermore true that the part in ' ' Faust " does not Alex. Henderson, of the Folly Theatre, London, for a comic opera, the
suit him very well; but on the whole, we can assure our English friends, libretto of which is by Mr. Burnand, the editor of Punch.
that Mr. George Henschel has every reason to feel satisfied with his success in
Wagner's " Walkiirenritt" was performed for the first time at the
America, and we may add, that the satisfaction is vice versa. Mr. Hen- Colonne
concerts at Paris on Sunday, January 23d.
schel's German schooling may have made his organ a little harsher than
The deaths are announced—at Turin, of the prima donna, Rosalia Ponti,
friends of Italian organization are used to hear, but his artistic qualities and
inusicianly education are of high standard, and we should think, that now-a- and of Guiseppe Bona, aged 50, a professor of music at Asti; at Milan, aged 24,
days, when those qualities are so rare, that they would not be undervalued. of Adelaide Novaresi, contralto, and, aged 59, of Ambrogio Porta, professor
If Mr. Henschel feels inclined to make this country his home, we do not of the violoncello; and at Livorno, aged 40, of Carlo Roussel, the well-known
tenor.
think that musical people here would object.
MUSICAL NOTES.