Music Trade Review

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March 5th 1881.
47
THE MUSICAL CRITIC AND TRADE REVIEW.
nature of Mr. Joseph A. Prevost, Treasurer of the Haydn Musical Associa-
tion of Baltimore. As certain motives were attributed to me, I am compelled
to pay attention to the remarks contained in the communication. Before
MILAN, ITALY.
going into the main question involved, in what I hope will be a controversy,
through which the truth will come to the surface, I will only state that Mr.
MILAN, Feb. 15th.
Prevost would have done better had he avoided the field of inuendo and
" I I FIGLIUOL PRODIGO. "—-THE SEASON AT " LA SOALA. "—ITALIAN AND
"trodden the path " of solid facts. He states that there must be something
AMERICAN BALLET. — INTERNATIONAL MUSICAL CONCOURSE. — SIGNOR
at the bottom of the misrepresentations and abuse of the Haydn, which
ARIGOTTI.
" Klassick Kuss " indulges in, as " this is the case since the Oratorio Society
REGRET exceedingly tliat on account of an unavoidable absence from has been spoken of." Now, Mr. Prevost will find in my letter in the MUSICAL
Milan, I was deprived of the pleasure of attending the initial perform- CRITIC AND TRADE REVIEW, the edition in which his letter was published,,
ance of " I I Figliuol Prodigo " by Maestro Ponchielli. I shall, however, take that I do not hesitate to expose weakness and faults in the Oratorio Society.
the advantage of the first opportunity which presents itself to give you a This much for inuendo and insinuation. Mr. Prevost is wrong in his judg-
full account of the new work by a composer to whom all Italy accords sur- ment. "Klassic Kuss" wants good and " honest" music, and, most of all,
prising musical as well as extraordinary technical talent.
no misrepresentation. I have no more special interest in one than in the
The season at La Scala has thus far been very successful both artistically other of the musical institutions of this city, but a general interest in all of
and financially. The latest opera presented was " Ernani " with a magnifi- them. Let us put speculation and hypothesis aside and come down to hard
cent cast, including Mme. D'Angerias Elvira, Sig. Tamagno in the title role, facts. The members which constitute the organization known as the Haydn
the baritone Maurel, and the basso De Reske in the role of Don Silva.
Musical Association consist, as a general thing, of gentlemen belonging to
As a proof of the interest manifested in this performance, it is only the most respectable portion of our community. The President is, I think,.
necessary to remark that the box office receipts amounted to almost $2,000, Mr. Thos. C. Bassher, one of Baltimore's most honored and successful mer-
•which is considered very large for an Italian theatre, as this figure does not chants, and so are many of the Haydn, either merchants or professional gen-
include the subscriptions for the season.
tlemen, or young men of good families. But does it follow that because they
Mme. D'Angeri, a Viennese by birth and a pupil of Mme. Marchesi, is are gentlemen that they must necessarily know how to play correctly on
now one of the foremost dramatic sopranos of the Italian stage, and although musical instruments or know anything about music? If a merchant or pro-
this opera is not a favorite with her, belonging as it does, to the oldest style fessional gentleman attends to his business, and as a lover of music occa-
of Verdi, she deservedly carried off the honors of the evening, her fine voice sionally hears an opera or concert, he has but very little time left to practice,
and great dramatic talent enabling her to give a superb rendering of the music. And what is music as an accomplishment, in any of its branches,,
part of Elvira.
without practice? Some amateurs do reach a very acceptable position both
The tenor, Sig. Tamagno, is an old favorite of the Milanese public, as solo as well as orchestra players, but is it to be supposed that, say among
which has long had the reputation of being the most difficult to please in the filty amateurs, anything like half the number know much about the subject?
world. Indeed, Sig. Tamagno is one of the very few young tenors who is able Because the local press has been giving and continues to give the Haydn
to sustain the high reputation of the beautiful true Italian school of singing. Concerts flattering notices, does it follow that a correspondent of a musical
But in spite of his magnificent natural endowments, he fails, in my judgment, journal can make an ass of himself and a fool of the editor, by praising the
to give a faithful interpretation of the character of Hernani as conceived by most ridiculous performances, just because Tom, Dick, and Harry happen
Victor Hugo.
to belong to the association, or have relatives that belong? The few pro-
Sig. De Reske has again proved himself a very accomplished artist, and fessional musicians who play at the last rehearsals and the concerts, and the
gave a splendid portrayal of the grave Spaniard. M. Maurel has been suf- few competent amateurs, do not materially reduce the average deficiency, of
fering from a severe cold for some time, so that he considered it necessary to course not.
make his excuses through the stage manager, but his correct method, and
What does " Klassick Kuss " or any other critic care for the question of
above all, his artistic intelligence, enabled him to surmount all obstacles. advertising? Mr. Prevost says that the Peabody paid one paper $500, while
After the grand finale of the third act, the public enthusiastically recalled the Haydn paid but $30 last year to the same newspaper. Well, suppose
this group of great singers before the curtain. At the first call Maurel, that is so. What has all that to do with a concert or a series of concerts?
from a feeling of modesty failed to appear, but the public insisted upon Nothing at all. The concerts of the Haydn are attended by a great many of
having him out, and he was received with such a demonstration as must have the best people of Baltimore, and a great majority of the best people of
given the artist true satisfaction.
Baltimore do not know anything about music, otherwise they would patronize
The orchestra was as usual led by Sig. Faccio, who is undoubtedly the good opera and concerts and stay away from Haydn, Rossini and Peabody
finest living operatic conductor in the world. The quickness of his eye and concerts. Mr. Prevost admits in his letter that the people who attend Haydn
his phenomenal memory are well known, and indeed he often discards entirely concerts know nothing about music as he voluntarily states that Miss
the most difficult scores.
Ross " failed to please our patrons, as she does not sing any ballads what-
The chorus was excellent, and the raise en scene was good in its ensem- ever. " So you see what kind of taste has been developed here by the
ble. The costumes were especially noticeable for their historical accuracy. Haydn; its patrons want ballads. That part of our public which goes to
Another great feature of amusement for the Milanese public is the hear Wilhelmj, Remenyi, Joseffy, Von Biilow, Rubinstein, Essipoff and
grand ballet, which is a kind of a pantomimic/eerie, the special delight of the operas like " The Flying Dutchman " and "Mefistofele," does not attend,
Parisians. We have three different ballets in successful progress at the dif- or if attending, does not applaud the concerts of the three above-named
ferent theatres of this city, whose population numbers only obout 300,000. institutions. That would be an anomaly.
" Excelsior " at La Scala, "Armida" at Teatro Cannobbiana, and " Silfide
As we see the Haydn is 21 years old. Having attained its majority, the
al Celeste Impero " at Teatro Del Verme. In all of these theatres the corps very best thing it can do now is, in the first place, to get a competent director.
of the ballet girls is furnished by the dancing school at the Conservator!o, One of the weakest points would thus be strengthened at once. Mr. Win.
and it is not surprising that their handsome faces and elegant costumes Thiede, the leader, is the same gentleman who visited Europe last year and
prove a great attraction to the young theatre-going public.
who on his return told a reporter or some one (as it was in print and never
I am not aware whether it has ever entered into the head of any Ameri- contradicted) that during his peregrinations he had heard the orchestra of
can impresario to make a feature of a grand ballet in America. It is strange Vienna, Berlin and several other large cities, and he was obliged to say that
that a training school for the education of young dancers has not long since he prefers a Haydn concert to any of their respective concerts. Now, the
been formed there, for the American girls appear to me to have all the quali- " MUSICAL CRITIC " and its readers can judge of the abilities of a good
ties requisite for the art, and it would not be long ere they would rank natured man with such an ear. Mr. Thiede came here I believe about twenty
equally with their European sisters, and especially the Italians, who are odd years ago as the bassoon player in the then celebrated German ia
undoubtedly the most clever in this respect.
orchestra. Some of the members settled in New York, Boston and else-
A matter of general interest will be the International Musical Con- where; some here. We have had the good fortune to get Mr. Thiede. As I
course, which will take place in Turin next June, and in which the French, maid before, he is a gentleman, but has never done any thing towards the
Swiss, German and Belgian musical societies intend to be largely repre- culture of music in this community. His opinions about the old Germania
sented.
The applications already number more than two thousand. orchestra, the modern European orchestras and the Haydn orchestra, are a
Undoubtedly the Concourse will be a great success, and it is to be regretted sufficient evidence of his utter inability to appreciate the drift and tendency
that the American societies have perhaps no intention of participating in of art, especially in its latest phases. Besides this mental state, his occupa-
these festivites. But anyhow I will not fail to send you a copy of the tions are entirely too varied to give him the opportunity to pay much suc-
programme, which may tempt some amateurs to decide upon embracing cessful attention to any one pursuit. A kind of Jay Gould in a small way!
this opportunity of visiting the fair peninsula.
Namely, he buys, sells, exchanges and rents pianos sind organs; he tunes and
I will close my letter with a piece of news told me by a young American repairs the same; he gives lessons on the violin, viola and piano; probably
lady yesterday.
It is the reported death at Nice of Sig. Arigotti, an other instruments; he plays the viola at the Peabody; accepts engagements
ex-tenor, who for several years lived in New York in the capacity of vocal in local orchestras, and-musical quidnuncs say that he plays the edifying
teacher. We must, however, wait for a confirmation of this report, as i t i s music to the light fantastic toe which skips around at the fashionable Ger-
mans at Lehman's Hall, and yet he leads the Haydn.
not the first time that the news of his death has been spread abroad.
YANKEE.
Your correspondent thinks this is entirely too much work for the Pro-
fessor, especially as he is a man of property, and the Haydn cannot do a
BALTIMORE.
more charitable act to Mr. Thiede as well as to itself, than to hasten and
relieve him of some of his onerous duties. After getting a now director, the
BALTIMORE, Feb. 28, 1881.
Association must get rid of some of its " boy " players, who, as a general
ABBOTT OPERA COMPANY.—OUR CORRESPONDENT TOUCHES U P SEVERAL LOCAL thing, don't know how to hold their iustruments even, and also some of the-
MATTERS WITH A STRONG PEN.—HESS-STRAKOSCH ENGLISH OPERA.— old gents who don't know whether their instruments are in tune or not.
HAYDEN MUSICAL ASSOCIATION.—ASGER HAMERIK.
Pension, the latter in the shape of life membership, with free admission t o
n P H E Abbott English Opera Company gave us one week of performances ! the concerts. Then the Haydn must get better players in place of those
1. ending on the 19th. All that can be known about this company has honorably discharged, and then with new adjuncts and new life the Haydn
been seen in the CRITIC. The Hess-Strakosch English Opera closed a week will be able to start on a career where something can be learned. The pres-
of performance on Feb. 26th. You will notice that I call them performances, ent treasurer is all right, but he must not answer musical criticisms, by telling-
not operas. As the latter company opens this week in your city, we will us what artists have been engaged to play and sing at Haydn concerts. But if
await your verdict. Marie Roze has been very successful here again, and he insists upon mentioning them he must not forget to mention the name of the
musical artist who played with tumblers at one of the recent concerts and
deserves success, as she is a competent, deserving artiste.
The MUSICAL CBITIC AND TRADE REVIEW is widely read in our city now who received double encore. Don't evade the question, Mr. Prevost, you
and its popularity is rapidly increasing. Musical people want a good, re- know, if you know anything about music, outside of the flute, that the Uaydn
liable paper, full of information, replete with sound judgment, and not afraid orchestra plays very, very, very bad music in a bad way. If you don't know-
to tell the truth, and they read the CRITIC AND TRADK REVIEW. In the last that, then " Klassick Kuss " is sorry for you; and if you don't put much
number of the CRITIC AND TRADE BEVTEW a letter is published over the sig- faith in the judgment of " Klassick Kuss," please take a walk and ask P r o t
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