Music Trade Review

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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW.
IO
OUR EUROPEAN
BUDGET.
WEBER'S OPERA, "ABU HASSEN "—JOSEF HOFF-
MANN'S RE-APPEARANCE—MASSENET
IN-
TERVIEWED—HARRY FURNESS LEAVES
" PUNCH "—SIR AUGUSTUS HARRIS'S
OPERA COMPANY — JOHANN
STRAUSS'S JUBILEE.
TSCHAIKOWSKY'S SIXTH SYMPHONY—JOACHIM'S
ANECDOTES—OPENING OF THE ROYAL
COLLEGE OF MUSIC—WOMEN
COMPOSERS IN EVIDENCE .
— LEONCAVALLO IN
BERLIN.
LONDON,
April 2d, 1894.
WEBER'S OPERA, "ABU HASSEN."
There were few persons among the audience
in the small theatre of the Albert Hall, on Mon-
day afternoon, to whom Weber's one-act opera,
"Abu Hassan," could have been other than a
novelty. As an early work it abundantly shows
the promise fulfilled in " Der Freischutz, " and
"Oberon," and is as bright and vivacious
throughout as lovers of modern comic opera
could desire. The plot is taken from the
" Arabian Nights, " and shows how Hassan and
Fatima, a young couple worried by creditors,
pretend to be dead until they learn they have
obtained the sympathy of the Caliph. This
slight idea has for an episode the vain endeavor
of a wealthy old fellow named Omar to tempt
Fatima from allegiance to her husband. These
three are the only singing characters, but there
is a chorus. The performance on Monday was
for the annual examination of the opera class of
the Royal College of Music. Miss Ena Bedford
(Fatima), Mr. N. McLeod Jones (Hassan), and
Mr. Alfred W. Clark (Omar) were not over-
weighted, either musically or dramatically, and
the merely speaking parts were intelligently
sustained. Professor Stanford conducted an
orchestra mainly consisting of students. The
immediately preceding notable performance in
London of "Abu Hassan " (first played in 1811
at Munich) was at Drury Lane in 1870 in the
Italian tongue, when Madame Trebelli played
" Fatima, " and the spoken text was turned into
recitative by Signor Arditi.
JOSEF HOFFMANN'S REAPPEARANCE.
The reappearance of Josef Hoffmann in a series
of pianoforte recitals is now definitely fixed for
May 5th, 12th and 19th, at St. James' Hall. As
far as I can learn, there is no likelihood of his
paying you a visit this year. You will probably
have the pleasure of hearing him early next
year's season.
MASSENET INTERVIEWED.
Jules Massenet has been telling an interviewer
that he never enters a theatre to hear his own
music except on compulsion. He writes operas
because one cannot spend one's life in smoking.
The sole thing he loves is a cigar, and he sel-
dom goes into society. One reason is that he
eats very quickly and smokes all the time, and
the other, because he cannot go anywhere with-
out sooner or later finding himself forcibly led
to the pianoforte. '' Now that ' Thais ' is finished,
when shall we have another opera ? " asked his
interlocuter. Massenet made a big face, " When
I find singers," he whispered, mysterious-
ly, " and that is hard. Everything is hard for
an opera composer. He is one of the most miser-
able creatures on earth. He has to find fresh
new melodies, new harmonies, new subjects,
good voices, good actors and actresses, a pub-
lisher and a theatre. Then he has to go through
a purgatory of rehearsals. Everyone combines
to make him miserable, and in the end, after
soothing the caprices of the whole theatre, he
is what ? The composer ; no more, no less."
JOACHIM ANECDOTES.
An old favorite, Mr. Harry Furniss, " Lika
Joka, " announces that he is about to sever his
connection with Punch. He tendered his resig-
nation Wednesday. He is also giving up his
"London Letter." His object is to start a
comic journal of his own, in order that he may
have, as he says, more freedom. His idea is
that editors of such papers as Punch should be
artists as well as literary men. The new journal
will be out, he hopes, about the end of this
month. He has already done a good deal
towards the first number, and speaks of it as un-
like anything of the sort ever yet published, not
only in form and illustration, but also in motive.
Mr. Furniss has been connected with Punch
since 1880.
In the current number of the Music Herald
there is an article on Dr. Joachim's English
Jubilee, which contains two delightful anecdotes
connected with the year 1844, communicated to
the writer, Mr. F. G. Edwards, by Dr. Joachim
himself: To the young violinist's amazement
he was announced (it will be remembered) at
Bunn's "benefit" as "the celebrated Hun-
garian Boy, " " which,'' says Professor Joachim,
"amused Mendelssohn very much, and he al-
ways teased me with it to the end of his life,
for I was angry about it." At a concert
given at Radley's Hotel, Bridge street, Black-
friars, by a Mr. Purdy, on June 5th, 1844, Men-
delssohn was announced to play his D minor
trio with "Master Joachim " and Mr. Han-
cock. But the story shall be told in Professor
Joachim's own (English) words. " I t so hap-
pened, " he writes, "that only the violin and
violoncello parts had been brought to the con-
cert room, and Mendelssohn was rather dis-
pleased at this ; but he said, ' Never mind, put
any book on the piano, and some one can turn
from time to time, so that I need not look as
though I played by heart.' Now-a-days, when
people put such importance on playing or con-
ducting without a book, I think this might be
considered a good moral lesson of a great
musician's modesty. He evidently did not like
to be in too great a prominence before his
partners in the trio. He was always truly gen-
erous ! ''
SIR AUGUSTUS HARRIS'S OPERA COMPANY.
OPENING OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF MUSIC.
Sir August Harris's opera performances in
English at Drury Lane opened last Saturday
evening with " Maritana." During next week
will be heard the evergreen '' Bohemian Girl ''
(Easter Monday), "Faust," and "Carmen."
We are promised some novelties later on.
The musical program to be performed on the
occasion of the opening of the new buildings of
the Royal College of Music, early in May, will
include an ode, specially written for the occa-
sion by Mr. Swinburne, and set to music by Mr.
Charles Wood.
HARRY FURNISS LEAVES " P U N C H . "
JOHANN STRAUSS'S JUBILEE.
WOMEN COMPOSERS IN EVIDENCE.
Preparations are being made to celebrate the
jubilee of Johann Strauss's dibut as a conductor,
an event which took place on October 15th, 1844,
at a fashionable restaurant in Vienna. The
" Walzer Konig," as the Viennese are wont to
style the most famous of the three sons of
Johann Strauss the elder, has promised to write
a new work—probably a comic opera—for the
occasion. The often-quoted mot, attributed to
Catalani d propos of Sontag, " Elle n'est pas
grande, mais elle est grande dans son genre,"
may surely be applied to the author of '' The
Beautiful Blue Daube," "Doctrinen," and
hundreds of other fascinating dance tunes. Had
he lived, Hans von Biilow would, without
doubt, have in some characteristic way asso-
ciated himself in the endeavor to do honor to
the genius of a writer of whom he was so en-
thusiastic an admirer.
A few years ago musical composers were, with
very few exceptions, of the male sex. If a
woman composed music it was not of sufficient
merit to take its place among the compositions
of men, who excelled in all branches of musical
art. The last few years, however, we have seen
a change, at least in England, and just at pre-
sent our best dance and song music is being
written by women. Such names as Lady Arthur
Hill, Hope Temple, Maud Valerie White, etc.,
etc., are becoming well known, and are being
added to yearly.
In oratorio music, too, women have begun to
have success, while no lighter or daintier dance
music is bought than that which owes its origin
to women's brains. Six academies of music,
and the advantages of musical training to be
had in them, have, no doubt, largely contributed
to this result, as women can now enjoy privi-
leges in this respect unheard of for them a few
years ago.
TSCHAIKOWSKY'S SIXTH SYMPHONY.
At the Philharmonic concert at Queen's Hall,
on Wednesday night, the second performance of
Tschaikowsky's sixth and final symphony more
than confirmed the favorable impression created
at the first hearing. Apart from the peculiar
sadness of the concluding movement, unavoid-
ably suggesting the death of the composer,
which so soon followed its completion, this
symphony possesses great claims to critical con-
sideration. It is unconventional in form and in-
stinct with the strength of artistic maturity.
Admirably played by the band, under the con-
ductorship of Dr. A. C. Mackenzie, the work
made even a greater effect than before. M.
Emile Sauret played Dr. Mackenzie's "Pibroch "
violin suite ; Miss Fanny Davies gave a highly
intellectual interpretation of Beethoven's piano-
forte concerto in G ; and Madame Vere de Sapio
successfully sang pieces by Ambroise Thomas
and Dvorak.
LEONCAVALLO IN BERLIN.
Leoncavallo is the lion of the Berlin musical
season.. The German Emperor is so pleased with
his treatment in " I Medici " of Italian histori-
cal events that he has commissioned him to
compose a grand opera based on the incidents in
German history set forth in Willibald Alexis's
romance, " The Roland of Berlin."
Leoncavallo has been served up as a rare
dessert at the houses of the wealthiest men in
the capital. One night he accepted an invita-
tion to dine with a banker, and appeared at his
house attired in a frock coat. The crime of not
appearing in evening dress was so terrible in
the eyes of the banker that he implored the com-
poser to drive back to his hotel and change his
suit. Leoncavallo went off and changed his
mind instead. The banker is still waiting for
him to turn up.
NIRVANA.