Music Trade Review

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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
the composer, whose work is thus em-
bellished, as though the player should
say, "See—I am not wholly unmindful of
you." The interest of the audience is con-
fined to guesses as to the time consumed
in the delivery of the cadenza,—and, in the
case of a violinist, whether the player will
finally join the orchestra in the proper
tonality. There is an estimable musician
of advanced years in Leipzig, named
Reinecke, who has been a most grievous
offender, and has regarded all music as a
field in which cadenzas might be sown.
*
IN the course of an article on the subject of
* women musicians in a London paper a
writer quotes the statement of Rubinstein
that "the constantly increasing number of
women engaged in the making of music
was a sign of decadence in the art." He
holds that we are not yet in a position to
decide whether or not women will ever be
desirable persons in the most important
orchestras. In one respect they would
be. "Certain it is that at least one
conductor has declared that he person-
ally would have no objection
to
the innovation, and from his experience
is inclined to think that they would give
less trouble than the men—the obstinacy
and prejudice of male orchestral players
having been notorious from the day when
the Philharmonic band laughed at Schu-
bert's C Major Symphony when Mendels-
sohn was rehearsing it." But the fact re-
mains that the feminine player falls short
in breadth and volume of tone: "The rela-
tive efficiency of the sexes, in fact, seems to
be very much what it was when Plato said
that men and women differed not in kind,
but in degree; that the same natural gifts
were found in both, but that they were pos-
sessed in a higher degree by men than wo-
men. There are two facts, in conclusion,
which ought to be borne in mind in connec-
tion with the multiplication of female execu-
tants. It is a mistake to suppose, as we so
often are told, that the profession is going
to be swamped by the enormous number of
accomplished performers 'turned out' by
our leading academies. The truth is that
a very large number of girls go in for
what is practically a professional musi-
cal training who have not the slight-
est intention, or even need, of making
a livelihood out of music. The other
fact is the serious drawback to which all
female instrumentalists are subject from
the enormous numerical preponderance of
the female auditor at all concerts. Even
an incompetent boy prodigy will excite
raptures where a first-rate adult Amazon of
the keyboard is greeted with frigid appro-
bation." It is a curious thing that the
possible greater success of women as musi-
cians should depend on masculine patron-
age as against that of their own sex.
*
TT is commonly supposed that the inva-
A
sion of the field of music by women is
a modern phenomenon, but this is not so.
When the second Earl of Mount-Edgcumbe
—the " Old Amateur"—went on the grand
tour in 1783, he heard in Venice per-
formances of oratorios in the chapel of
the Conservatorio dei Mendicanti in which
"not only all the vocal, but the in-
strumental parts were executed by wom-
en concealed from view in a grated
gallery," while at a morning concert he
enjoyed "the almost incredible sight of
an entire orchestra of female performers."
Nearly a hundred years were yet to elapse
before English women began to play other
ALEXANDRE PETSCHNIKOFF.
instruments than the piano; but Tartini,
the greatest violinist of the last century,
had many female pupils, to one of whom
he addressed an interesting letter on the
style and practice of that instrument,
which may be found in the appendix to
Ole Bull's Memoir.
*
A LEXANDRE PETSCHNIKOFF, the
**• young Russian violinist, who has
been heard recently in this city in a num-
ber of concerts, has unquestionably made
a greater popular impression than any
the conservatory at St. Petersburg, and
went to Paris. There his ability immedi-
ately secured his admission to the con-
servatory, where he taught and pursued
his own studies.
But life soon be-
came an absolute struggle for existence,
and just as he was on the point of deciding
that the battle was lost, he met the Prin-
cess Marie Odessa and her mother the
widowed Princess Ourasoff, an enthusias-
tic art patron and extremely wealthy Rus-
sian, who was visiting Paris. The young
Princess was a pianist of rare ability and
accomplishment, a pupil of Rubinstein.
Her mother practically adopted Petschni-
koff, took him to her home in St. Peters-
burg, and gave him a castle at Moscow.
Here it was that he acquired his now re-
nowned appreciation of Bach and Brahms ;
and here he learned to love the beautiful
Princess Marie.
In the midst of this halcyon life, and
just before his professional career was to
have been abandoned by his marriage with
the Princess Marie, she died without the
smallest premonition, and he reached St.
Petersburg from a short visit to Moscow
barely in time to be present when she
passed away. This was not very long ago,
but Petschnikoff's life has since been de-
voted to music.
*
I N his several appearances recently, Geo.
* H. C. Ensworth the well-known basso
has created a most favorable impression.
Critics unite in praise of his method and
predict for him a great success particularly
in the dramatic style of song. His voice
is truly musical and full of color and his
singing of such works as the Toreador's
song from "Carmen " is delightful.
IN all probability Mr. Walter Damrosch
* has felt the natural impatience of an
active man in retirement. He has been
too prominent in the musical life of the
community to be satisfied as a looker-on.
Hence there is little surprise at the an-
nouncement that he will emerge from his
study and conduct two Sunday concerts at
the Metropolitan Opera House, on Dec. 3
and 10. For the first concert he will have
as soloists Miss Clara Butt and Mr. de
Pachmann. The orchestra will number
sixty musicians.
*
YW PARIS CHAMBERS, the celebrated
* " * cornet soloist, is steadily adding to
his fame these days by numerous meritori-
ous productions in the realm of composi-
tion. His solos for the cornet exclusively
as well as his various compositions for or-
chestra and bands have won for him an in-
ternational reputation which is certain to
be augmented by his venture in the song
field. A delightful ballad from his pen en-
GEO. H. C. ENSWORTH.
titled " I Live for Thee" is just about
other performer on the same instrument being published. The chaste words by
since Ysaye. His technique is superb— Geo. Cooper are set to a melody that we
unequalled—his execution perfect. In predict will charm all who appreciate a
attack he is audacious. His tone is not ballad that in type is a happy medium be-
large, but it is clear and full of color, tween the classic and the popular.
while his reading is always full of senti-
*
ment and feeling.
T H E past week has been an enjoyable
* one in the concert field. An appre-
Petschnikoff has an interesting history.
He was a rough Slav, an uncut diamond, ciative audience enjoyed the recital of
when, in early youth he graduated from Mme. Tischer, the well-known soprano, at