Music Trade Review

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MUSIC
time and will leave for the West, where he
has not yet been heard, and it is certain that
he will not fail to delight the Western au-
diences as well as he has those of the East,
for he comes under the heading where only
a favored few may hope to reach. He is
great.
This was the season of seasons for Wal-
ter Damrosch. He assumed the baton of the
New York Philharmonic Society, which in
itself is an honor of almost inconceivable
importance. It is further satisfactory to
note that he has made good all that was ex-
I T seems but yesterday that the musical pected of him by his friends, and he has
season of 1902-03 was opened by Mas- shown himself to be one of the conductors
cagni at the Metropolitan Opera House, and to be reckoned with.
This season has seen New York make the
already we are in the latter half of the sea-
acquaintance of the Philadelphia Symphony
son.
Whether we may be safe in the belief that Orchestra under Fritz Scheel. A magnificent
. musical matters are taking a very much more organization under a musician of importance
exalted atmosphere one can hardly judge, is the general verdict of those whose opin-
yet it is certain that the number of really ions count. With this orchestra New York
poor concerts are noticeably absent from the had the pleasure of renewing acquaintance
, records of the season, half of which is just with Mark Hambourg, the brilliant young
Russian pianist who left a deep impression
passed.
The portions served have not been always during his last tour and who has already
free from blemish; indeed, there have been proven that he has distanced himself by a
several affairs of which the kindest remark remarkable advance. He has yet to be heard
that can be made is that they were funny, in recital, but some important appearances
with even a startling sort of humor which of this artist are promised. He plays on
is not quite describable, but even Berlin Tuesday night with the Kneisel Quartet at
—the haven of music—has a few such Mendelssohn Hall.
trials during the season. The fact that it
As may well be understood, the Boston
goes through these experiences and still lives Symphony is gaining in audiences and it is
to tell the tale should be reason enough for now almost impossible to get a seat for any
New York to keep up a stiff upper lip and concert, so large is the subscription list. The
keep moving.
orchestra celebrated its hundredth concert in
It was early in the season, though late in New York in December, when Kneisel was
October, that Pugno made his first appear- the soloist of the memorable occasion.
ance during his second tournee in this coun-
Herman Hans Wetzler is bringing more
try. Few affairs in the musical world stand, authority into his work and his symphony
out with more brilliancy, and the success of concerts have been quite pronouncedly among
that night has been followed by the same the "musical affairs" this season. To-night
and still greater triumphs upon every ap- the third concert of this season will occur
pearance of that gifted Frenchman. Pugno with Schumann-Heink as soloist.
may be set down as one of the figures that
David Mannes has made his appearance
helped to make this season one of enormous
in
New York with a new quartet, not, indeed,
importance, for every appearance—and he
that
the quartet is unknown, but this is the
has had a great many—gave some new view
first
really public season as we must regard
of this pianist's great art. He will leave
Jan. 17, but not without the satisfaction that those concerts which occur at Mendelssohn
no one has ever had a more successful tour Hall,. If all will be on the same elevated
and a greater number of fine appearances plane as the first one, which occurred Dec.
in that length of time. He will yet be heard 4, it is not difficult to predict success for
in a chamber music concert of the Kalten- Mr. Mannes and his talented associates.
born Quartet, Jan. 13.
The first tour in America of Frederic La-
mond has just closed, and perhaps it will
Gabrilowitsch made his first bow to the
not be amiss to say that it was not the daz-
enthusiastic public of Worcester, to whom
zling success that it was expected to be.
the young Russian did not come as stranger,
Sometimes it is one thing and sometimes an-
for after the successes which he claimed after
other equally inexplicable that makes a man
the last tour, it is hardly possible that he
a success or the reverse. Lamond was per-
could go anywhere that had not been
haps the victim of management; perhaps
Whetted up to the point of delight at having
the privilege to enjoy what all the large cen- he did not fulfill what the public had been
ters of America and Europe have seen fit to led to expect; however that may be, it would
endorse with that sort of endorsement which not be true to say that he was sorry to go.
is only accorded to the very greatest of art-
ists. This place is rightly given Gabrilo-
witsch, for he has up to the present played
in a most compelling manner, arousing en-
thusiasm from the most blase as from the
most emotional alike.
He will remain in this country for some
Both Lamond and Mascagni will return
to Europe and wonder what it h that makes
America such a goal to all artists of the Old
World. Their tours and experiences have
certainly not been conducive to the desire to
return, and still Mascagni might come back
under such auspices as to give him the op-
portunity that his great talents deserve. La-
mond deserved more, too, than he received
in America. He was a coldly classical play-
er ; as that, he should at least have deserved
a respectful attention. That he has not the
temperament of a Pugno and of a Gabrilo-
witsch is not saying that he is not worth
listening to. Everybody has heard a hun-
dred times that he was a dry, pedagogic
player, scholarly in the highest acceptation
of the term. If America does not want this
sort of piano playing, it was a mistake on
the part of those who urged the tour, but
that he is a scholar not even his most severe
critic can deny,.
Mascagni's most serious error was in re-
maining in the country after becoming so
hopelessly entangled that every move he
makes must be fraught with a still greater
loss of dignity. We must concede that Mas-
cagni does not know the customs of the coun-
try ; for this reason he does not know where
he stands; and he cannot read the English
language, so he does not know what col-
umns of comic reading matter he has been
furnishing the papers. If Mascagni could
collect the money due him on all the."copy"
that he has turned into the dailies of Amer-
ica, he would have enough money to con-
tinue his tour and to spend the rest of his
life in peace and opulence.
The use and abuse of power would furnish
material for many a page of literature which
would be beneficial reading for those in
whom the responsibility is reposed to fur-
nish criticism for one paper or another.
Rubinstein I think it is who has said that
it is a pleasure to write but a responsibility
to print, but this does not seem to be the
feeling upon this subject with many.
If a writer in order to make his matter
interesting is compelled to resort to low com-
edy and abuse, it is high time that some
power put an end to that sort of thing.
One of the best known critics in America
is purported to have said of Lamond that
"he should have been shot."
If this be true, it is not possible to con-
ceive more degraded musical criticism, be-
cause if it is not for the education of the
public to higher standards, what is the raison
d'etre for musical criticism ? It seems hardly
possible that one man should be placed in
power to hound the lives out of those who
are doing their best in a field where it takes
the struggle to accomplish anything that it
does to one who has given up his life to the
study of music.
Mr. Lamond may not have pleased every-
body to the extent that some others have
done; he did not live up to the extravagant
praises that were sounded in his behalf, but
that anyone could so far forget the ethics
of musical criticism as to embody in a no-
tice the expression that "he should have
been shot" proves a lack of ability to han-
dle the matter in hand and proves that cer-
tain music critics are better qualified to write
of matters pertaining to hunter's affairs.
But this is not the case—the truth is that
the critic has become so accustomed to the
privilege of ruthlessly destroying and wreck-
ing everything that comes to his mill, he has
been led into the belief that people like an