The competition in composition at the Royal Conservatory of Leipzig has brought out a new composer of undoubted musical talent, Miss Grace Mellor, of Woodville, England, whose three pieces for string orchestra are first of the honorary list.
Fraulein Sara Jessel, of Berlin, has just brought out a trio in B-minor and some solo pieces for violin and for violoncello.
The gifts of women to various musical causes have of late been most generous. Frau Pancera-Blüthner, the German pianist, lately presented the Orchestra Pension Fund with her entire honorarium of 500 marks received for playing at a Gewandhaus concert.
Madame Tastet, sole legatee of the late Felicien David, has presented the Grand Opera at Paris with the orchestral parts of several symphonies and oratorios by this delightful composer.
Budapest has a trio of ladies: Bertha Patay, piano; Jôzsa Békey, violin; and Biancha Camerra, ‘cello.
At a recent song recital in New York, Madam Sembrich sang in Italian, French, English, German, Russian and Polish. Every one of these languages the prima donna speaks with facility. Polish is her native tongue. German, Italian, Russian and French are as easy to her. English she speaks with little accent and considerable fluency.
One of the exciting bits of news to the feminine world is the announcement of a Mrs. Petschnikoff, a personage hitherto unknown to the public. Mrs. Petschnikoff was a Chicago girl who went to Europe to finish her violin studies and won the heart and hand of the virtuoso.
Mme. Nordica has cancelled some of her concert engagements and returned to Europe on May 17th.
Suzanne Adams will sing at Covent Garden, London, early in the fall and return here in October, to take part in the season of opera in English, which is to be given at the Metropolitan before the regular season begins.
Scalchi, the famous grand opera contralto, has signed with Robert Grau to go into vaudeville.
