At Home.
A performance of “The Messiah” at Canandaigua, N. Y., met with great success.
It is rumored that Godowsky is coming to this country next season.
Moriz Rosenthal, the Roumanian pianist, is among the artists who are to visit us next season.
Gabrilowitsch recently gave his farewell New York concert and exhibited his remarkable command over pianistic resource.
The Bach festival, held at the Hearst Greek Theatre in the University of California recently, proved to be an immense success.
Hammerstein has secured a new tenor, Frederico Carasa, who is at present singing at Covent Garden, London. He is only twenty-two years old.
Mme. Ternina, the famous Wagnerian soprano, has consented to become a head instructor in singing at the Institute of Musical Art in New York, of which Dr. Frank Damrosch is the director.
The Illinois Music Teachers’ Association recently held a very satisfactory meeting at Decatur. The reports of progress were gratifying, and the members have reason to congratulate themselves on excellent work done.
Dippel and Scotti are named as the successors of the Gatti-Casazza and Dippel combination in the management of the Metropolitan Opera in New York, though nothing definite has been announced.
Goldmark’s “Wintermärchen,” which was announced for production this year at the Metropolitan, will be produced next year.
A performance of Mendelssohn’s “St. Paul” was recently given by the Oratorio Society of Tiffin, Ohio, at Heidelburg, University. The performance met with great success.
Fritz Kreisler, the eminent violinist, will tour this country next season. He may be regarded, in some ways, as the legitimate successor of Joachim.
Campanari, the eminent baritone, who was also leading ‘cellist to the Boston Symphony for a number of years, has consented to take a few pupils. Few operatic singers possess his accomplishments, and his entry into the teaching world is a notable gain for American students.
Dr. John W. Bischoff, the blind organist, died at Washington on May 30. He had been organist of the First Congregational Church of that city for thirty-five years, and his death is a serious loss to the musical community of Washington.
The North Carolina Musical Festival, was recently held at Raleigh, N. C., at which a performance was given of Haydn’s “Creation.” The Festival Orchestra of Pittsburg, assisted, and the soloists engaged added greatly to the success of an excellent undertaking.
Mrs. H. H. A. Beach’s setting of Oliver Wendell Holmes’ poem, “The Chambered Nautilus,” was recently performed by the St. Cecilia Club of New York, assisted by the New York Symphony Orchestra. This beautiful work made a great impression on the audience, and reflected the utmost credit on composer, chorus and orchestra alike.
The prizes offered for compositions by American composers at the National Federation of Clubs, Grand Rapids, have been won by Arthur Shepard and Henry K. Hadley. The former won a prize of $500 with a sonata for piano, and also another prize of like amount for a song, “The Lost Child.” Mr. Shepard received his entire training in America. Mr. Hadley won a $1,000 prize for his orchestral compositions, “The Culprit Fay.”
The prison at Sing-Sing has an excellent orchestra made up of convicts. They play selections from the works of Bach, Wagner, Beethoven, etc., and regard their rehearsal hour as an inestimable privilege. No mention is made of there being any choral work done, though the name of the prison would lead one to expect some efforts to be made in this direction.
The Twenty-second National Song and Music Festival of the United Singers of New York is to take place on June 19, 20, 21 and 22. President Taft and Governor Hughes will be among those present, and the singers will number 13,000. On Tuesday, the 22d, will begin the singing for the prize offered by Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany, who has personally selected two of the judges who have come from Germany to assist in the adjudication.
At one of the later performances of the Boston Symphony Orchestra a new symphony in B minor (four movements) was produced. The critics declared this work to be the ripest and best that Strube has yet produced. Strube is an Alsatian, who studied in Leipsic and came to America in 1891. For many years he played as a violinist in the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
The Dominant Ninth Choral Society of Alton, Ill., has recently held a festival during which they rendered Mendelssohn’s “Elijah.” A miscellaneous program was also given by the soloists. The Thomas Orchestra, of Chicago, was engaged for the festival, which was highly successful. An overture, “From the Old World,” by Mr. Armstrong, of Alton, was rendered by the orchestra, and very highly commended.
In a recent interview, published in Musical America, Mme. Schumann-Heink gives her experiences in Strauss’ opera, “Elektra.” She says that “the terrific noise of the orchestra drowns the voices on the stage.” There appear to be other objections to this much discussed opera. “In the effort,” she says, “to give real color to the scene, the stage is filled with cows and pigs. Anybody who can sing amid such barnyard surroundings must have no nerves left in her nose.” It is to be hoped, for the sake of both singers and audience, that Strauss will not offer us an operatic version of the life and adventures of Noah.
The Pittsburgh Male Chorus Society have offered a prize for the best setting of Walt Whitman’s poem on Abraham Lincoln, “O Captain! My Captain!” The compositions must be written for male voice chorus, with or without solos—for male voices only—and with piano and organ accompaniment. The winner will receive a prize of $100.00. Only American born citizens may compete. The judges will be Mr. Adolph M. Foerster, Mr. Wilson G. Smith and Mr. P. C. Lutkin. All compositions should be sent in to Mr. Edwin Z. Smith, President of the Art Society, Frick Annex, Pittsburgh, Pa., from whom further particulars may doubtless be obtained.
Henry Wolfsohn, the noted impresario, died of pneumonia on June 1. Mr. Wolfsohn had been the American manager of Wilhelmj, Joseffy, Lehmann, Alvary, Emil Fischer, Emma Juch, Minnie Hauk, Anton Schott, Matilde Materna, de Pachmann, Pugno, Bloomfield-Zeisler, Rosenthal, Ondereick, Josef Hoffmann, Josef Lhevinne, Cesar Thomson, Thibaut, Kreisler, Van Rooy, Burgestaller, Campanari, Mr. and Mrs. Henschel, Schumann-Heink, Gerardy, Hugo Becker, Dr. Richard Strauss and many others. He was sixty- four years old and was the brother of the late Carl Wolfsohn, of Chicago, who was one of the leading teachers of piano of that city for many years. The Editor of The Etude has known many of the artists under Mr. Wolfsohn’s direction, and they have invariably praised his business judgment, artistic sense and strict honesty in the highest terms. Mr. Wolfsohn’s important work will be continued by Mrs. Paula Wolfsohn, assisted by Mr. Richard Copley, who for many years has ably superintended Mr. Wolfsohn’s business under the direction of the latter. Honest, able and efficient managers are rare, and Mr. Wolfsohn’s life is to be highly commended.
We have received an interesting announcement from Mr. Arthur Foote, with reference to the Oliver Ditson Society for Needy Musicians. The annual meeting of this society, he tells us, “was held on May 28, at the residence of the late Mr. Ditson, 233 Commonwealth avenue. Boston, and the following officers were elected: President, Arthur Foote; Trustees, A. Parker Browne, George W. Chadwick. Charles H. Ditson; Clerk and Treasurer, Charles F. Smith. There have been many calls upon the fund (which came from a bequest of Mr. Ditson) during the past year, and it has been of great service in relieving distress. It is used for cases of great destitution of persons connected with the music profession; but it is not intended to help in any educational way. Any of the officers named above will be glad to be informed of cases of need, where the persons are, or have been, musicians. The post office address is 6 Newbury street, Boston, Mass.
Abroad.
Eugen d’Albert’s “Tiefland” has been produced over two hundred times in Berlin.
It is rumored that a new “Salome,” by Granville Bantock, will be produced in London.
Mascheroni’s new opera, “Die Frau aus Perugia,” was produced in April at Naples.
Alice Sovereign, the American contralto, has been engaged to sing in opera at Posen, Germany.
Loretto Tennert, one of the American singers at the opera in Prague, has been offered a five-year contract, and has become a great favorite.
A five-year contract has been signed by Lucie Gates, an American singer, to appear at the Royal Opera in Berlin.
Massenet, whose new opera, “Bacchus,” has recently been produced in Paris, has lately passed his sixty-seventh birthday.
An American pianist, Rudolph E. Reuter, of Berlin, has been appointed to teach piano in Tokio, for the Japanese Government.
Jean Sibelius’ latest work is a string quartet, which will be published in Germany.
The first of the two violin concertos by Haydn, which have recently been discovered, has been performed with great success in Berlin.
Massenet’s new opera, “Bacchus,” has been produced in Paris, with fair success. The critics admire it, but do not seem to be over-enthusiastic. It is reported that Hammerstein planned to give it in America.
Leoncavallo’s opera, “Zaza,” was recently given for the first time in London, at the Coronet Theatre, but does not appear to have captivated the British opera-goers to the same extent as “I Pagliacci.”
A recent issue of a Frankfort paper contained the following advertisement: “On account of TOOTHACHE: Wanted to sell an almost new, upright piano (cost $235), for $62.50.”
Called upon suddenly to fill the place of a singer who was indisposed, Miss Bessie Abbott, an American singer who has appeared at the Metropolitan Opera, has achieved a signal success at Monte Carlo.
The new concert-meister of the reorganized New York Philharmonic under Mahler will be Theo. Spiering, who has lately been meeting with pronounced success in European concert auditoriums.
The fund for the Beethoven monument in Paris has now reached about $6,000. There was a gala performance in aid of the fund given recently, at which Messrs. Messager and Colonne conducted. The latter is now recovered from his recent illness, and has resumed his duties at the Odeon Theatre.
The opera “Theodora,” by X. Leroux, has just been produced at the “La Scala,” in Milan. Much has been expected of the work, but the foreign papers report that it did not meet with very enthusiastic public approval.
The friends and admirers of Prof. Henri Marteau have presented him with a fine Cremona violin, made by Joseph Guarnerius del Gesu in the year 1743. Marteau has just celebrated his twenty-fifth year of professional life.
Under the name of “Deutscher Opera Preis” the publishing firm known as “Harmonie,” of Berlin, have announced a prize of $2,500.00 for the best opera presented before September, 1910. There are two additional honor prizes of about $850.00 each.
Mr. Tree, the well-known London actor, is considering the possibility of producing the play “Beethoven” this season. The play created a great sensation in Paris. Much of the composer’s music was given in the French production, but Mr. Tree declares his intention of giving more. He also intends to engage an exceptionally large orchestra under a great conductor.
Mme. Sembrich, who is one of the contributors to this number, has recently been giving farewell operatic performances in St. Petersburg, which have aroused a public enthusiasm hardly less than that which she created in New York.
Spontini’s “La Vestale” was given sixteen times during the past season at the opera house “La Scala,” in Milan. More performances of this work were given than of any other work. Sixty-eight performances was the total number of all operas given during the season.
