At Home.
Myrtle Elvyn, the Chicago pianist, made a successful début in New York.
DALMORÉS, the French tenor, is a first-rate athlete and boxer as well as a singer.
Louise Homer recently gave a recital of her husband's songs in aid of the MacDowell Club Students' Fund.
Sergei Rachmaninoff, who is at present touring the States, is making himself and his music very popular.
The Metropolitan forces are again to be heard in St. Louis after an interval of several years.
Humperdinck, the composer of Hansel und Gretel, is coming to America.
Mrs. Carrie Jacobs Bond, of Chicago, recently gave a recital of her own songs in Minneapolis, with great success.
Slezak, the latest tenor, has made an Impressive début. He sings well, acts well, and stands six feet five inches in his stockings.
The organist at the 288th Drexel Institute (Philadelphia, Pa.) concert was Mr. Frederick Maxson, of the same city.
The Philharmonic Choral Society of Kansas City will perform Bénoit's cantata, Into the World.
The contracts are signed for an appearance of the Metropolitan Opera Company at Atlanta, Ga., in the spring.
Mr. W. C. Carl recently gave a highly successful recital of organ music by French composers under the auspieces (sic) of the American Guild of Organists.
The State of Missouri has offered a prize of $1,000 to the composer and author of a prize song. Governor Hadley has appointed a committee to decide on who shall be the judges.
Henri Scott and Allen Hinckley each scored a success in Philadelphia on the opening night of the opera season. They each appeared as Ramfis in the rivaling productions of Aïda by the Metropolitan and Manhattan forces.
The new million dollar opera house at Boston was opened with Ponchielli's La Giaconda. Every seat was filled, and the occasion was one of great rejoicing. Good luck to Boston.
The Manhattan season was opened with a new version of Salome. Massenet's Hérodiade. The Salome in this opera is a far less shocking young lady than is the case in Strauss' opera, and was admirably portrayed by Cavalieri.
The magnificent "New Theatre" of New York has been opened with a performance of Massenet's Werther, which satisfactorily proved the excellence of the new building.
Philadelphia's opera season opened brilliantly with a production of Aïda by the Hammerstein forces and also by the Metropolitan forces at the rival house.
Mr. Charles Frohman is introducing special music between the acts of plays which he is bringing out, in order to keep people in their seats between the acts.
We regret to announce the death of Mr. Albert D. Hubbard, an excellent musician, well known in Philadelphia as a choir director, organizer and composer. He was born in New York, and died at the age of forty-nine.
Mr. Robert Hope-Jones, the famous organ builder, delivered a lecture at the convention of the National Association of Organists, in which he prophesied that we are on the threshold of very big things in the way of organ development.
Pepita Arriola (pronounced Ah-ree-oh- lah), an 11-year-old pianist, who has been astonishing Europe, will appear in America this season. The "prodigy" announcements also include Jascha Bron, a wonderful violinist of 15.
Mr. Clarence Dickinson, of Chicago, has accepted an appointment as organist at the Brick Presbyterian Church, New York, and also that of conductor of the Mendelssohn Glee Club, recently resigned by Frank Damrosch.
Miss Anne E. Hawley, a pupil of Delle Siede, has been added to the faculty of the Normal Conservatory of Music at Indiana, Pa.
Mr. Thomas Beecham is making a great outcry about his coming with his orchestra. If he and his Englishmen fail to make good it will doubtless be a bitter pill to Mr. Beecham.
The Etude has received many excellent notices of Dudley Buck services which have been given all over the country. One splendid service was given at the Washington Avenue Temple (Jewish), of Evansville, Indiana.
Forsell, the Swedish baritone, is probably the only singer who ever gained an engagement in America on the strength of his voice as it appeared on a phonograph record. Mr. Dippel heard his voice in this way, and at once engaged him for the Metropolitan Opera House.
No less than five of Massenet's operas are being performed in New York this season. These are Werther, Hérodiade, Thais, Manon and Sappho. Massenet is the acknowledged successor of Gounod in Paris, is an officer of the Legion of Honor, and a member of the Institute of France.
Pepito Arriola, the boy prodigy pianist, has been heard in New York, and has "astonished the natives." Though he is but eleven he is said to possess nearly all the qualities which go to the make-up of a great pianist. London and Berlin have been equally charmed by his wonderful musicianship.
Mr. Pierpont Morgan has presented St. George's Church, Stuyvesant Square, New York, with a new chancel organ, which was recently dedicated by the congregation. The occasion was fittingly observed by the production of a new cantata by Mr. Homer Norris, entitled Mizmor Lethodah, which was dedicated to Mr. Morgan.
The School of Opera in Chicago is at work on two operas which have never yet been seen in America. They are Evangelimann and Mirella. The former was com posed by Wilhelm Klenzi, and dedicated to Dr. Mück, a conductor of the Boston Symphony. The latter opera was written by Charles Gounod.
The season is one in which many operatic novelties will gain a hearing. Among those of which the Metropolitan syndicate has obtained the rights is a musical setting of Quo Vadis, by Jean Nougues, a recently "discovered" French composer. With so many novelties it is possible the production of this work will be deferred until next season.
A school of dancing has been opened in connection with the Metropolitan Opera house under the direction of Mme. Cavalazzi. This will open up an entirely new profession for American girls. At present most members of the opera ballet are imported from Europe. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children has ordained that no one under the age of sixteen shall become a member of the class.
Mr. W. H. Sherwood, the American virtuoso, does not confine his efforts before the public to large recitals in great auditoriums. He has expanded his work to include educational recitals at institutions in which music is a part of the regular educational work. Mr. Sherwood feels that this is quite as important as any branch of his public work.
It is said that the world's stock of ivory suitable for piano keys is being rapidly diminished. For this purpose the tusks of the elephant are principally used. The substitutes are celluloid (which is objectionable because it discolors, readily absorbs moisture to a certain extent, and in large quantities, such as are required in pianoforte factories, is dangerous, owing to its inflammability) and artificial ivory, which is made by a secret process, one of the ingredients being sour milk. Some manufacturers declare that artificial ivory is superior to the natural article.
The thirty-first annual meeting of the Music Teachers' National Association was held at the Northwestern University at Evanston, 111. The program was one of great interest and many of the most able teachers of the country participated, including P. C. Lutkin, Harrison M. Wild, Adolf Weidig, Waldo S. Pratt, E. R. Kroeger, D. A. Clippinger, Walter Henry Hall, Albert A. Stanley, Francis L. York, C. A. Fullerton, Rossitter G. Cole, Karleton Hackett.
The Manuscript Music Society of Philadelphia offers three prizes of $25.00 each for Part Songs (Madrigals or Glees), with or without accompaniment, for male, female and mixed voices. Each composition must be inscribed with a nom de plume or motto and be accompanied by a sealed envelope containing the name and address of the composer. Compositions must be in the hands of the secretary, Mr. Samuel J. Riegel, 3327 N. Twenty-first street, Philadelphia, not later than February 1, 1910.
Edgar O. Silver, president of the publishing house of Silver, Burdett & Company, died Thursday, November 18, at his home in East Orange, New Jersey, from pneumonia, after a brief illness. Among many important positions held by Mr. Silver was that of president of the "Institute of Applied Music" of New York, of which Miss Kate C. Chittenden is now the director. Mr. Silver's firm published much music suitable for use in public schools, etc.
Abroad.
Wagner's Ring has just been performed in Paris for the first time.
Henri Fevrier, the composer of Monna Yanna, is composing an opera on Alfred de Musset's Carmosine.
In Budapesth a new opera by Busoni, entitled The Missionship, will soon be produced.
Monteverde's opera Orfeo is to be revived as a novelty in Brussels. It received its first performance in 1607.
The death has occurred of the mother of Feruccio Busoni, the pianist, at Trieste, Austria. She was herself a remarkable pianist.
Mr. Edwin Hughes, who is deeply interested in the work of The Etude abroad, has recently been appointed an assistant to Theodore Leschetizky.
Xavier Leroux, the composer of Le Chemineau, has been engaged to conduct a season of French opera in Lisbon. His opera company includes the American singer, Lillian Grenville.
Marie Rappold made an excellent impression at her appearance at the Leipsic Opera House. She was the first American singer to make her debut at the Metropolitan without the prestige of a European reputation.
Mr. Joseph Holbrooke's opera, Pierrot and Pierrette, has been produced at His Majesty's Theatre in London. An English opera by an English composer sung in English in England. Fancy!
Kubelik has had to pay a fine of about $6,000 for breaking his contract with the impresario Goerlitz to appear in Australia and New Zealand.
Johann Strauss, the famous composer of waltzes, is to be honored in Vienna by a public monument in the city park. The sum of 110,000 crowns has already been collected towards the 150,000 crowns required (about $30,000).
Dr. E. W. Naylor, the English composer whose prize opera, "The Angelus," has proved such a failure at Covent Garden, has a keen sense of humor, and is composing a comic opera. He wishes to be the legitimate successor of Sir Arthur Sullivan.
Franz Lehar's new opera has been produced in Vienna and pronounced a great success. Whether it will duplicate that of the same composer's "Merry Widow" remains to be seen.
In Paris a "British Concert Society" is being formed to be devoted principally to the works of modern British composers. This is rather an interesting development of the "entente cordiale" which now exists between the two nations.
The Royal Collection of Berlin has had some valuable additions made to its music collection recently. These include Clara Schumann's piano, a very ancient ivory flute bearing the signature of Frederick the Great, a Gallic harp and many interesting things.
Andre Messager's new opera, "Le Roi Dagobert," will receive its first performance at Brussels. Messager is one of the directors of the Paris Grand Opera. Messager has written many delightful light operas, and has also taken a prominent part in Covent Garden productions.
Offenbach's "Tales of Hoffmann" has been produced for 500 times at the "Komischen Opera." The barcarolle from this work has been very popular in America.
The Clutsam keyboard, which is the revival of an old principle applied to pianoforte playing, based upon the idea that a keyboard arched is superior to the straight keyboard, is attracting much attention in Europe. Several virtuosos, including Ganz, Friedheim and Dohnanyi, have given recitals upon this keyboard in German cities.
The renowned conductor. Gustav F. Kogel, of Frankfurt, has been invited to conduct Holland's foremost orchestra, the "Konzertgebouw-Gesellschaft," in Amsterdam, for the following winter.
The death has occurred of Francis Thomé, the composer. He was born at Port Louis, Mauritius, 1850, and in 1886 became a student at the Paris Conservatoire, studying pianoforte with Marmontel and Duprato until 1870. He has written a great deal of piano music and songs. His Simple Confession and Under the Leaves are well known to our readers. His more elaborate compositions include an opera, Romeo and Juliet. He has lived for many years in Paris, where he will be mourned by many friends.
The death has occurred, in Berlin, of Ludwig Theodor Schytte, the Danish composer and pianist. Born at Aarhus, in Jutland, on April 28, 1848, he, when twenty years of age, decided to adopt music as a profession. He studied the piano under Anton Rée and Edmund Neupert, and composition with Niels Gade and Gebauer, and subsequently went to Berlin, where he became a pupil of Taubert, and afterwards of Liszt at Weimar. For many years he resided in the Austrian capital, leading a busy life as pianist, composer and teacher. Schytte wrote much refined music for the pianoforte, and composed a Pianoforte Concerto and a Sonata. His one-act opera, Hero, was presented at Copenhagen in 1898, and his operetta, Der Mameluk, at Vienna, in 1903. He also wrote a comic opera, Fahrendes Volk, which was never performed.
The Royal Birthday honors have been awarded in England, but the name of no musician is among those honored. The London Musical News in commenting on this says that "Musical knights have been but few, and there are only nine living, of whom the Windsor knight (Sir Walter Parratt) is the senior. They are Sir Walter Parratt (1892) ; Sir Alexander Mackenzie (1895) ; Sir Frederick Bridge and Sir George Martin; Sir Hubert Parry (now a baronet); Sir Charles Stanford (1902) ; Sir Edward Elgar (1904) ; Sir Charles Santley (1907) ; and Sir Paolo Tosti (1908). Even these constitute mere than one-third of the list of British knighthoods ever conferred upon professional musicians. The others were Sir Henry Bishop (1842) ; Sir Michael Costa (1869) ; Sir Jules Benedict, Sir William Sterndale Bennett and Sir George "Elvey (1871) ; Sir John Goss (1872) ; Sir Herbert Oakeley (1876) ; Sir George MacFarren and Sir Arthur Sullivan (1883) ; Sir Charles Hallé and Sir John Stainer (1888) ; and Sir Joseph Barnby and Sir William Parsons (1892). There were also four knighthoods conferred by the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, these being Sir William Parsons (1795) ; Sir J. A. Stevenson (1803) ; Sir George Smart (1811) ; and Sir R. P. Stewart (1872." (sic) We are surprised to see that our contemporary has omitted the name of Sir August Manns. He was knighted in 1904 for the splendid work he did at the Crystal Palace, where he conducted over 12,000 concerts. Sir George Grove is perhaps usually considered a musical amateur, but it was on account of his services to music that he was knighted.
A program of the 660th concert given at the "Theatre du Chateau de Trevano," at Lugano, in Switzerland, has been received at The Etude office. The concert was given by a symphony orchestra under the direction of Louis Lombard. The program was composed of compositions of Beethoven, Glinka, Wolkoff and Wagner. On a previous program we find that the assisting artists were none other than our own Mrs. Bloomfield- Zeisler and Gabriel Fauré, the director of the Paris Conservatoire. Herein lies a tale of much romantic interest. Many years ago a young French musician came to America and established a conservatory in a city in upper New York State. He had the happy faculty of doing things in a little different manner from that of others. The conservatory prospered, and then its owner made fortunate investments with his profits. The wheel of fortune began to turn very rapidly and over it flowed a golden stream that soon made Louis Lombard rich "beyond the dreams of avarice." He went to Switzerland and purchased a castle of imperial splendor, formerly owned by a Russian nobleman. But he had not lost his love for music and he constructed in his castle a finely equipped "jewel of an opera house." Here one of his own operas was produced last year, and here he maintains his own symphony orchestra in a manner which might have put the Esterhazys to shame. The "Castle Trevano" has become a rendezvous for musicians of renown. It is located in one of the most beautiful parts of Switzerland, and the host manufactures "memory days" to all who come within its portals. He has not lost his intense love for America, which he still calls "home," and from the top of his palace of dreams there always floats an American flag. "Go thou, and do likewise."
Tschaikowski, in his "Memoirs," tells how, during the playing of the andante movement of one of his quartets, Tolstoy, seated at his side, was moved to tears. "Never in my life," he writes, "have I had so happy an experience; nothing could have been more flattering to my self-esteem as a composer."
