New York Musical Review and Gazette, Volume 8, Number 24, November 28, 1857 Page: 371

                                
s£
MtfSiOAL SiftEf ASS Gaze S'fl
871
the funds of Mr. Thalberg are much safer than his 'person might be. As
to the artists said to be engaged for him, there is no need for alarm
about their pecuniary interests; for, as far as we know, only one has
been engaged for him.
---
EUROPEAN ITEMS.
A new English opera, by Balfe, at the Lyceum Theater in London, is
the topic of our musical exchanges. It is called The Rose of Castile,
and was highly successful. The Literary Gazette assures us, that
“ the concerted music throughout the opera is altogether of a high
order, and not a few passages would do honor to Rossini himself.” At
the same time we are informed, that “ there are not many separate melo-
dies equal to those in The Bohemian Girl, and other previous works of
Mr. Balfe.” Miss Louisa Pyne had the principal role, and has evident-
ly “improved” by her tour in America. We must confess, that an
opera, as good as Rossini’s music, and partly not so good as The Bohe-
mian Girl, excites our greatest curiosity.
“The Sacred Harmonic Society will commence its;concerts on the 21 th of
November, with Haydn’s Third Mass, Mendelssohn’s Lauda Sion, and Spohr’s
Last Judgment. We observe with pleasure that this Society is at once widen-
ing its scope, and paving the way towards a higher finish in its performances
by announcing that, 1 arrangements have therefore been made for a series of
choral rehearsals for voices only, on an extended scale, (comprising from
1200 to 1500 vocalists,) to be held in the Large Hall, Exeter Hall, on the
third Friday in each month, from November until April inclusive. It is not
intended to confine the music to be rehearsed on these occasions to the sa-
cred works usually performed by the Society, but to afford variety by the
selection of church and other part music.’ These choral meetings, it is added,
will be conducted by Signor Costa.
“ The Opera Buffa is to open at St. James’s Theater with Columella, by Sig-
nor Fioravanti, and B Campanello by Donizetti. The orchestra will he con-
ducted by Signor Randegger.”—Athenceum.
The “ new opera” of Rossini was of course a hoax, just as we antici-
pated it would be. The Curioso Accidente then will consist simply of a
number of detached pieces, gathered from various sources, and strung
together anyhow, so as to fit a libretto, written to order. The orches-
tral score, or at least the greater part of it, will of course not be Rossini’s.
Having informed our readers of this remarkable event, we dismiss it
once for all, and hope we shall never again be bothered in the newspa-
pers by talk about Rossini, what he is going to do, and what he is not
going to do, etc., etc. What a contempt Rossini must feel for all these
talkers, if he is really the man people believe him to be!
Mr. Holle, in Wolfenbuttel, Germany, the publisher of the cheap
edition of Beethoven’s Sonatas, announces the publication of all Beet-
hoven’s works, in from twenty-five to thirty volumes, under the editor-
ship of Franz Liszt. The price will be at the same cheap rate which
Mr. Holle has usually adopted for all his publications.
The third concert at the Gewandhaus, in Leipzig, brought a new
symphony by Gade, (manuscript.)
The editor of the Neue Zeitschrift fur Musik, the organ of the
Wagner party in Leipzig, publishes an article evidently intended to be a
pater peccavi for the ungentlemanly, coarse, and boyish attacks he al-
lowed to appear in his paper against those who had the hardihood of
forming their own opinion in spite of Mr. Wagner or any body else.
“ Better late than never.”
Meyerbeer’s opera, The Huguenots, was performed in Weimar. Liszt
conducted. The next opera will be Wagner’s Rienzi.
The “ Sing-Academie,” and the “ Domchor,” in Berlin, perform for
the benefit of the future Handel in stone at Halle.
Ole Bull is expected to give concerts in Vienna,
MUSIC IN NEW-YORK.
ACADEMY OE MUSIC.
in the middle of the day, and one sacred concert. The music as well
as the performances, offered at these concerts, is very good, and com-
pares most favorably with the doings of our Philharmonic Society.
Compare, for instance, the programme of the last concert with that
of the first Philharmonic entertainment. There we have a sympho-
ny and an overture by Beethoven, one overture by Mendelssohn, a
song by Beethoven, and the services of artists like Mad. d’Angri and
Monsieur Vieuxtemps, nda all this for fifty cents; while here they give
us for a dollar an old symphony of Spohr, and Mr. Mollenhauer. The
instrumental performances in the concerts at the Academy under direc-
tion of Mr. Anschutz, were well done, yet here and there a little more
finish, more light and shade, would have been better. The shortcom-
ings in this respect are the consequences of the novelty of the situation
for the conductor, as well as the orchestra. Mr. Perring sang Beetho-
ven’s Adelaide in Italian. We should have preferred an English ver-
sion for the sake of those who can not understand Italian. This song
is composed in a somewhat antiquated style, although it has a slow move-
ment and a edbaletto just as the Italian arias, still the music is decidedly
German, and has so much respect for the words to which it is set, that
the Italian version seems to be out of place, at least for us. Mendels-
sohn’s overture Meeresstille und gluclclishe Fahrt, which was played on
this occasion, gives the author a sufficient field to display the peculiar-
ity of his talent. It is for this reason that it makes a better impression
than, for instance, the overture to Ruy Bias. The musical treatment
of the subject of this latter work requires larger steps than Mendelssohn
was accustomed to; nobody knew this better than the author, who
declared this last overture a “ weak effort.”
The afternoon performances were brilliantly attended, and will prove
quite a feature in the repertories of the Academy for the next winter.
Signor Bignardi also made his appearance as Gennaro in Lucrezia Bor-
gia, and confirmed the good impression he had made before. He is a
valuable acquisition.
FIRST PHILHARMONIC CONCERT.
PROGRAMME.
1. The Dedication of Sounds. (L. Spohr.)-2. Scene from the Opera Der Freischutz.
CC. M. r. Weber.) Miss Annie Milner.—-3. Concerto for Violoncello. (G. Goltermann.)
Mr. Henry Mollenhauer.-4. Overture to Manfred. (R. Schumann.)-5. Grand Fan-
tasia for Violoncello. (Servais.) Mr. Henry Mollenhauer.——6. Scena from the Opera I
Puritani. (Bellini.) Miss Annie Milner.—-7. Overture to Leonore, in C. (Beethoven.)
Conductor, Mr. Theodore Eisfeld.
The Academy offered a somewhat different sight from what we have
been accustomed to witness on such occasions. Instead of a dense
crowd all over the house, with not a few of them standing outside in the
corridors, there was a comfortably seated audience, who, for the first
time, could enjoy the music in all quietness; and, by ascending the
upper tiers, even in all loneliness. Spohr’s Symphony was well
played. The music is based upon the same principle which we find
adopted by Berlioz and others. Without the programme, it would lose
much of its interest, at least for present hearers. Supposing, for in-
stance, that the poem, which the author requires to be read before the
music is played, was entirely unknown, what other impressions could
this work of the old venerable master produce, but that of a well-made
potpourri ? The music is as little a symphony as one of Mr. Jullien s
descriptive quadrilles might be called a symphony. He follows step for
step the author of the poem, whose conception of the beauty and im-
portance of sounds is as common-place as possible. For this reason it
would have been much better, if Spohr had followed his own genius,
which undoubtedly would have led him to adhere more to the form of
the symphony, even by preserving the subject of the dedication of
sounds. The dance, the march, the serenade, etc., all these can be easily
moulded into the form of a symphony, that is to say, into such a form,
that with the greatest variety firmly upholds the principle of unity.
Schumann’s Overture was first introduced to us in one of Mr. Berg-
mann’s concerts last year. It is another descriptive work, with a more
modern conception than Spohr’s, W hile the latter illustrates in his tone-
picture events, Schumann gives us a musical portraiture of one of
There are now five performances in one week at this place of amuse-
ment, Three operas at night, one operatic and concert entertainment
Byron’s finest characters. It is another Fmst Overture,