MUSICAL COURIER
36
29, 1922

Handel wrote his vocal parts, represents the climax of vocal art and virtuosity in the entire history of music, a climax not even approached by our modern accomplishments. But all in all, Dr. Mosher’s attempt •to revive this remarkable score met with evident success and it is to be hoped that the example given in Halle will induce other theaters to utilize the immense dramatic and musical capital accumulated in the dozens of Handel operas.
Two Rarely Heard Oratorios.
Considerable interest also attached to the production of two rarely heard Handel oratorios, “Semele” and “Susanna.” “Semele” was given in an effective adaptation by Prof. Rahlwes, the able conductor of the Robert Franz Singakademic in Halle. “Susanna” was performed in the Dom, the same cathedral in which Handel played the organ as a youth. Prof. Arnold Schering of Halle University arranged this score for the festival performance.
Prof. Schering, known all over the world as the author of the monumental “History of the Oratorio,” is certainly an authority on all questions concerning oratorio and also with Handel, and for these reasons his lecture in the university on “The World of Handel” carried a special weight.
A symphony concert conducted by Dr. Georg Goehler also formed an essential part of the festival, and proved most delightful. It contained a considerable portion of the music to Handel’s “Alcina,” including the overture, ballet music, dream music and several arias, besides the second part of the “water music.” Dr. Goehler, a Handel specialist of gieat penetration, was ably assisted by Agnes Leydhecker of Berlin, whose beautiful contralto voice unfolded itself in Handel’s admirably written arias, and by Professor Albert Fischer, also of Berlin, whose voluminous and resounding basso is just the proper voice for Handel’s cantata, “Furibondo spira il vento,” a piece of a sweeping temperament, revealing the traits of genius in every bar.
Chamber Music.
In a chamber music concert a surprise was occasioned by Lotte Leonard, the Berlin soprano, who has never before been heard to better advantage. She sang at first two lovely German songs by Handel, accompanied by the harpsichord, solo violin and oboe. This idyllic introduction was followed by one of Handel’s most powerful and astounding inspirations, the dramatic cantata, “Lucrezia,” which no doubt is one of the most effective and impressive bits of vocal literature, owing to the intensity of its dramatic accents, to its passionate outbursts, to its magnificent construction and to its accumulation of all possible bel canto effects. It was performed on this occasion with a piano accompaniment by Prof. Schering, based on Handel’s thorough-bass sketch.
Other soloists of note in the different performances, besides those already named were Rose Walter (Berlin), Frieda Schmidt (Berlin), Martha Adam (Leipzig), George A. Walter (Berlin), Dr. Moser (Halle). E van der Straaten from London played a sonata for viola da gamba. He was one of a number of guests from England who had come to Halle to do homage to their great naturalized countryman.
A Handel exposition specially arranged for the festival presented a number of valuable and interesting documents, letters, portraits, autographs, first editions and rare books relating to Handel. Liberal hospitality was tendered to all the numerous guests, among whom America was represented by Artur Bodanzky, J. F. D. Lanier, W. B. Murray and others. Pleasant social intercourse with the most cultivated people of the quaint university town, the atmosphere of the old Handel birthplace (the house where Handel was born is still standing), combined with the rare musical treats to make these May-days a memorable event for lovers of Handel and his art.
Dr. Hugo Leichtentritt.
HANDEL FESTIVAL IN HALLE REVIVES
INTEREST IN COMPOSER’S YOUTHFUL PERIOD
“Three Centuries of American Song” at Wellesley College
Olive Nevin and Harold Milligan will give their costume recital, “Three Centuries of American Song,” before the students of Wellesley College, Wellesley, Mass., next February. On June 24 these two artists appeared before •the General Federation of Women’s Clubs at Chautauqua, N. Y., as one of the features of a series of musical programs entitled “Hearing America First.” Miss _ Nevin was chosen to represent her State of Pennsylvania, and Mr. Milligan as Oregon representative.
Enter Henry Emile Frantz
Mr. and Mrs. Louis Frantz, of Fort Smith, Ark., announce the arrival of a son, Henry Emile, on June 9. Mrs. Frantz is the Musical Courier’s correspondent at Fort Worth.
“Orlando Furioso,” Forgotten Opera, Successfully Revived—“Semele” and “Susanna,” Oratorios, Also Heard—Orchestral and Chamber Music Reveal Rare Genius—Many Guests from Abroad
lected “Orlando Furioso,” and opera written in 1732 and produced by Handel in London with great success. Its story is an episode from Ariosto’s famous epic; it treats the madness of Orlando, who is cured of his amourous adventures and brought back to his heroic adventures by the powerful art of the magician Zoroaster—an ancestor, by the way, of Mozart’s Sarastro and Wagner’s Klingsor.
This fantastic and romantic tale does not pay any attention to realistic illusion, to logical development. But just by its fantastic improbability it becomes a fit subject for operatic treatment, if we accept the modern reaction against the confusion of spoken drama with sung opera. Busoni, in his recently published preface to “Faust,” dwells at length on this point, and it is interesting that ■this modern opponent to Wagnerian musico-dramatic ideas should meet
THE HANDEL MONUMENT IN HALLE.
The building behind it is the ancient city hall, statiding since the middle ages.
the totally forgotten composer of “Orlando” on his own ground.
The Music Beyond Discussion.
Whatever discussion pro and con may be caused by the libretto, there will be little difference of opinion among competent musicians as regards the beauty of Handel’s music. It contains some scenes of a grandeur never surpassed by any operatic effort of later times. Everybody in Halle was surprised and profoundly touched by Orlando’s scene of madness at the close of the second act, and in spite of the simplicity of the orchestral apparatus— merely strings, oboes, bassoons and the piano playing the continuo—this inspiring scene holds its own in comparison with similar scenes in Gluck, Mozart and even Wagner.
. Of extreme beauty are the pastoral scenes dispersed throughout the three acts. A photograph on page 37 shows the closing scene of the first act: Angelica, Dorinda, Medoro seated on a green meadow singing their enchanting terzetto. The singers of Halle were, of course, not equal to their task. But even the most celebrated Italian singers of our age would find that Handel’s demands on vocal virtuosity and bel canto far exceed the average of present-day vocal writing. In this respect Handel's operas might prove of considerable benefit in raising our standard of artistic singing. The age of Cuzzoni, Eaustina, Bor-doni, Strada, Senesino and Farinelli, the singers for whom
Halle, Germany, May 31.—Many musicians and music lovers from all parts of Germany and even from England, were drawn to this city, where George Frederick Handel was born on February 24, 1685, for the last week of May, by a Handel Festival which proved not only interesting and enjoyable, but also unique, differing radically from the sort of Handel Festival which has become a more or less regular recurrence in Anglo-Saxon lands. Its immediate cause was not any memorial date. It was, rather, the outcome of a Handel renaissance, which in tbe last few years has slowly but surely been gaining ground in Germany. It had its origin in the Handel opera performances which, given for the first time in Gottingen in 1920, are to be continued this summer in July.
Many musicians, it is true, have the impression that Handel has not very much to say to the people of our epoch as compared with the powerful message of John Sebastian Bach. But this belief is wrong. What this festival set out to prove is that not only is Handel’s time not yet passed, but it has not even come. The world, it seems, is just about to discover Handel and to find a new meaning in his art. This may seem a paradox in view of the fact that Handel is one of the most universally famous names, that oratorios like the “Messiah,” “Israel in Egypt,” “Samson” and many others have enjoyed an almost uninterrupted popularity for about one hundred and fifty years. Nevertheless we are beginning to find out that the Handel of these semi-ecclesiastical oratorois represents only a part of the immense artistic energy accumulated in him during a long and busy life.
Handel Misunderstood.
Indeed, if one knows only the oratorios written by the aged Handel, one gets a false impression of his personality. The proper point of view for these oratorios can be had only if one becomes acquainted with the fiery energy, brilliancy, dash and modern-minded disposition of the younger Handel. In a word, the opera composer Handel, who spent more than thirty-five years of his life in writing about fifty operas, will give us a new insight into his art of which I have spoken above.
Now the Handel operas, as far as modern audiences are concerned, have been altogether unknown thus far. For reasons never proved they have been declared impossible for the modern stage. Gottingen, however, and also Halle have shown that they are not only possible, but also capable of making a most profund impression. Let us remember that in the time of Beethoven, Bach cantatas were considered old fashioned music, which only aroused interest as a curiosity. Is it surprising that a generation of musicians almost incurably infected with Wagnerian and dramatic ideals should not have much confidence in a dramatic art which differs from that of Wagner in almost every particular?
“Orlando Furioso.”
Dr. Hans Joachim Moser, professor of the history of music in the University of Halle, has happily solved the problem of adapting a Handel opera to the modern stage without sacrificing any of its essential qualities. He se-
HOLLANDSGHE CONCERTDIRECTIE
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Manager of the Kurhausconcerts
Arrangements for Tours Throughout Europe
Intermediary engagements with all European Musical Societies Representative of Europe’s greatest artists, such as:	Harold Bauer, Judith Bohor,
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Cable Address: Koos-Kurhaus- Scheveningen
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