MUSICAL COURIER
46
June 14, 1923
Abraham (Mendelssohn). His enunciation is distinct and his style authoritative.
School of Music and Arts’ Concert.
Mercedes Rubrecht, of Columbus, O., was the first piano soloist at the concert of May 23 at the New York School of Music and Arts, playing the first movement from Hiller’s concerto in F sharp minor. Her warm musical talent, with well developed octave and finger technic to back it up, made this a very brilliant and successful number. Sophie Russell’s voice is growing astonishingly full, and her singing of such diverse arias as those from Louise and Robert¿ II Diavolo was pronouncedly meritorious. Elsa Matthes' played the Skylark (Leschetizky) with taste and expression, also joining her teacher in a duet, and Marion Rasmussen was heard in a Bach fugue (C minor) and Chopin fantasie impromptu; she too has excellent technic and well developed style. Dr. Davis sang a love song, quite the best he has so far done, and Miss Van Ness sang Jasmine Door and A Lovely Garden with brilliant voice. Elise Nipou, who comes from the far Canadian West, played the Weber Concertstiick with fleet fingers, strength and brilliant all-around technic; she is a girj of definite talent. Marie La France’s sympathetic personality and fine voice was very effective in the Butterfly aria, and Gladys Birkmire proved that she is always musical and expressive in her singing of A Spirit Flower. Helen Mahauk, small violinist, showed great talent and a promising future in her playing (from memory) of an allegro by Ten Have. Rocco Carcione contributed an Italian coloratura aria and Professor Warner played very sympathetic accompaniments. The usual large audience was on hand.	----------
I. S. for G. M. Jury Makes Report
The secretary of the United States Section of the International Society for Contemporary Music has just received from the central office of the Society in London a report of the jury which selected the compositions of modern chamber music submitted from the several National Sections and made up the programs of the concerts to be given at the Chamber Music Festival at Salzburg from August 2 to 7, inclusive. The jury, consisting of Ansermet, Caplet, Goos-sens, Scherchen, Sonneck, Wellesz and Zelimsky, met at Zurich. Two hundred works by thirty-five composers of fourteen different nationalities were submitted. Four days were required to come to its decisions.
The selections and the programs of the six concerts are given below:
1. Alban Berg—String Quartet. Op. 3.
Arnold Schoenberg—The Hanging Gardens, fifteen songs after Stefan George.
Bela Bartók—Second sonata for violin and piano.
Florent Schmitt—Free sonata in two intertwined parts, for violin and piano.
2• Othmar Schoeck—Four songs to poems by Hafiz.
Maskowsky—Third sonata for piano.
Urjo Kilpinen—Songs.
Ernest Krenek—Fourth string quartet.
3.	Serge Prokofieff—Overture on Jewish Themes, for clarinet,
string quartet and piano.
Fidelio Finke—A Reiter burlesque for piano.
Maurice Ravel—Sonata for violin and cello.
Phillip Warnach—Sonatine for flute and piano.
Eduard Erdmann—Sonata for violin alone.
W. T. Walton—String quartet.
4.	Leos Janacek—Sonata for violin and piano.
Arthus Bliss—Rhapsody for flute, English horn, string quartet and two voices.
Albert Roussel—Divertissement for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon.
horn and piano, op. 8.
Sem Dresden—Sonata for flute and harp.
Lord Berners—Bourgeois Waltzes for piano.
Emerson Whithorne—On the Ferry; A Greenwich Village Tragedy; Times Square, from suite, New York Days and Nights.
Igor Stravinsky—Concertino for string quartet.
5.	Arthur Honegger—Sonata for viola and piano.
G. F. Malipiero—Two sonnets of Bern¡.
Karol Szymanowski—Two songs (Hafiz).
Manuel de Fallo—Second string quartet in quarter tones.
Paul A. Fisk—Two religious songs.
Ferrucio Busoni—Contrapuntal fantasia for two pianos.
6.	Darius Milhaud—Fourth string quartet.
Francois Poulenc—Promenades, for piano.
Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco—Green Fields, Cypresses.
Charles Koechlin—Fifth sonata for piano, op. 59, No. 5.
Manfred Gurlitt—Five songs with chamber orchestra, op. 17 and 18. Zoltán Kodaly—Sonata for cello alone.
Paul Hindemith—Clarinet quintet.
Mitja Nikisch Scores Triumph in Vienna
Mitja Nikisch, the pianist, who comes to America in the fall, has recently been playing in Austria, and in Vienna was soloist with the famous Philharmonic Orchestra, Felix Weingartner conductor. He played the Emperor concerto of Beethoven and the critics described his performance as;
“colossal.”	---------
New Music Week Chairman for Queens
William H. Johns, executive head of the advertising concern, the George Batten Company, has succeeded Ray Palmer as chairman of the 1924 Music Week Committee for Queens Borough. Mr. Palmer retired on account of ill health.
decoration. Ellen Petz, as Madame Potiphar, was far superior to the famous singer but poor mime and dancer who created the role. Ferry Dvorak, as Joseph, was equally impressive. As a whole, the well known Petz-Kainer-Ballet, which was mainly responsible for the successful performance, proved to be an excellent acquisition for the municipal opera to which it is now permanently attached.
The night’s program was a double bill, the Legend being ushered in with Abu Hassan by Carl Maria von Weber, a charming one-act comic opera. Other revivals of the last weeks have been Otello and Falstaff by Verdi, and Salome by Richard Strauss.	Dr. Heinrich Moller.
Rudolph REUTER Pianist
Accepts a limited number of students Kurfurstendamm 50	Berlin W.
Prof. GÉZA KRESZ tffi"
STUDIO: SCHÖNEBERCER UFER 44 BERLIN W.
LEONID KREUTZER, £ÜÜ
PROFESSOR AT THE STATE HIGH SCHOOL OF MUSIC LUITPOLDSTR, 29	BERLIN W 03
Holtum, bass, of the Clinging Vine Company, and Rose Foreman, contralto, accompanied by Maurice Eisner, gave the preliminary program. Miss R. Holmes, soprano, and Dolores Royola, lyric soprano, contributed extra numbers.
Amy Grant at Young Musicians’ Guild.
Amy Grant unexpectedly appeared at the May 31 meeting of the Young Musicians’ Guild, and gave a little talk which was inspiring and far-seeing. It was of such importance that Vera Hirsch transcribed the talk, and it will appear in the June issue of the Young Musician. She is expected soon at this headquarters in a presentation of the story and music of The Bluebird.
Elsa Foerster’s Düsseldorf Opera Success.
Wilhelm Foerster writes from Woodridge, N. J., concerning his daughter, Elsa, and her Düsseidorff success in the new opera, Die Heilige Ente, which was duly reported in the Musical Courier, issue of May 31. Miss Foerster and her brother about this time were’ scheduled to journey to Paris in order to enjoy the musical life and study the language during their vacation. Little Grace Castagnette, child pianist, gave a recital June 1, at Masonic Temple, Rutherford, N. J. Mr. Foerster has aided in making her known.
Grasse Pupil Plays Schumann Concerto.
Isidor Gorn, ensemble pupil of Edwin Grasse, played the Schumann concerto at the Stadium audition, May 25, in Aeolian Hall, Mr. Grasse playing the orchestral accompaniments on the organ.
Francis Stuart in Los Angeles.
Francis Stuart, long located in Carnegie Hall, has again been persuaded to spend the summer in California, and left on the first of the month for Los Angeles, where a flock of pupils eagerly await his coming.
Lotta Madden in Faculty Recital.
One of the most interesting of faculty recitals given at the American Institute of Applied Music, Kate S. Chittenden dean, was that of May 28, when Lotta Madden, soprano, was heard in a program containing four groups, namely German, French, American folk songs, and songs by American composers. The German group was representative of both classic (Beethoven) and modern times, including Strauss ; in the French group were found Debussy and Fauré ; the American folk songs by Brockway, Young, Guion and Reddick, while the American composers represented were Meta Schuman, Sidney Homer, Gustave Saenger; Charles Marsh and Arthur Foote. Miss Madden’s success was such that one does not wonder that she was elected to open the list of soloists at the Goldman Band concerts this summer ; it is recalled that she was a great favorite in these concerts last year. She has always done much for American composers, so the five mentioned in the last group would be among the first to acknowledge this. J. Clarendon McClure was the very capable accompanist.
Audience Encores All Hill Songs.
Fourteen manuscript songs were heard at a recent musicale, all by Mabel Wood Hill, whose published works have caused genuine interest, and the date, May 23, will doubtless long remain in this composer’s memory as having given her deep satisfaction. The admirable artists were Minnie Carey Stine, Lotta Madden, Greta Masson and Nicola Zan. The enthusiastic approval of the entire audience seemed conclusive proof that these songs have a permanent value, and that when they become known they will be extensively used by singers who require something modern of a high order for concerts.
Their music gives remarkably subtle and beautiful interpretations of the various poems chosen from Tagore, Yeats, Sara Teasdale, Lanier, and others. They are dramatic where suggested by the words and tender or romantic, as the case demands, in others.
The Isle of Innesfree (Yeats) sung by Miss Stine; Hounds of Spring (Swinburne) by Miss Madden; Allah’s Tent (Colton), by Mr. Zan, and An Oxford Garden (Tagore), by Miss Masson, were particularly charming. Miss Masson made a hit with The Tidy Dawn.’ This little song, by the way, is admirable for an encore ; it has a light touch like a butterfly flickering into the sky at day-break.. Another excellent song was Snow on the Hills, an exquisite poem of Leonora Speyer’s set to equally exquisite music.
All these songs of Mabel Wood Hill’s have beautiful harmonics, and also a serious note; yet they are always bright and full of color, interpreting the mood of the poems with unusual delicacy and artistry.
Dudley Warwick an Excellent Baritone.
Dudley Warwick is the bass at the Benson Avenue Synagogue of Brooklyn, and his sonorous and highly expressive voice was heard at a recent service in the solo, Lord God of
Breslau, May 15.—The opera season is still in full swing. The latest event has been the local première of the dance-pantomime. The Legend of Joseph, with music by Richard Strauss.׳ At the same time, the performance was the local debut of our new Intendant, Heinz Tietjen as a conductor, who so far had yielded the bâton to the other conductors, notably the_ first and oldest. Kapellmeister Julius Priiwer, who is leaving now for Weimar. Tietjen, whom we knew as a capable reorganizer of the artistic management and an excellent stage director, acquitted himself as a first class musician and conductor too.
The performance in general deserves highest praise and created a sensation in spite of the doubtful value of the music by Richard Strauss. The writer assisted in the world première of the Legend of Joseph, in Paris, in 1914. H. O. Osgood, of the Musical Courier, who sat in the same box with him, will remember that gorgeous performance. Last year the writer saw the Legend in a very different style of staging at Berlin. Still, without any local patriotism, he claims that the performance at Breslau did not only stand every comparison, but was much more impressive than the interpretation by the Diaghileff Ballet and the forces of the Grand Opera at Paris. If the orchestra is of a thinner sonority, it played with more accent and expression than the French one did even under the leadership of the composer himself. The scenery followed the directions of the author and the model of Paris and was almost equal in splendor, and perhaps superior in taste, to the Russian standard. A change, which I think an improvement, was the transfer of the night and closing scenes into a different and colorless
Women’s Philharmonic Society Entertained.
Continuing the season’s festivities of this society, a musical tea was given May 26, by Mrs. J. Van Wicklen Bergen, at her home in Brooklyn. The entertaining artists were Lillian Croxton, soprano, who sang charmingly the Carnival of Venice‘ (Benedict), and Love Has Wings (Rogers), closing with the Mad Scene from Lucia, which she interpreted with much style and gusto. Mrs. Bergen, soprano, sang very beautifully The Libiamo ne liete calici, Ah! fors e lui (Traviata), and To a Hilltop (Ralph Cox). J. Albert Carpenter, tenor, in his usually graceful manner, offered Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal and There Be None of Beauty’s Daughters (Quilter), Christ in Flanders (Ward-Stephens), and Auld Doctor Maginn (Lohr). Leila Cannes, president of the society, who should be heard oftener as a pianist, played delightfully a barcarolle (Rubinstein), and Grieg’s Spring Song. A notable feature of the affair was the singing of Sleep Little Baby of Mine (Dennee) and The Lilac Tree (Gartlan) by little Alice E. Bergen, the seven-year-old daughter of the hostess, who is destined to become a future artist. Maude Reiff proved herself a creditable accompanist, and the program was thoroughly enjoyed by the numerous guests present. Kate J. Roberts is the chairman of press.
Concert by Edith Magee Pupils.
The annual concert of pupils from the vocal studio of Edith Magee was given at the Apollo Club, Brooklyn, June 13. Professional pupils who have been touring the country during the past winter participated, including the well known Shelma Mixed Quartet, which has been filling engagements through the Eastern States.
As in former years Miss Magee engaged well known instrumental soloists to assist the vocal pupils, giving the whole a balance that had all the finesse of the most artistic professional program. Among outside artists participating were Edith Davies Jones, Welch harpist; Vera Webster, sixteen-year-old Brooklyn pianist, and Dr. Harry Rowe Shelley, composer and organist.
Last year the concert given by the pupils of Miss Magee had the unique distinction of turning people away, so the large music hall of the Apollo Club was this year purposely' engaged to avoid such an occurrence.
Winifred Riggs Nichols’ Pupils in Recital.
Two recitals by pupils of Winifred R. Nichols, April 27, at the clubrooms, 312 East Thirty-first street, and in the sun parlors, Allerton House, East Fifty-seventh street, May 23, introduced many talented children in piano solos and duets._ These affairs were conducted with dignity, strict attention on the part of all participants as well as audience being observed. Perhaps the youngest player was little Jane McNicol, five and one-half years old, who played At the Fountain (Oesten), and Star Song (Czerny). Eleven solos and four duets made up the program, the pupils appearing in the following order:	Gilbert Sandgren, Edna Sandgren.
Daisy Cox, Lindley Nichols, Valerie Cybick, Dorothy Olason, Christine Fappiano, Frances Cook, Irene Amato, Edna Hutchinson, Luigi Longobardi and Lucile Damato. Mrs. Nichols herself is an excellent pianist, and her example is the best possible influence for the pupils.
PoWELL-PlRANI PUPILS MUSICALE.
Alma Webster Powell and Eugenio Di Pirani gave an interesting musicale in their headquarters, Brooklyn, May 28, beginning with an address on vocal art by Mme. Powell, continuing through vocal and piano numbers played and sung by Beatrice Soule, Edward Weber, Dorotea Nicolai, Marion Williams, Marguerite Barnes, Lydia Wittmann, and operatic scenes performed by Catherine Haase and Lydia Wittmann, Marion Williams and Beatrice Soule. Mme. Powell is versatile, being a fine singer, lecturer and accompanist, and her pupils did her much credit. The pupils of Professor Di Pirani appeared with success in numbers by himself, Tschaikowsky, Weber, Schumann, Bach-Liszt, Brahms, etc._, and the invited guests showed much delight in their playing.
Malkin Piano and Violin Pupils Play.
June 2 a large gathering heard eighteen pianists and violinists in a students’ concert at the Malkin Conservatory of Music, in piano pieces by Bach, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Beethoven, Schumann, Chopin, Liszt and others, and violin pieces by Sarasate, de Beriot, Lalo, and Mendelssohn. The players were Irving Sapirman, Lucy Robison, Tillie Derman-sky, Max Adler, Harold Greenberg, Elsie Feigin, Julia Feigin, Edith Simbroff, Anna Weckstein, Leo Whitcup, Sylvia Fass, Mark Schwartz, Helen Fogel, Theodore Taka-roff, Sylvia Schwartz, Harry Glickman, Ida Ofsovitch and Rebecca Rosen.
Music at Professional Woman’s League.
Edith M. Bridge, chairman of press, provided the program of the annual meeting, social and installation of officers of the Professional Woman’s League, Mrs. Russell Bassett, president, Hotel McAlpin, May 28. Christian
I rCr,UI7TI7tf’V institute LJuiUV/llI!i 1 !¿il\ I of Piano
Gaveau Studios, 45 rue la Boetie, Paris, France
Under the personal direction of MME. THEODORE LESCHETIZKY (Marie Gabrielle Leschetizky)
John Heath, Associate Director Artists’ Class and Private Lessons
BRESLAU SEES LEGEND OF JOSEPH
SWAYHE
WAGER
Pianists Prepared for Pablic Appearances
3 Ave. Sully Prud’homme (Quai d’Orsay) Paris vii, France
Jean de Reszke 53 Rue de la Faisanderie Paris