Philharmonic Society of New-York Public Rehearsal: 1st

“The first public rehearsal of the Philharmonic Society will come off at Irving Hall this afternoon at three o’clock.”

Includes program. “There was a pretty large audience at the first rehearsal of this old and honored society yesterday afternoon, at Irving Hall. The programme for the first concert consists of the following works…The decided individuality and boldness and strangeness of the compositions of Robert Schumann have caused his genius to be as earnestly denied by some as it is enthusiastically admired by others. We will reserve remarks on the symphony until the second rehearsal of the society. But of the second piece in the program there can be but one opinion. How such a work could emanate from any one outside a lunatic asylum is a matter of surprise. Let us see. The opening discords in the bass, with strange yet plaintive passages of reeds, succeeded by little flute, clarionet and oboe tremolos and trills, are well enough. There are then some beautiful, tranquil ideas, which soon become distasteful to the impetuous mind of the composer. After a few syncopated measures, he culminates gradually to an overpowering crash of all the instruments. Here an abrupt transition takes place. Liszt cannot preserve unity and majesty in his work; for here the fiery passion of the character he describes is quenched as effectually as if a steam engine had turned a stream of water on it. There is none of that billowy graduated power of Beethoven in which every phase of passion is shown in the human mind itself. Liszt conceives grand ideas and impresses us with them, but just when we become interested he descends to some puerile subject, and leaves a feeling if not of disgust at least of dissatisfaction in the mind. We have in the Faust a French horn solo, with a quaint, monotonous accompaniment of reeds, in which the violins occasionally come in with tremolos. He shows remarkable skill in sensationalizing: for after some passages in which there is a beautiful harp accompaniment, the manner in which he seems to gather up the entire force of the orchestra, instrument after instrument, for the culminating crash of trumpets and trombones is excellent. But beyond that, all is dark and gloomy, unrelieved by one ray of light or color. Perhaps the subject is an ungrateful one; but he might not at least have confined himself to the worst points in it. Liszt is undoubtedly the greatest pianist that ever lived, but in the orchestra he seems to us pretty much like a bull in a china shop. Mr. George Bristow’s Columbus, which has been very highly spoken of, was not rehearsed yesterday in consequence of the lateness of the hour and the symphony soiree coming on in the same hall at eight. The next rehearsal will take place at the Steinway Hall, November 3, and the concert there also, November 17. Mr. Carl Bergmann is conductor for the season.”