Mendelssohn Orchestra Union Concert

“At Irving Hall last night the orchestral Mendelssohn Association gave a concert to a very large audience. Mr. Levy, the cornet-player, was the main attraction, and was warmly received.”

“The concert at Irving Hall last Sunday evening was attended by an immense crowd of people, the special attraction being Mr. Levy, the cornet player, who, having left the Parepa-Rosa Troupe, has now placed himself under the guardianship of Mr. Harrison. There is nothing like a good, bright cornet to tickle the popular ear. A fine orchestra may smoothe the cultivated mind into dreamy ecstasy; a swelling organ may kindle poetic rapture; a rich voice draw tears from the eye, or the scrape of a fiddle pierce to the heart; the banjo inspires the heels, and even the jew’s-harp has its high moral uses, but it is a brass cornet after all that gets the most stamping and clapping, and brings the most money to the box-keeper. Mr. Levy is unquestionably a superior artist. We dare say he plays on his chosen instrument better than anybody ever played before. He blows from it tones so loud and clear that they might almost wake the dead, and tones so soft and sweet that one can hardly realize they are produced by so coarse a thing as a trumpet. His execution is as faultless as his intonation, and he displays also considerable power of expression. Yet his playing, we must frankly say, impresses us very much as the drawings which a certain young lady born without arms was in the habit of making with her toes; they were not exquisite in themselves, but wonderful considering how they were made. Mr. Levy’s music is seldom intrinsically delightful, but he deserves the highest credit for getting so much out of a cornet. Whatever the secret of his success, he certainly draws crowded houses wherever he goes, and seldom gets away until he has played twice as many pieces as are set down for him on the bills.

“The other performers at Irving Hall on Sunday night included Mr. Harry Sanderson, who played with his accustomed force and boldness, Mr. Brookhouse Bowler, Miss Merrifield, who at short notice took the place of Mrs. Annie Kemp Bowler, and the Mendelssohn Orchestral Union. This orchestra has been so recently organized that it is hardly fair to compare it with the well-trained bands of Messrs. Thomas, Bergmann, and other leaders of repute; but by playing in public it invites criticism, and we must say that it plays very badly.”