Ole Bull Concert

Includes program.

Includes program.

“The popularity of the name of Ole Bull was sufficient in itself to attract a large audience to Steinway Hall last night, where the great violinist played several of his favorite compositions, and other selections. He was assisted by Miss Barton, soprano, and by Mr. MacDonald, tenor, both of whom are pleasing vocalists.”

“The concert of Ole Bull last night at Steinway Hall afforded a gratifying mark of the affection in which the delightful violinist is held by his thousands of friends and admirers. The secondary artists offered no special attractions, the pieces advertised embraced few novelties, and the weather was too warm to make an evening in a crowded hall a boon to be very earnestly besought, yet there was a very large audience, which, though deprived of the customary comfort of programmes, bore the heat patiently to the very end, and gave the chief performer a most cordial reception. We say there were few novelties; one of these was Ole Bull’s performance of a fantasia of his own on Scotch airs, such as ‘Auld Robin Gray,’ and other familiar ballads, introducing a few comic touches, with much of that pathos in the expression of which Ole Bull is without a rival among violinists. Another was his ‘Greeting from Afar,’ composed, we believe, long ago, but quite new here. Both will be popular. He also played his concerto in A major, and the violin obligato in Gounod’s ‘Ave Maria,’ Miss Barton filling the vocal part with good taste, and creditable execution. This young lady sang an air earlier in the evening still better than she sang the ‘Ave Maria.’ She has a fine voice, and we are glad to perceive that she makes progress. Mr. William Macdonald, who likewise appeared last evening, has an agreeable tenor voice, not very strong, but pretty well trained. He too gives promise. Mr. Theodore Martens was the pianist.”

“The magic of Ole Bull’s violin has again filled Steinway Hall with hundreds of breathless listeners.”