Beethoven Centennial Festival: New York Herald: General Advertisements, Announcements, Reviews, and Articles

“The hundredth anniversary of the birth of Beethoven, the greatest musical genius that ever lived, occurs this year, and will be celebrated next month in this city in a manner worthy of such an occasion. Several leading citizens have taken the matter in hand, and have already subscribed a sufficient amount to carry it through successfully. They have secured the immense building on Third avenue where the last fair of the American Institute was held, and purpose enlarging it so as to accommodate over 25,000 people. There will be a chorus of 3,000 and an orchestra of nearly 1,000, and among them may be counted the celebrated Handel and Haydn Society and Gilmore’s renowned band from Boston. The well known projector of the Peace Jubilee will be one of the conductors. The principal feature of the festival will be the combination of star artists from all the operatic organizations at present in America, with many foreign artists of repute. Altogether the Beethoven Centennial promises to be a brilliant and artistic affair, alike worthy of the metropolis and the projectors.”

Brief. “Gilmore will be one of the conductors of the Beethoven Centennial.”

“The great Beethoven festival which is to come off in the middle of June is to be held in the immense building recently occupied by the American Institute fair, on Third avenue. The building will be increased so as to give a clear length of 430 feet and a width of 200, and will easily accommodate twenty-five thousand people. On the stage will be an orchestra of eight hundred and a chorus of three thousand five hundred. It is expected that this festival will entirely surpass the Boston Peace Jubilee.”

Long card.

“Signori Lefranc and Regna [sic] are engaged for the great Beethoven festival, which commences at the American Institute Coliseum on June 13. The conductors are Carl Bergmann, George F. Bristow and Patrick S. Gilmore.”

“Notice to Choirs, Choral Societies and Vocalists of New York and vicinity.—Vocalists who are familiar with the oratorios of the Messiah and Creation, and who are desirous of taking part in the forthcoming great Musical Festival to be held in June, are invited to make early application to the Choral Secretary, as below, who will furnish every information and particulars concerning the same.”

“The arrangements for the great Beethoven festival, which will commence at the great American Institute Coliseum on June 13, are being rapidly completed. It bids fair to outshine the Boston jubilee in an artistic point of view.”

“The children of the Sunday schools of New York that would like to take part in the singing of the Sunday school hymns on Saturday, the last day of the jubilee, are cordially invited to attend. The hymns to be sung are ‘Beautiful River,’ ‘Water of Life,’ ‘Marching On,’ ‘Children’s Te Deum,’ and the new and beautiful hymn ‘Gates Ajar.’ Due notice of a rehearsal will be given soon. George S. Weeks.”

“The preparations for the great Beethoven Centennial Festival…are nearly completed. The combination of operatic artists is of the most complete character. Negotiations are nearly concluded with the renowned Handel and Haydn Society, of Boston, and Gilmore, the successful manager of the Jubilee, will be one of the principal conductors. Brignoli, Lefranc, Reyna and Randolfi are already engaged.”

“We are going to try and beat Boston in the field of musical jubilees, and if the managers of the grand affair which is to commence on the 13th inst. only fulfill their promises we think that we can beat Boston, big organ and all. What is this programme? The leading artists of six opera troupes are engaged to assist at the festival in honor of the memory of Beethoven. Two English opera companies, two German opera companies and two Italian opera companies, with Brignoli, Kellogg, Gazzaniga, Lefranc, Petrilli, Massimiliani and Isabella McCulloch, are all on the bill. From the German troupe Madame Johannsen, Madame Rotter, Habelmann and Hermanns, the superb basso, are selected. The English opera furnishes Parepa-Rosa, Anna Bishop, Richings-Bernard, Castle and Campbell and Peakes. So much for the leading artists. As for the choruses and orchestral portions of the grand whole, it is said that three thousand voices and five hundred picked and well chosen instrumentalists from this and the neighboring cities will combine to render the works of Beethoven, Handel, Mendelssohn and Haydn in superb style. In the programme we find the celebrated oratorios of the ‘Creation,’ the ‘Messiah’ and ‘Elijah.’ And all these are to gather strength from the not quite artistic adjuncts of a chime of bells, electric artillery and anvils; so that, with the addition of a monster organ, built especially for the occasion by Erben, we stand a fair chance of outdoing the great Boston Peace Jubilee in clamor, if not in scientific and artistic beauty. Gilmore, too, is to be here with his big drum, and that big Irishman to pummel it.

This grand jubilee is to last a week in the American Institute Coliseum, on Third avenue, beginning no Monday, the 13th of June. At or about the same time the Beethoven Centennial Festival will be celebrated throughout Germany by the countrymen of the great composer. The Germans do not forget their distinguished men. The love of Faderland is interwoven with the spirit of affection and veneration for those who have made their country famous in the annals of art and literature. It is but a short time since Humboldt’s birthday was celebrated with great honor, both in this country and in his native land, and, indeed, throughout the world, wherever the love and memory of Faderland existed. It would be well for us to embalm with like sentiments the memory of our leading men. With the exception of Washington’s birthday we have no festival devoted to a simple recognition of the departed great ones of the republic, and even that day is but poorly and carelessly honored.

With regard to the coming festival Boston is watching with eager eyes and listening with uplifted ears to the proceedings going on, fearful that the laurels shall be snatched from her brow, with which, with the assistance of Jim Fisk, the Hub of the Universe was crowned at the remarkable period when the gigantic and very noisy Peace Jubilee came off. However, our adventurous ‘Committee of Management’ are fairly in the field now for a contest with Boston, and they must not flag in their efforts nor risk the chance of sullying our metropolitan reputation.”

One of two cards on this page. “The leading dignitaries of America, without distinction of party, have been invited to attend. Special letters of invitation have been sent to [the President and his cabinet] and to their Excellencies the Governors of the States and Territories…Senators…Representatives in Congress…Ambassadors of Foreign Governments…Chief Generals of the Army…the Supreme Court…[and] the Mayors of important cities.

Responses have been received from very many of these dignitaries, expressing their interest in the Musical Festival and their intention to be present…

THE MUSICAL JUBILEE AND BEETHOVEN CENTENNIAL FESTIVAL will present MME. PAREPA-ROSA…A COMBINED MAMMOTH CHORUS of upwards of Three thousand skilled Vocalists, comprising the first Choral Societies of America, sixty-five Choral and Madrigal Societies, and upward of one hundred Choirs will be represented in whole or in part in interpreting the vocal beauties of Beethoven, Mozart, Handel, Haydn, Mendelssohn and other great composers. Societies, society singers and choirs from New York, Brooklyn, Jersey City, Newark, Plainfield, Orange, Morrisania, Poughkeepsie, Rochester, Harlem, Hartford, Springfield, New Haven, Watertown, Bridgeport, Stamford and various other cities; and THE RENOWNED HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY of Boston, UPWARD OF FIVE HUNDRED VOICES STRONG, which is widely believed to HAVE NO SUPERIOR, in either the Old or the New World will attend in entirety and participate in the entire festival, from its first to its last day.

A GRAND COLISEUM ORGAN, constructed by the celebrated builder, MR. HENRY ERBEN, and now on exhibition at his manufactory in Wooster street, New York, will be placed in the rear of the GREAT STAGE in the centre, and LEND ITS POWERFULL TONES TO THE OCCASION.

A GRAND JUBILEE ORCHESTRA of FIVE HUNDRED AND FIFTY VIRTUOSI, comprising the choicest instrumentalists of Boston, Philadelphia and New York, and presenting in its ranks Classical and Popular Composers and Life Students of the Art.

Four great Military Bands, aggregating OVER TWO HUNDRED BRASS AND REED INSTRUMENTS.

GILMORE’S celebrated Band, from Boston.

DODWORTH’S famous Twenty-second Regiment Band.

GRAFULLA’S renowned Seventh Regiment Band.

DOWNING’S celebrated Seventy-first Regiment Band.

The powerful harmonic adjuncts necessary to the effects of some of the compositions:—

THE ANVIL COMPNAY, THE CHIME OF BELLS, and THE ELECTRIC ARTILLERY.

Especial pleasure is taken in presenting the names of the GREAT CONDUCTORS AND MAESTROS whose large experience and eminent positions render their aid and direction of the highest consideration in a musical festival so vast and varied in its character.

MR. CARL BERGMAN, the renowned conductor of the New York and Brooklyn Philharmonic Societies.

Mr. CARL ZERRAHN, the distinguished Conductor of the Handel and Haydn Society, and Conductor of the Great Choral Gathering of Ten thousand Voices at the National Peace Jubilee.

Mr. MAX MARETZEK, the great Impresario of the Grand Italian and German Opera companies.

Mr. CARL ROSA, the very able Conductor of the Parepa-Rosa English Opera Company.

Dr. JAMES PECH, senior organist of Trinity parish, New York, and conductor of the Church Music Association.

And the Directors take great pleasure in announcing the engagement, as one of the conductors, of MR. P. S. GILMORE, the projector and general director or the NATIONAL PEACE JUBILEE.

To these will be added the eminent conductors of many visiting societies.

THE SALE OF SECURED SEATS commences TO-MORROW (MONDAY) MORNING, at 9 O’CLOCK. [Lists places where tickets can be obtained.]

Programmes of the Festival Season announced in to-morrow’s papers.

SEASON SUBSCRIBERS’ TICKETS, FOUR SECURED SEATS FOR EACH OF THE TEN FESTIVAL CONCERTS (transferable), ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS, admitting to all concerts and public rehearsals.

SEASON TICKETING, ADMITTING ONE PERSON TO EACH OF THE TEN FESTIVAL CONCERTS (transferable), good for such seats as are not otherwise secured, TEN DOLLARS, admitting to all concerts and public rehearsals.

Additional programmes announced on Monday.

ADMISSION, WITH SECURED SEAT.

FIRST PARTERRE…………TWO DOLLARS.

DRESS PARTERRE…………THREE DOLLARS

ORCHESTRA…………FOUR DOLLARS

BALCONY…………TWO DOLLARS

ADMISSION SINGLE…………ONE DOLLAR.”

The second of two cards on this page, containing a list of performers that briefly identifies each person with the troupe, ensemble, or venue with which they are most well associated. For the sake of space, Music in Gotham extracts here only the names: “Miss Caroline Richings-Bernard; Mrs. Howard Paul; Mme. Marietta Gazzaniga; Miss Rose Hersee; Miss Isabella McCulloch; Miss Zelda Harrison-Seguin; Mlle. Pauline Canissa; Miss Rosa Cooke; Madame Johann Rotter; Madame Bertha Johansen; Mlle. Frida de Gebele; Mlle. Sophie Dziuba; Madame Anna Bishop; Signor P. Brignoli; Signor Ch. Lefranc; Mr. William Castle; Mr. Theodore Habelmann; Signor Francisco Filippi; Mr. H. Nordblom; Signor Massimilliani; Signor W. Lotti; Mr. Joseph Hermans; Mr. W. W. Whitney; Mr. S. C. Campbell; Mr. Henri Drayton; Signor Petrilli; Signor G. Reyna; Signor A. Susini; Signor Ad. Randolfi; Mr. H. Peakes; Mr. Wilhelm Formes.

The recollection of the reader will scarcely suggest a name of real prominence that is not included in this list—at all events none that could have increased its efficiency. It is published with no little pride by the directors—and with a natural confidence that it will be at once recognized by the public as a guarantee that the Festival, of which they are to form so prominent a part, will be in every way worthy of the metropolis of the nation and of the fame of the great composer whose memory it is designed to honor in the New World in sympathy with the similar tributes being paid to it in the Old.” Concludes with ticket prices and list of ticket sellers.

“The sale of seats for the season and for Monday and Tuesday, afternoon and evening, for the Grand Musical Jubilee commences to-day. There is every reason to expect a rush, and, notwithstanding the size of the building, we feel that many will thank us hereafter if they follow our advice and avoid front seats. Seats in the centre, or thereabout, will be preferable for sound, and give the waves of excited air that produce it time to glide into that regularity of motion which is commonly recognized as smoothness. The voice of Parepa, while audible at fabulous distances, and sweet at the nearest point, is not a criterion for the effect of an orchestra of five hundred or a chorus of three thousand.”

Three similar cards on the same page.

The first reads: “MUSICAL FESTIVAL. Passengers to and from Stamford, Greenwich and Norwalk will be carried to and from during the Musical Festival Week at excursion prices.”

The second reads: “MUSICAL FESTIVAL. Passengers to and from Portland, Me., will be carried each way at half fare.”

The third reads: “MUSICAL FESTIVAL. Passengers to and from Albany and Troy will be conveyed to and from during the Festival Week for $3.”

“Among the home societies who are to take part in the Beethoven Musical Festival are the Brooklyn Choral Union, 250 voices, W. B. Cummings, President; the New Jersey Harmonic and Madrigal Society of Jersey City, William F. Sherwin, conductor, 150 voices; Williamsburg Mendelssohn Association, Charles W. Cheshire, conductor, 100 persons; Plainfield Harmonic, W. F. Sherwin, conductor, 60 voices; the Mendelssohn Union of New York, Wm. Pond, president, 175 voices, and Dr. Pech’s Society of Choirs, nearly 700 voices strong. These are all familiar with the oratorios of ‘The Creation’ and ‘The Messiah,’ as well as the choruses of the Beethoven and Mendelssohn, which it is proposed to give. Thus we are to have a home force of nearly 1,500 voices, who have been in active training the entire winter.”

“THE BEETHOVEN CENTENNIAL.

THE MUSICAL JUBILEE OF 1870.

The Coliseum and Its Interior Fittings and Arrangements—Extensive Preparations for the Great Musical Festival—18,000 Persons to be Accommodated—A Brilliant Display Anticipated.

The astonishing rapidity with which the arrangements for the approaching great musical festival are being completed is worthy of notice. An entire transformation has within the shortest possible time taken place in the interior of the Coliseum, and, although the workmen are still busily engaged, it has now assumed quite a different appearance to that which it recently presented. Indeed, the great energy, taste and spirit displayed in the magnificent and appropriate fittings clearly indicate that a brilliant exhibition is at hand. No expense appears to have been spared in the way of commodious accommodation, comfort and elegance, and while, of course, the alterations are only of a temporary character, strength, ease and costliness are throughout apparent. A more suitable site than the Empire Rink could not have been obtained in the city. It possesses all the features that could possibly contribute to the success of the festival, among the most prominent being its splendid acoustic properties. It is now a grand, colossal theatre, handsome in its structure, bright and airy and easy of both entrance and exit. It is particularly well ventilated, a refreshing current all the while running through the building. Had the structure been expressly erected for the entertainment it could not have been more suitable. So far, therefore, as the interior arrangements are concerned the enterprising managers have certainly left nothing undone and confidently anticipate their final completion by Saturday.

THE STAGE

is admirably constructed. Past experience has shown that the close huddling together of many choristers invariably attended by much confusion, to say nothing of the great inconvenience endured by the performers. The stage at the Coliseum is perfect in every point and so beautifully situated that not a single voice will be lost. It measures 115 by 180 feet. At the extreme edge it is a little over three feet in height and gradually slopes up. The organ is being erected in the centre [sic] at the back, but owing to its altitude considerable way beneath had to be made for its location. It is of black walnut, forty feet high, twenty-five feet wide and fifteen feet deep. It has two sets of keys, with two and a half octaves of pedals, thirty-one stops and 1,800 pipes. Last evening the workmen had almost completed its erection. On either side of the organ will be the main entrances to the stage for the soloists and principal artists. To the extreme right there will be four stairways for the chorus leading down to dressing and ante rooms below. The centre [sic] of the stage will be occupied by the orchestra, measuring 40 by 120 feet, and seats will be arranged for about 500 performers, extending to the right and left. The arrangements for the chorus are especially well designed, and easy accommodation will be afforded for over 3,000 voices. The hearty and earnest manner, however, in which the various societies from Connecticut, New Jersey, Massachusetts and other States have responded to the call of the managers has necessitated the erection of other seats adjacent to the stage, and one thousand additional singers can readily be provided for. The stage decoration and ornamentation will include appropriate banners and flags. Life figures of Beethoven and Mozart will be conspicuously placed on both sides of the organ, and busts of Mendelssohn, Haydn, Handel, Von Weber and others will add to the display. Altogether the stage, for the purposes intended, is perfection itself.

THE AUDITORIUM.

It should be mentioned that about halfway down the auditorium from the stage the aisles in close proximity to the walls will be elaborately arranged with sofas, lounges and chairs, to be reserved for the season ticket holders, and the remainder of the aisles towards the entrance doors will be clear and unobstructed for promenading. The auditorium itself is about 430 feet in length, and has a width of over 200 feet. The sight and hearing are not in the slightest degree interfered with by pillars. The roof forms a clear span from wall to wall, and is supported by numerous iron arches, which converge and join together at a height of 100 feet from the ground. The building itself is of corrugated iron, and possess great strength, and is capable of accommodating from 16,000 to 18,000. The seats in the auditorium are very handsomely arranged and are probably the best of the kind ever gotten up for temporary use. During the evening performance the methods of lighting will be by gas and large calcium lights, rendering the interior as bright as in daytime. By the universal desire of the conductors the decorations, while appropriate, will not be very extensive, as it was clearly shown at the Boston Jubilee that the numerous flags and banners waving in the air materially marred the perfection of the harmony. In connection with the auditorium it should be mentioned that in order to avoid all confusion large placards will designate the exact location of every seat in the building, so that ushers will have but little trouble in escorting visitors to their seats.

THE BALCONY.

This is an entirely new and much desired structure, and will doubtless be much sought after. It is fully as large in its dimensions as Steinway Hall, and is situated over the main entrance. At least 2,000 people can easily be seated, and perhaps the two best features which mark it are great strength and a splendid view. Indeed the fixtures throughout the building are of the most substantial character, all resting as they do on solid foundations. It is thought that the balcony will perhaps be the most attractive place in the building on account of the admirable features which surround it. The view is certainly magnificent, and the colossal characteristics of the building can only be properly appreciated from it.

THE PROGRAMME

as will be seen is of a mammoth character, and deserves the highest commendation for the judicious selections which have been made. By permission of the Mayor the cannon to be used in the interpretation of the ‘Star Spangled Banner’ will be discharged in a vacant lot at the northeast corner of the building. The sincere co-operation of the various choral societies from several States at once proclaims the great interest taken in the festival. But the names of Parepa-Rosa, Kellogg, Brignoli, Lefranc, Isabella McCulloch and a congregation of other brilliant artists cannot fail to bring together the largest assemblage ever seen at any musical festival in New York. As previously announced, the opening day will be Monday next, when some of the gems of the greatest composers will be performed. The entire programme, however, speaks for itself, and little need can be said in reference to it, except that it cannot fail to receive the cordial endorsement of those who love true art.

THE DISTINGUISHED VISITORS

will in all probability include President Grant and other military chieftains, together with several members of the Cabinet, while the Governors of several States have already notified the managers of their acceptance of the invitation to be present. Beautifully constructed balconies for the reception of distinguished guests are now in a fair way towards completion and will assuredly enhance the present aspect of the building. It is understood that the railroad and steamboat accommodations to be afforded will largely increase the attendance. In the city arrangements have been made for a suitable connection with most of the avenue cars with the belt Railroad, so that no inconvenience may be suffered by those residing at any great distance from the Coliseum.

THE FESTIVAL

will, it is confidently anticipated, be a great success. On the merits of the performance there can as yet, of course, be no judgment passed, but it is safe to predict that everything indicates a great musical triumph for the city. In the experienced hands of Mr. P. S. Gilmore and the other eminent conductors, including Carl Bergman, Dr. James Pech, Carl Zerrahn and Carl Rosa, a failure is next to impossible. Altogether a great musical event is at hand, and if carried out in the spirit the managers intend a permanent foundation will be laid for such great festivals in time to come.”

“The Beethoven Centennial celebration has now assumed such a definite shape that we can form an idea of its colossal proportions. Although not on the same gigantic scale as the Boston Jubilee, yet it promises to be of more artistic merit, considering the excellence of the materials congregated together at short notice by the management. There is not an artist worth knowing in America whose name may not be found on the programme.”

Notice that some of the music programmed for the festival can be purchased at Ditson for $.50.

“The following will give an idea of the magnitude of the Beethoven Festival in this city:—Handel and Haydn Society, of Boston, 500 voices, of which 236 are sopranos, 170 altos and 204 bassos [sic, these figures do not total 500]; Brooklyn Choral Union, 350; Salem, Mass., Oratorical Society, 300; Beethoven Choral Society, 100; New York Mendelssohn Union, 174; Associated Chorus of New York, 600; Newark Harmonic Society, 125; Plainfield Harmonic Union, 60; Waterbury Mendelssohn Society, 80; New Haven Harmonic Union, 180; Bridgeport Choral Union, 50; Bernard Stone Society, 40; Springfield, Mass., Mendelssohn Union, 160; Hartford Beethoven Society, 100; Worcester Choral Union, 200. The total number of societies which have offered their services give the following voices:—150 [sic] sopranos, 850 altos, 750 tenors, 1,050 bassos and 800 performers. In addition to these there will be about 400 visiting singers from different parts of the country, who will not be constantly present. The instrumental performers will, on special occasions, number 500, and for purposes of accompaniment about 200. There will also be fifty anvils and two batteries of artillery. A monster calliope will play outside of the building for the benefit of the public.”

Review of a service at the Broadway Tabernacle Church on 06/12/70, during which the pastor offered a sermon on the Biblical precedents for the Beethoven Centennial Festival.

“The Great Beethoven Festival.

The grand Beethoven Musical Festival will come to a conclusion to-day by an afternoon and an evening performance. The original design of the jubilee did not extend beyond last night, but it appears that the managers have been so far encouraged by the extraordinary success attending the enterprise that they have prolonged it for another day. In many respects it has indeed been a great success. The whole prominent artistic talent in the country, whether native or foreign, has had an opportunity, in the brief space of a few days, to invite the criticism of the public under every phase of musical display. In oratorio, in opera, in the strength and unity of the grandest choral effects ever conceived by the mightiest minds; in the richness and grandeur and delicacy of instrumentation, as well as in the masterly skill which guides the baton of the conductors and ministrates [sic] to make a harmonious whale of this vast mass of atoms of sound, the thousands who visited the Coliseum during the past week found something not only to enjoy, but to study and think about. The strains of the music will pass away, but the experience of what art can be made to accomplish will remain with the people after this grand effort has been completed.

The Festival has brought out all our best artists, and in a variety most charming. We had Parepa-Rosa delivering the solemn passages of Haydn’s ‘Creation’ magnificently, and in the lighter bits of opera as brilliantly as on the lyric stage. Kellogg, too, renewed in her audience the fervor of admiration which she always awakens. Madame Anna Bishop brought back some of the pleasantest memories of her familiar triumphs. Brignoli, of course, as delicious as ever in ‘I Lombardi,’ and ‘Trovatore’ and ‘Don Giovanni,’ and a host of others, from the German and English troupe, made a novel ensemble. We never had before, and may never see again, the same combination of foreign and native talent of the first order in the country upon the same stage. In this sense at least the great Beethoven Festival is a curiosity as well as a success.”

Prints a sermon given at Lyric Hall on 06/19/70 about Beethoven, music, and the Beethoven Centennial Festival.

“Rev. O. B. Frothingham…began by speaking of the Jubilee, which had occupied half the days and half the nights during the past week, and attracted thousands of people from all directions. There had been heard the marvelous symphonies and sonatas of Beethoven, the grand oratorios, and the songs and anthems of all the great masters. A celebration in honor of Beethoven in Summer was an anchronism [sic], but that mattered not, for though born in Winter and dying in Spring, he was a man of all the year, and the beauties and charms of every season found expression in his wonderful strains…”

“From every enterprise, whether resulting in success or failure, some noticeable fact is always evolved, important to the individual, to the many or to both; so after the thunder of the cannons, the crash of the anvils and the surge of the grand tonal wave from thousands of voices and instruments assisting at the late grand musical jubilee, this fact stands forward prominently, that Miss Clara Louise Kellogg was the unchallenged success and the crowning glory of the festival week. This young songstress, born in our midst and educated at home, with no foreign influence to win her from a loving allegiance to her native country, has steadily worked her way to the highest position in the operatic art—a position which she has maintained here against all opposition, and in London against Nilssen and other great artists who flock to that city during the fashionable season.

The musical quidnuncs who settle facts in art with wonderful precision long since decided, beyond dispute, that only grand dramatic voices could fill buildings of the magnitude of the Music Hall and Coliseum, of Boston, and the Rink, of this city. It was clear, then, that Miss Kellogg could not be heard in that large building in Third avenue [sic], put up for various purposes. Those who had cut their wisdom teeth said so, and so it must be. But American pluck was equal at least to the trial, and Miss Kellogg stood before some thousands of people and sent her voice forth, without effort, just as it was formed in her wonderful throat, to search out the farthest ends of the building. Bright, clear and pure, now flowing and throbbing, now brilliant and sobbing, taking its inflections from the changeful sentiments of the music, it rose dominant and pervading over chorus and orchestra, just as the song of the skylark in midair seems to burst from every quarter of the heavens, flooding space with boundless wealth of the divinest melody. A result so utterly unexpected, while it confounded the knowing ones, proved that, in the purity of production and not in immense volume, rests the secret of the carrying power of the voice.

The brilliant reception given to Miss Kellogg and the elegant audiences which marked the days of her performance point her out as the dominant attraction and as the one great and legitimate success of the great musical jubilee. Miss Kellogg is the acknowledged American representative of Italian Opera, asking no consideration for her birth, but competing on a level with the best foreign artists. For several years she has been the salvation of that mismanaged and bankrupt institution, and her good work has always been done at a pecuniary sacrifice. She has now assumed the leadership of the concert room, and will in the fall take her stand in the highest class of classical music, which has now no single interpreter in America. Miss Kellogg will have then but one more duty to pay the American people—namely, to sing in opera in their own language. She will then be truly the representative American singer, and fame and wealth will flow in upon her whom the people will delight to honor.”