Venue(s):
Young Men’s Christian Association Hall
Price: $1, including reserved
Performance Forces:
Instrumental, Vocal
Status:
Published
Last Updated:
6 February 2022
“The king of violinists, Ole Bull, will give a grand matinee concert at Association Hall on Saturday. His tour through the States has been of the most successful character and everywhere the magic of his violin drew willing listeners in crowds.”
Brief, does not mention this concert specifically: “Mr. J. J. Watson is writing a life of Ole Bull, and is now traveling with that gentleman gathering material.”
“Ole Bull is to have his life written by his agent, J. Jay Watson, who has been with him in Norway, and is now managing his concert tour.”
“Ole Bull is to give a concert on Saturday afternoon enxt. Alexander Bull is his manager. It ought to be a Bully affair.”
“The first to celebrate the return of festivities [after the Lenten season] is Ole Bull, who, in order to be awake betimes in the morning may be said to get up the day before, for he has a matinée concert at Association Hall this afternoon. He has just crossed the Continent, gathering gold and glory at all the cities on his route, and once or twice more, before he returns to Europe, he means to charm us with the witchery of his magic bow. The same artists who journeyed with him to California and back still compose his troupe—Miss Hattie Safford, soprano; Mr. William Macdonald, tenor, and Mr. Edward Hoffman, pianist. The second concert in this city will be next Saturday evening.”
The magnificent grand piano that will be used at the Ole Bull concert today, at the rooms of the Young Men’s Christian Association, is from the old house of Wm. Knabe & Co. It has an entirely new scale, and is a piano of surprising richness and brilliancy, and we are assured by prominent musical critics who are in a position to know, that it is one of the most perfect instruments ever listened to in a concert-room. Duplicates can be seen at the warerooms of the agents, J. Bauer & Co, No. 650 Broadway.—Express.”
“There will be après midi concert under the auspices of the Young Men’s Christian Association today, but, in its stead, and commencing at the regular hour, an entertainment by Mr. Ole Bull will be given. Mr. Ole Bull, whose great and genial talent remains unquestioned and undiminished, is to be assisted by Mr. McDonald, Mr. Hoffman and Miss Safford.”
“The promised après midi entertainment by Mr. Ole Bull and his troupe occurred at Association Hall yesterday. The artists with Mr. Bull were Messrs. McDonald and Hoffmann and Miss Safford. They are thoroughly well-known, and they interpreted no composition of sufficient novelty to reference, with respect to its own merits or to those of rendering. The eminent violinist’s most classical morceau was Tartini’s ‘Trille du Diable.’”
“This popular hall was crowded yesterday with a large and fashionable audience, principally composed of ladies. We never heard the king of the violin play better. First there came a movement from a concerto, then Tortini’s [sic] wierd-like [sic] ‘Devil’s Trill,’ and, lastly, one of the great violinist’s own compositions. There is something humanlike in the tone of Ole Bull’s playing, and we might say, also, birdlike, that no other violinist living can attain to; that we can only accord him the first place in the noble category of violinists. Miss Hattie Safford and Mr. William Macdonald, as soprano and tenor, made a success such as few vocalists in this city can boast of. A good soprano and tenor are rarities nowadays, but this lady and gentleman proved themselves exceptions to the general rule. Mr. Edward Hoffman played Harry Sanderson’s magnificent fantasia in ‘Rigoletto,’ and his own unequalled ‘Mocking Bird,’ in a style such as any pianist would be proud of. But Ole Bull was the feature of the concert. The audience hung on every note that came from his magic violin, and encores followed thick and fast. Nothing can be imagined greater than his poetry in the interpretation of the queen of instruments.”