Vocal and Instrumental Concert for the Benefit of the German Patriotic Aid Fund

Event Information

Venue(s):
Steinway Hall

Conductor(s):
Theodore Thomas [see also Thomas Orchestra]
Carl Bergmann
Agricol Paur

Price: $1; $1 extra for reserved seat

Performance Forces:
Instrumental, Vocal

Record Information

Status:
Published

Last Updated:
15 May 2023

Performance Date(s) and Time(s)

02 Oct 1870, 8:00 PM

Program Details

Orchestra composed of members of the Aeschenbroedel Society.

Performers and/or Works Performed

2)
aka Jubel overture; Jubilee
Composer(s): Weber
3)
Composer(s): Luther
Text Author: Luther
4)
Composer(s): Schumann
5)
aka O Perfido
Composer(s): Beethoven
6)
Composer(s): Reichardt [composer]
7)
aka Macht am Rhein; Guard on the Rhine; Watch on the Rhine; Watch upon the Rhine
Composer(s): Wilhelm
9)
Composer(s): Wagner
10)
Composer(s): Spohr
11)
Composer(s): Mulder
12)
Composer(s): Esser
Text Author: Seidel
13)
aka Roman triumph; Römischer Triumphgesang; Romischer Leichenfeier
Composer(s): Bruch

Citations

1)
Announcement: New-York Daily Tribune, 19 September 1870, 5.
2)
Announcement: New York Herald, 26 September 1870, 7.
3)
Announcement: New-York Times, 29 September 1870, 8.

For Monday, October 3.

4)
Announcement: New York Herald, 30 September 1870, 4.
5)
Advertisement: New-York Times, 30 September 1870, 7.
6)
Announcement: New-York Daily Tribune, 30 September 1870, 5.
7)
Announcement: New York Post, 01 October 1870, 2.
8)
Announcement: New-York Times, 01 October 1870, 5.

Includes program.

9)
Announcement: New-York Times, 02 October 1870, 5.
10)
Review: New-York Times, 03 October 1870, 4.

“Steinway Hall was crowded to suffocation last night, when the concert whereof the proceeds were devoted to the relief of the German wounded took place. We are not aware of the amount it produced, but this must have been large enough to satisfy the most ardent well-wishers for the comfort of the suffering. The entire gross receipts will be paid over to the German Aid Society, Messrs. Steinway contributing, with their usual liberality, the free use of the hall, and the Liederkranz, Arion and Aschenbroedel Societies defraying the minor and unavoidable expenses. These associates, besides, gave their services, the one last named including all the members of the Philharmonic, and, indeed, almost all the professional instrumentalists in the City. An orchestra one hundred and fifty strong supplied the music. The programme commenced with Weber’s ‘Jubilee Overture,’ which was magnificently executed. Martin Luther’s severe and grand choral, ‘Ein feste Burg is unser God,’ was then sung with faultless precision and expression by the Arion and Liederkranz Societies. Miss Mehlig next interpreted Schumann’s concerto in A minor, with full orchestral accompaniment, and recited the work amid an appreciation too general and real not to be unusually grateful to this very accomplished and modest artist. Miss Anna Rosetti would have been more prudent had she selected for rendering a less difficult and trying composition than Beethoven’s ‘Ah! perfido.’ The choice resulted in revealing a voice of some power, and of better quality in the lower register than that of many sopranos, but not remarkable for richness or for firmness. Miss Rosetti was of course deficient in the breadth of style needed for the recitative, and, in fact, the task—of which we are not disposed to underrate the magnitude—proved too great, though a recall marked its faithful accomplishment in a technical sense. The first part of the programme was ended with the singing of ‘Was ist des Deutschen Vaterland,’ and of ‘Die Wacht am Rhein.’ It is to be regretted that in the case of both pieces, and especially in that of the former, the brass completely overpowered the voices, and reduced the tenors to a degree of availability equivalent almost to absence. The simple but strong progressions of the first verses of the work would have been infinitely more inspiriting had they been heard without the conventional burst of trumpets and boom of bass drum, and we can readily imagine the bettered impression had they been sung, last night, with as little accompaniment, even, as when they rose, not many weeks ago, from a hundred thousand throats under the linden trees of Berlin.—The second part of the bill was begun with a very fine recital of the overture to Wagner’s ‘Rienzi.’ The grand duo from Spohr’s ‘Jessonda,’ by Messrs. Candidus and Remmertz; Mulder’s ‘Die Bitter an die Sterne,’ and the same composer’s bravura variations, by Miss Rosetti; Esser’s ‘Die Tote Soldat,’ by Mr. Frederick Steins; and Bruch’s ‘Roman Triumphal Song,’ by the chorus and orchestra, constituted the remainder.”

11)
Announcement: New York Clipper, 08 October 1870, 214.