Berger Family of Swiss Bell Ringers

“Magnificent chime of 150 Swiss bells. Staff of 34 pure silver bells. Parlor orchestra and silver cornet band, the principal members of which are young ladies.”

Names of members of the troupe and instruments.

Lists members of the Berger troupe.

“Lina Edwin’s Theatre.—The Berger family of Swiss Bell Ringers presented an excellent entertainment last evening at this theatre. Their programme embraced a variety of selections, which were executed with great professional skill by the different members of this talented family. Miss Anna Berger, a young lady remarkable for her prettiness and modesty of mien, performed a solo and delighted the audience with the harmonious jingle of the bells. She was twice recalled. The other members are equally deserving of praise. Mr. Sol Smith Russell sang several funny songs and ballads, and reaped a rich harvest of merriment.”

“There was a large audience at Lina Edwin’s Theatre, last evening, and the merry entertainment given by the Berger Family of Swiss Bell-Ringers was greatly enjoyed. It is just suited to the season.” 

“There is to all imaginative people a certain fascination in bells. In some way or other, the thing, or its sound, or its name, or its association, get curiously mixed up with a large share of our most poetic memories and tenderest feelings. As the middle age expended its wealth of its religious devotion on their construction, modern art and poetry have most liberally used them in ornament and illustration; and Schiller, Retz, Moore, Poe and countless others have owed to them the silvery or sonorous resonance of their verse, or the grand sweep and flow of their outlines.

What visions of cool, sparkling green caverns, of coral groves, and fantastic submarine monsters and sunken treasure, and ghastly drowned horrors and long-haired singing mermaids—all dwell in the thought of the diving bell! What whiff from sunny fields and smiling hillsides breathes on us in the very name of the hare-bell or the blue-bell! Who that has lingered in foreign lands can hear of a bell-tower without pleasant visions of the noble spire of Strasburg or the chaste yet dazzling beauty of Giotto’s Campanile? And who, having once seen the glories of Swiss or Tyrolean snow-peaks, can hear the hoarse tinkle of a common cow-bell without recalling the warm spicy odor of Alpine pastures and the faint melodious chime of clustering herds.

It may be some or all of these fanciful associations which add such a singular charm to the rather trite form of entertainments known as Swiss Bell-Ringers. But something of the simple amazement of our youthful days, perhaps, still hangs about our riper judgment. The unspoiled auditor will find great pleasure in listening to the rich, soft, vibratory tones of the silver bells, so deftly wielded by the Bergers, or in watching the curious quickness, yet coolness and precision, with which the various performers seize their instruments and the note at the right instant. They play on many instruments, two [sic]. Each of the slight but active looking girls on the stage is a sort of ambulant orchestra in herself alone. Mr. Sol Smith Russell, also, is funny and elastic of feature, and the cornet and harp playing are pleasant if rather thin amusement for a warm evening. But the distinctive and really fascinating feature of this entertainment is after all the one which gives a name to the whole, and the lover of popular melodies will find in them a new charm as interpreted by these skillful but modest young people with their silver chimes.”

”The Berger Family of vocalists, instrumental performers and Swiss Bell Ringers, commenced a brief summer season at Lina Edwin’s Theatre July 10^th . Their performances are varied and pleasing, and gave evidence of much musical cultivation. The evening’s entertainment commenced with the performance of a medley of Scotch airs with the bells, the performers being three ladies and three gentlemen. The bells were skillfully manipulated, and their soft, musical tones fell upon the ear as pleasantly as the rippling of a distant brook upon a summer’s day. A. J. Whitcomb then performed several popular airs upon the harp, in a masterly manner, and E. M. Dudley, a baritone, sang “In Happy Moments,’ with pleasing effect. He possesses a good voice of considerable power and cultivation. Miss Anna Berger then performed a solo upon the cornet, which was rapturously applauded. Miss Henrietta Berger, a miss of some fourteen or fifteen summers, with a pretty face and merry dancing eyes, performed staff bell soli—‘Annen Polka,’ and the ‘[illegible] Bells of Scotland,’ which evinced great dexterity and precision in manipulation, and drew forth from the audience loud and prolonged expressions of their approbation. Sol. Smith Russell, a character singer and facial artist, then sang a comic song, which was encored, and, in response, gave a fresh one, which was likewise favorably received and was likewise encored. Mr. Russell possesses a wonderful control over the muscles of his face, and his rapid changes of countenance are quickly and pleasantly effected. He is a good singer and has made a genuine hit. The Misses Louise and Henrietta Berger then performed with the bells a duet medley, which for softness and delicacy of expression deserved high praise. Miss Maud Stanley sang a ballad entitled ‘Waiting,’ which met with favor from the audience. She has a soprano voice, sweet and pure in tone, powerful and very clear in the upper register. The first part concluded with a Swiss bell fantasia, introducing a solo upon the bass bells performed by Fred. Berger, who handled these somewhat bulky objects with great dexterity. After a brief intermission, the concluding portion of the entertainment was opened with the performance of an overture entitled ‘Poet and Peasant,’ by the Parlor Orchestra—Miss Anna Berger and Fred. Berger, violins; Louise Berger, violoncello; -- Berger, flute; and Miss Henrietta Berger, base [sic] horn which was well performed. The three Berger sisters and Miss Maud Stanley then performed a selection on brass instruments, during the execution of which Miss Louise Berger performed a solo on the slide trombone. This performance was loudly re-demanded and pleasantly accorded. Sol Smith Russell, in character, delivered a humorous lecture on Women’s Rights, which was entirely fresh and witty. His make up was excellent and his embodiment of the idiosyncrasies of the fair sex denoted close study thereof. He afterwards, in character, gave a very natural impersonation of a school boy singing a ballad at a school exhibition, in which he was highly successful. The lavish and long continued applause bestowed by the audience upon both these impersonations attested their artistic excellence. Succeeding this came a medley of popular airs upon the Swiss bells by the Berger Family, giving place to a duet, ‘I Wandered in Dreams,’ which was sung in a charming manner by Miss Maud Stanley and E. M. Dudley. The performance coincided with a quickstep by the Silver Cornet Band, J. H. Gardner, leader, all the ladies of the troupe playing silver instruments, which met with approbation. As many troupes possessing only mediocre talent with stale attractions often come to the metropolis during the summer months, the advent of a company whose name is not familiar to the public is apt to be regarded with suspicion, but we are happy to record that the one under consideration is an exception to this rule. The entertainment is both novel and excellent, and every performer who appears is first class, and we unhesitatingly pronounce it one of the best organizations of its kind that we have ever heard. Considering the high temperature which has prevailed during the past week the attendance has been excellent.” 

“A very pleasing entertainment is that of the Berger family, now in tenancy of Lina Edwin’s Theatre. The laughable songs and impersonations of Mr. S. S. Russell excepted, the performance is made up of music, contributed, as to the instrumental selections, by the Bergers, and by Miss Maud Stanley as to the vocal part. A varied programme is capitally interpreted by these artists, and the execution of solos and concerted pieces by means of deftly-handled silvern bells is exceedingly skillful and charmingly effective in its results.”