Mr. Bergner’s Annual Concert

“The concert of Mr. Bergner last evening at Association Hall will long be remembered as a musical entertainment of an unusually high order, both as regards the music itself and the truly artistic manner in which it was rendered by all the artists.

The audience, too, felt the inspiration of the occasion, and applauded earnestly and discriminatingly. The hall was sufficiently well filled by an intelligent and music-loving assembly to impart a glow of enthusiasm to the artists, and to kindle that vital fire in them without which their efforts are but the cold display of a musical mechanism.

The Quartet in G, No. 1, by Mozart, was played faultlessly by Messrs. Matzka, Schuessele, Schwartz and Bergner. It would be difficult for two violins, a viola and violoncello to give greater breadth, force, mellowness and harmony to any piece. The performance embodied clearly, distinctly, and in its most delicate shadings, the beautiful work of the great composer.

Who has risen more rapidly or more deservedly in popular favor than Mrs. Gulager? Her grand aria, ‘O luce di quest anima,’ from ‘Linda,’ last evening, was in every way worthy of the voice and method of Miss Nilsson or Miss Kellogg. To a training excellent in itself, to a taste purely inborn, she adds a sweet timbre and a very elastic voice, with which she charmed her audience.

Miss Krebs has now such a well-defined position as an artist that all musical people are well aware of her great merits. Her Fantasie on themes from ‘Rigoletto,’ and (on a recall) her ‘Home, Sweet Home,’ were so brilliant, tasteful and artistic last evening as to place her ability beyond all cavil. Every note was so distinct, so individual in itself, that when drawn together with its associates a flood of harmony and melody was the beautiful result. She is a very gifted artist, and her fingers glide over the keys as gracefully as the wing of the bird beats the air.

Mr. Bergner gave the ‘Souvenir de Spa,’ by Servour, a charming composition, full of dreamy, tender emotions, which swelled out as witchingly from the violoncello as from the heart of the composer himself. The playing of Mr. Bergner is a perfect combination of matured practice, cultivated taste, and a nature wedded to the necromancy of musical sounds.

Mrs. Gulager’s aria, ‘The Nightingale’s Trill,’ was so effective as to have her recalled, when the applause of the audience was laid to rest by a plaintive melody which haunts our memory still. Mrs. Gulager is a true acquisition to the concert room, and her presence there must always be welcome.

The sonata in A by Beethoven was rendered by Miss Krebs and Mr. Bergner in the most effective and masterly way. In every part the great soul of Beethoven could be traced in streams of inimitable harmony and melody. The musical majesty of the composer was well sustained by the interpreters, and both Miss Krebs and Mr. Bergner achieved a striking triumph.

A concert such as this is a credit to our local talent, as well as to the growth of musical taste in our city. Let us have more of such refined and refining entertainments, and no taunts can be made against our musical appreciation.”