Vocal and Instrumental Concert

“…testifying to the increased precision of the recitals of the instrumentalists, and to the increased pleasure later hearings of so gifted baritone as Herr Mueller have afforded.”

“The first season in this city of this novel and interesting musical organization is now drawing to a close. Only three nights remain, as on Thursday the young ladies pay a visit to Brooklyn. They have been received with undoubted favor by the metropolitan public and showed a marked improvement in each performance. Their programme last night comprised some of the best selections of Strauss and a very pretty arrangement of Schubert’s ‘Wanderer.’ The appearance of ladies in an orchestra, which has hitherto been the exclusive province of the sterner sex, is a subject calculated to excite discussion and attract the attention of all musicians. The result has proved favorable, as the ladies have exhibited a rare delicacy and grace in their management of the various instruments that compensated to a great extent for their want of power. In a smaller hall than Steinway’s the effect would be more decided, and the absence of brass instruments would not be so much felt. The experiment has, however, solved the problem which might perplex the advocates of woman’s rights—whether the gentler sex can take the place of those horribly stupid-looking people from avenue C, who generally make up the rank and file of an orchestra. The young prima donna, Mlle. Elzer, has already become a real favorite. Her fine, sympathetic, highly cultivated voice, and broad, dramatic school of singing, appeals alike to the critic and the public. If her histrionic abilities in course of time prove equal to her vocal she must be a valuable addition to the opera, as we have but few prime donne of that school on the stage at present. A finer baritone than Herr Müller has not been heard on our boards in many years, and it is only a pity that he cannot have an opportunity of displaying his talents on the operatic stage this season.”   

“The spectacle is a curious one, and much of the music by the orchestra is cleverly recited, though it has too little body, so to speak, to be at all admirable. Miss Elzer sings as usual, and the superb voice of Mr. Mueller causes one to anticipate with regret the baritone’s departure on a Winter tour.”