Thomas Orchestra Farewell Concert

“Despite the inclement weather Saturday evening, and the ‘beautiful’ snow that drifted incessantly through the streets, there was a much larger attendance at Steinway Hall, on the occasion of Thomas’ farewell concert, than on Friday evening. It was gratifying to every lover of music to find that the New York public would not allow the first orchestra and the first conductor in America to depart without bidding them a hearty Godspeed. The audience was fashionable, too, of the old Philharmonic standard, and breathless in its attention to the delicious morceaux in the bill. Here is what they heard [lists program].

 

In this programme Mr. Thomas gives as much music as any other orchestra would give in three months. The pastoral symphony has never been played better. Even those delicate titbits for the wind instruments were given faultlessly, and the broad, fresh joyousness that pervades the work seemed to fill the entire orchestra. The andante and scherzo, those scintillations of immortal genius, were not robbed of a single ray of light or line of beauty, but were delivered by the orchestra in a style which deserves the high title of perfection. At length we have heard an orchestra in America that can give a perfect pianissimo, a perfect trill and perfect unanimity of expression. The other Beethoven work, the septette, was a work which we cannot hope to enjoy again until the return of this orchestra. It was loudly redemanded, but, owing to the magnitude of the bill, Mr. Thomas was compelled to decline the encore. Miss Mehlig outshone herself in the charming selection from Chopin. Her rendering was simply poetry, and that in the highest and purest sense of the word. The lovely phrases dropped from her fingers like diamonds, each sharp, clear, distinct and intelligible, and each flashing back the rays of genius that emanated from the poetic brain of the Polish composer. How beautiful fell those light, scintillating passages on the principal melodic figure in the rondo, and how the expression of the romanza became now radiant with light and now full of tender pathos! The instrumentation of the concerto is of a nature that mars much of the beauty of the piano part, especially in the romanza. A striking contrast to this was the rugged grandeur of the ‘Hexameron,’ in which six different composers have piled Pelion upon Ossa in an arrangement of ‘Suona la Tromba.’ Poor Bellini would be astonished at the proportions his work assumes in this transcription, and we doubt if any other pianists here can be found, outside of Mills and Mehlig, who would venture to play the queer-looking manuscript that embodies this transcription. We have spoken often before of ‘The Preludes’ and Wagner’s work, and need only say that they received full justice at the hands of the orchestra and the admirable conductor. Mr. Thomas’ reception at the concert was so hearty and enthusiastic that it should encourage him to visit New York again at an early date.”

“No event of the season has created such a marked sensation as the two recent performances of Theodore Thomas’s orchestra at Steinway Hall. Criticism is silent. Eulogy exhausts its resources in praising the admirable playing of the tuneful band; and our amateurs discover that the best orchestra in the country is travelling around from town to town giving concerts, of which any metropolis might well feel proud. Mr. Thomas has, moreover, hit the happy medium in his selections, and while never departing from the prescribed limits of recognized art, he succeeds in forming programmes which are sure to please the average listener.

 

We have already spoken of Friday’s concert. That of Saturday night was equally enjoyable, with perhaps the exception of a rather incomprehensible ‘Faust’ overture by Wagner. A septet by Beethoven (Op. 20), for clarionets, bassoons, horns and the entire string orchestra, gave the greatest possible satisfaction; and the ‘Preludes’ of Liszt, so often interpreted by this orchestra, proved a magnificent performance.

 

Miss Mehlig was the pianist of the occasion, and played a concerto by Chopin; and with Mr. Mills the well-known ‘Hexameron’ duet, by Liszt, which has attracted so much attention. In this work Liszt has taken two melodious themes from Bellini’s ‘Puritani,’ and worked them up into a duet for two pianos. Vast digital strength is required to suitably interpret this composition, which, as played by Mehlig and Mills, shows to wonderful advantage the power and brilliancy of the Steinway pianos.”

Portions of this review are extremely difficult to read.

 

“If we tell the plain, unvarnished truth about the two concerts which Mr. Theodore Thomas has just given at Steinway Hall, we shall, no doubt, be accused (by those who were not so fortunate as to [illeg.]) of extravagant enthusiasm. But it is not easy to write of such performances without betraying all the exultation of spirit. They were [illeg.] in the selection of programme and so perfect in the execution that the orchestra [illegible] of criticism seems too cold for the occasion. To the entertainment of Friday evening we have already paid our tribute of praise. That of Saturday was even better than its predecessor. The programme was [lists program].

 

We have no hesitation in pronouncing the performance of the Pastorale Symphony one of the best ever given in this city. The very music of nature seemed to sing through that beautiful orchestra, and every player is [illeg.] inspiration of these performances of the works, the [illeg.], and the tuneful [illeg.], which the great maestro introduced so wonderfully in this delicious symphony. The andante and allegro were indescribably beautiful. Here the extraordinary sympathy which has grown up among the members of Mr. Thomas’s company was at [illeg.] apparent, and we say the immense difference between a permanent orchestra like his and an organization of even the most accomplished who meet only at comparatively rare intervals. The grandeur of Wagner’s impressive overture, and the strange splendor and [illegible] drama of Liszt’s ‘Preludes’ were becomingly interpreted and showed especially how rich and smooth the brasses are in this company; but the technical excellence of the orchestra was illustrated best of all in the ‘Les Preludes,’ in fact. In this piece there are some [illeg.] and [illeg.], to be executed by all the violins together, and [illeg.] in them the variation of a fraction [remainder of sentence illeg.]. Such precision is hardly less than wonderful. Naturally the two performances of last week have provided a great many comparisons between Thomas and Bergmann. They are [illegible] and generally unjust. The Philharmonic Society has been doing splendid work for years past, and was never in better trim and [illegible] managed than it is at present. There is hardly ever an opportunity for [illegible (three words?)] with its concerts, [illeg. (five words?)] is far superior to anything [illeg.] Austria, and probably not surpassed by anything in Europe. It [illegible] and patient study to every work that it produces; and in execution it is able, owing greatly to its great size and partly to the [illeg.] of its Conductor, to attain a certain [illeg.], impressiveness, and high coloring, which we do not find elsewhere. Mr. Thomas, however, has one peculiar and [illeg.] advantage. His men play together under his direction every night, and they play only with him and with each other. The importance of this incessant practice under a specially intelligent, cultivated and energetic leader, can hardly be overestimated. It is not enough to say that his orchestra rehearses often; it rehearses all the time.

 

It is rather a strange fortune that two such extraordinary pianists [illeg.] be heard in New York on the same day as Miss Mehlig and Miss Krebs. In the case of these artists, also, the tendency to draw parallels during the [illeg.] week has been almost irresistible. Every musician declares that the two young [artists?] both [illeg.] marvels, but so different that a comparison is impossible, [illeg.] having [illeg.] every man proceeds to make a comparison to the best of his ability. If we are [illegible] which we prefer, we answer as Mendelssohn did when somebody asked which was the favorite of Beethoven’s nine great symphonies; it depended entirely upon his own state of mind at the moment he heard them; one suits one mood, another suits another. Miss Krebs’ whole soul is filled with music; she plays as a bird sings, because she cannot help it. The music bursts forth like a perennial spring, now and then perhaps overflowing its proper bounds, and pouring out its sparkling flood with a little too much impetuosity; but so pure, so [illeg.], so bright, so refreshing, that he must be an ungrateful child who complains that the torrent is too rapid or too [illeg.]. The most remarkable characteristic of Miss Mehlig’s playing—apart from its perfect technical correctness—is its rare combination of poetic feeling and intellectuality. It is the product of a deeply sensitive nature cultivated to the very utmost by study and patience, and ripened by a few more years of mental expediency than her sister artist has yet enjoyed. The younger is all passion and fire; the elder the personification of tenderness and grace. We felt these exquisite gifts on Saturday night in her playing of the romanza from Chopin’s great concerto in E minor, and, to a somewhat [illeg.] degree, in the rondo. The ‘Hexameron’ with Mr. Mills, was effective as it always is, and the two performers kept together with marvelous exactness.

 

Despite the storm, the hall was crowded with an audience of the very best quality, and their enthusiasm was cheerful to witness. After the Beethoven septette Mr. Thomas was twice called out, with vociferations from the gallery and a storm of applause from the floor; but he gracefully transferred to his orchestra the compliment which was paid him. He goes away now on another tour, with his band of musical missionaries and has the satisfaction of knowing that at last he is appreciated in his own city. Whenever he comes back he will be cordially greeted.”

“Theo. Thomas visited us last week, after a long absence, and gave two fine concerts. At the first… The second (Jan. 28) was a grand symphony concert, with this programme [lists program].

 

The orchestra played superbly, and so did Miss Mehlig. The audience was a large, orderly and attentive one. These are the only concerts which can be given by Theo. Thomas here this winter. He will of course return in the spring to Central Park Garden.”