Philharmonic Society of New York Concert

“The Philharmonic Society gave the first concert of their thirtieth season at the Academy of Music on Saturday night. The programme consisted of the following works [see above].

The lovely pastoral symphony has become so familiar to the musical public of the metropolis that few works of the Philharmonic repertoire are received with a more hearty welcome, especially since the orchestra have played it so often as to be almost letter perfect in it. This was satisfactorily demonstrated on Saturday night, and the performance gave much pleasure to the audience. Wagner’s work is exceedingly noisy, and of the disjointed character that distinguished the compositions of the concocters of ‘the music of the future,’ which future, we trust, is a long way off. On the occasion of its first performance in this city many years ago, when poor Anschutz attempted it at the Germania Assembly Rooms, we expressed an opinion of this work, and now we see no reason to change it. Coming after the pastoral symphony Wagner was a hard dose for a musician to swallow. The new pianist, Mr. Pruckner, made a very favorable impression by his clear, intelligent rendering of the concerto. His phrasing and touch are of a superior standard of excellence to many of our most noted pianists here, and the familiarity he evinced with the two works he played, even in the minutest details, gave evidence of long and painstaking study. The main defect in his playing is a want of power such as that with which Mills electrifies his hearers, and a certain monotony which is caused by an inability to color his style of rendition with requisite gradations of light and shade. This caused the concerto to be marred with an absence of variety of expression, or in other words to become very tiresome. Perhaps after another hearing and in a building less calculated to destroy the tone of a grand piano than the Academy, Mr. Pruckner will be able to gain the position among our pianists that his friends claim for him. Mrs. Gulager has been hitherto known to the public as an agreeable amateur singer, and, as a Philharmonic audience generally expects a higher standard of merit from a soloist, we are constrained to say that her performance on Saturday night was not a success. The following orchestral works will be performed at the second concert…Whoever wrote the short analysis of Wagner’s overture, which appeared on the last page of the programme of the first concert succeeded in ‘making confusion worse confounded.’”

“The Philharmonic concert at the Academy of Music, last evening, was quite numerously attended. But the house was not crowded. The programme and the soloists were not so attractive that a different result could be anticipated. No fresh pieces were executed by the orchestra, and neither Herr Pruckner’s performance, nor Mrs. Gulager’s, was actually notable. The programme ran thus [see above].

The most pleasant feature of the affair was the opening symphony. The magnificent combination of pictorial and suggestive music was never recited with greater sensibility or perfection. The introduction to ‘Die Meistersinger’ was next in order of interest. In form, in fashion of themes, and in treatment, the vorspiel bears no slight resemblance to the prefaces to ‘Tannhäuser’ and ‘Rienzi.’ It lacks, however, the grand passages of the former composition and the rich and varied color of the latter. For the admirers of programme-music, a very fair analysis of the overture was appended to the bill. ‘Mastersong-Minnesong,’ it tells us, ‘the majestic, venerable Guild, the spontaneous, blooming element of the Love-song, of ever youthful poesy—these form the subject of this introduction, in which they are brought out in relief, and as it were transfigured by the genius of a true master of art. The three principal themes, the Mastersinger’s melody in both its parts, and that of the Minnesingers, enter successfully, and at last, each preserving its characteristic coloring, are intermingled, forming the most intricate harmonic combinations. But the skill of the master conquers all difficulties, allays the seeming strife of dissonances, and exhibits to us the final triumph of the young Minnesinger, the hero of the poem. The two-fold melody of the Mastersingers, sharply outlined and of a pompous character, struts proudly before us with a consciousness of its dignity, embodying in its majestic, resolute and measured step, the spirit of the members of that ancient Guild, who are thus vividly represented to us as they felt and acted in the singing school, and in their intercourse with others. The melodic motive of the Love-song, (Minnelied), representing the youthful element, runs through the whole like a shining thread.’ Of the two soloists, Herr Pruckner bore off the honors. The gentleman’s playing denotes thoughtfulness and taste, and his delivery is correct and fluent. But it is deficient in vigor and brilliancy, and consequently in variety. This command of the technique of the instrument is, of course, thorough. No one could interpret in a manner more deserving of respect the long and exacting concerto, and Liszt’s arrangement of Weber’s polonaise, which the modern pianist has overlaid with ornamentation and crammed with difficulties to poor purpose. Mrs. Gulager is a skilled amateur with a sympathetic voice. Concerts of the Philharmonic Society, however, ought to have the co-operation of accomplished artists only.”

“Mr. Pruckner, a new pianist from Wurtemberg, made his first appearance here, playing Beethoven’s E flat concerto with much taste and delicacy. The concert began promptly at the promised hour, and the attendance was, as usual, very large.”

“The opening of the Philharmonic season is always an event of remarkable interest in the musical circles of New-York, and the Academy of Music was consequently crowded on Saturday evening with an audience of excellent quality and of more than of average critical acuteness. Mr. Bergmann was in his place promptly; the concert opened precisely at the advertised hour; and late comers, of whom there were some hundreds, were civilly required to wait at the doors until the first pause in the music. This excellent arrangement we trust will be persevered in. Not many changes have been made in the composition of the orchestra. Mr. Matzka lays aside his viola to take the first violin in place of Mr. Noll; Mr. Metsch appears among the trombone players, and Mr. Diaz among the trumpeters. The principal specialists whom we have known of past years—Bergner, Brannes, Liesegang, Pfeiffenschneider, Rehder, Rietzel, Ohlemann, Boehm, Sohst—are all in their accustomed places.

The programme for the first concert was as follows [see above].

This was a good programme, but we cannot give unqualified praise to the performance. The Pastoral Symphony lacked both the precision and delicacy which we had reason to expect in the interpretation of so familiar a work, and in the first half of the third movement—the festive passage which precedes the famous storm picture—the deficiencies of the orchestra were especially apparent. The chief fault seemed to be with the horns. In the subsequent selections there was less opportunity for criticism, Wagner’s Vorspiel being given with the necessary fullness of tone and breadth of effect, and the fine Schumann overture being in general creditable. At the opening of a season, however, an orchestra, whose members have necessarily done more or less rough and imperfect work during the long vacation, is never in very good trim, and some week’s practice is needed to bring it up to its standard excellence. The Vorspiel to ‘Die Meistersinger,’ though not heard on this occasion for the first time, was a novelty. It was introduced to the American public by Theodore Thomas about three years ago, and we have no recollection of its having been performed since that time. To the average listener it will always seem drier than most of Wagner’s orchestral writing, but to the musician it presents some interesting studies in the creation and resolution of contrapuntal difficulties, arising out of the simultaneous treatment of three distinct themes.

Herr Pruckner, who made his first appearance in America in this concert, is a pianist and scholar of excellent repute in Germany, a pupil of Liszt’s, and professor in the Musikschuleof Stuttgardt. His technique is excellent, his touch delicate and clear, and his style refined. He plays with a nice appreciation of the nuances of a composition, and with quite enough sentiment. His defect is lack of force. Hence his performance is somewhat colorless, and in such a large hall as the Academy of Music is often ineffective. In a small concert room it would be liked better.

Mrs. Gulager is a church singer of some repute; but at a Philharmonic concert she was out of place. It will be a subject of general regret if the Directors of the Society allow the tone of these concerts to be lowered by the introduction of mediocre solos, such as have been unfortunately too common during the past two years. An invitation to sing at the Philharmonic has hitherto been looked upon as a high compliment, but it will be so no longer if it is to be indiscriminately extended. There are not more than five or six vocalists in the country to whom such an invitation could be worthily given—Madame Parepa-Rosa, for instance, Mr. Santley, Miss Nilsson, Miss Kellogg, and Miss Adelaide Phillipps. If we cannot have the best, let us have none at all.”