Symphony and Popular Concert: Extra Concert

Includes programme; benefit of Marie Krebs.

“The series of symphony concerts commenced at Steinway Hall on Monday by Mr. Thomas, was ended with a performance by which Miss Marie Krebs benefited, last evening. The audience was not so large as it ought to have been, but its evident interest in the recital and its enthusiasm went far toward compensating the artists for the thinness of numbers. Miss Krebs contributed to the entertainment [see above]. The lady executed Litolff’s work, in two movements, on Wednesday, but yesterday’s interpretation was much superior to that preceding it, and the second movement, a scherzo, was played with exceptional dash and brilliancy. Miss Krebs is hardly equal to Liszt’s composition, which tries one’s patience less than the concerto in A, but which invites the performer to almost as complete a waste of skill and energy. The polonaise could only have been improved upon by a variety of phrasing and a brio, for which Miss Krebs’ labors are scarcely ever distinguished; in point of intelligent reading and technique nothing could be better than her delivery of that charming production. The principal orchestral pieces were [see above]. The composer of the symphony, if he is not to be credited with fecundity of ideas, can at least be praised for not introducing ridiculous effects as a result of a search for startling combinations. The adagio of the symphony is suave and elegant, but the motive of the second movement, a scherzo, is exceedingly trivial. The ‘Introduction and March,’ by M. Dachauer, who is already known to the public by a very felicitous setting of the spinning- song from ‘Faust,’ which was part of a Philharmonic programme last year, is clearly from the pen of an accomplished musician, to whom none of the resources of an orchestra are concealed. In the division and alternation of the masses, as well as in many details of the scoring, the influence of Wagner—a worthier influence could not be desired—are perceptible. The broad and well-defined theme of the march is cleverly handled by M. Dachauer, who intends, we believe, to further elaborate his treatment of his subjects. The composition was much applauded. In addition to the foregoing, Mr. Thomas’ men rendered [see above.].”

“At Steinway Hall on Saturday evening Miss Krebs took a benefit, assisted by the celebrated orchestra of Mr. Thomas. This concert will long be remembered by the large and attentive audience which assembled to enjoy it. The fact of its being the farewell concert prior to the company’s departure for the South gave it a sympathetic interest seldom evinced for any body of artists.

What with the musical superiority of Mr. Thomas’s selections, the perfection of their execution, and the earnest devotion of each performer to the part assigned him, these concerts have become models of their class, and very effective in educating the musical taste of our citizens. Our southern friends cannot fail to appreciate the musical feast in store for them, as the reputation of Mr. Thomas and his artists has long since passed the boundaries of our own metropolis and become national.

Weber’s overture ‘Euryanthe’ opened the evening’s entertainment, and was received with the homage so richly due its excellent execution. The ‘Ocean Symphony’ of Rubinstein followed, with its exuberant coloring of sound and delicacy of structure, to which the orchestra did full justice. Mr. L. Dachauer’s ‘Introduction and Triumphal March’ received a masterly treatment from Mr. Thomas. With many excellent parts, as a whole it may be considered the blossom rather than the fruit of its promising young composer. The ‘Allegretto’ of the Eighth Symphony of Beethoven reached the heart and understanding of every listener, as its voluminous melody and harmony inspired the happy efforts of the performers. For this Mr. Thomas was enthusiastically recalled, and could only subdue the repeated applause of the audience by giving them another selection which may well be called the musical twin sister of Beethoven’s beautiful creation. Mr. Joseph Diem’s beautiful violoncello solo was very favorably received, and provoked general applause. As a natural consequence of youth, and marked artistic merit giving most undoubted signs of a great artistic future, Miss Krebs was the luminous star of the evening, upon whom all eyes were wistfully fixed. The first glimpse obtained of her by the audience was the signal for the most hearty applause, giving to the young artist the most solid testimony of their good-will and intelligent appreciation.

Liszt’s ‘Concerto’ was Miss Krebs’s first introduction to her hearers. The sustained power of execution, and the dexterity with which she winged her way through this difficult composition, bore testimony to her severe study and musical aptitude. Though woven into an orchestral framework, she never lost her artistic distinctness. At the conclusion of this piece she was honored with a profusion of flowers. The execution of Chopin’s ‘Polonaise, A flat’ was another great triumph for the young artist. Into the magnetism of this inimitable piece, into the beautiful network of its feeling and emotion, Miss Krebs entered with the inspired ability of an intelligent disciple determined to unlock the sacred treasures of the master. The lady’s felicitous success was cordially recognised by another floral offering, greatly surpassing the first in richness of quality and diversity of form. Litolff’s ‘Concerto Symphonique’ was the concluding effort of Miss Krebs, who, together with the aid of the orchestra, left an impression upon her hearers which is not likely to be effaced.

To deny musical expression to Miss Krebs is to misunderstand the thoughtful, masculine and healthy quality of German music. Those, therefore, whose natures are pared down to the weak and sickly sentimentalism of a certain class of compositions, can never ascend into the bracing musical atmosphere of the land of Goethe and Schiller.”