Soirée of Chamber Music: 1st

“The first of five musical entertainments was given last night at Steinway Hall by Dr. Leopold Damrosch and Dionys Prückner, assisted by Mrs. Helene Damrosch and Mr. F. Bergner. The audience was large, fashionable and strictly musical. The selections were nearly all made from the more celebrated German composers, and were executed in the most finished and masterly manner.

Mrs. Damrosch has a mezzo-soprano voice, highly cultivated, and is a very pleasing artist. She added much to the interest of the entertainment, and was graciously received and applauded. Mr. Damrosch distinguished himself, as usual, on the violin and gave decided satisfaction to his hearers. Mr. Prückner is a well-instructed pianist, a faithful and effective executant and thoroughly conversant with the highest order of music. Mr. F. Bergner is one of our best violoncellists, and was heard to great advantage in the beautiful trio from Schubert.

At these entertainments the best class of music will be given as effectively as possible by the piano, violin and violoncello, under the hands of the three accomplished artists above named. We hope our citizens will avail themselves of this unusual opportunity to familiarize themselves with the master-pieces of the most classic composers.”

Review: New-York Daily Tribune, 25 January 1872, 3.

“Dr. Damrosch and Herr Pruckner began on Monday evening their series of Chamber Music concerts at Steinway’s smaller Hall, and it is agreeable to know that the room was entirely filled by an excellent and most enthusiastic audience. It was indeed an excellent concert, which fully justified the applause bestowed upon it. The two gentlemen in whose name it was given are artists of culture and feeling, and Herr Pruckner made a much more favorable impression in a small room and with music adapted to a small audience than when he played against the Philharmonic orchestra in the Academy of Music. The entertainment on Monday opened with Beethoven’s Sonata in G major for piano and violin, and included, for the same instruments, a sonata of Raff’s in E minor. Both were admirably performed, and the adagio in the latter was as fine a piece of work as we have ever heard in a concert of this description. Messrs. Damrosch and Pruckner have acquired a degree of mutual sympathy which commonly results only from long practice. This was strikingly illustrated in the last piece on the programme, Schubert’s Trio in B flat, for piano, violin, and violoncello, in which they had the assistance of Mr. Bergner. A more superb performance could hardly be desired, and the close was greeted with a general outburst of admiration. Mrs. Helene Damrosch sang two of Beethoven’s charming arrangements of Scotch airs, with accompaniment of piano, violin, and violoncello, ‘Faithful John’ and ‘Sally in our Alley,’ beside songs by Mendelssohn and Schumann; and both Dr. Damrosch and Herr Pruckner contributed some instrumental solos.”