Sarasate Benefit Vocal and Instrumental Concert

“The centralization of the musical mania at the Academy would seem to have an unfavorable effect on the concert room. A rose growing in the garden of a peasant has all the properties of one growing in the green-house of a queen, but the mere position of things seriously affects sometimes the estimate which men place on them.

Signor Sarasate is an artist in a very high sense of the word, giving evidence in all his efforts that in him nature and art are twin sisters, and that the latter is rooted in and blossoms out of the former. The violin in his hands is not a mechanical instrument of mere musical declamation, but an eloquent organ to utter forth the beautiful sounds descriptive of nature and the human heart in their most normal condition. We would instance, as a proof of this, the splendid execution last evening which he gave of themes from Weber’s ‘Der Freischütz.’

When such an artist gives a concert, it is but natural to suppose that our musical people would attend it in numbers large enough to give him substantial support, if not inspiration. It was not so, we are sorry to say, last evening. Space, ‘untenanted by souls divine,’ struck the eye with deadening effect and clouded the hopeful visions of the artists, who, however, exercised their talents as if the horizon before them sparkled with an infinitude of human eyes.

The artists were meritorious. Miss Nininger, new to the concert room, is a comely and graceful person. There seems to be good material in her voice, but severe schooling is required to polish it into artistic method and style. Herr Bonawitz is a respectable and, no doubt, well-instructed pianist, but we question his ability to rank with many well known of our citizens. Signor Randolfi continues to be an ornament to the concert room, and when his selections are well suited to his voice and style he always pleases and often electrifies his audience. Signor Ferranti is a capital buffo singer. His vocal fire and exhilarating gesticulations stir up his hearers, and draw from them the most hearty applause.

Though this is the musical galaxy with which Signor Sarasate surrounded himself, his own peerless execution on the violin gave him a glorious niche of his own, and set him apart as one upon whom both nature and art had combined to place the fairest laurels.”

“Señor Sarasate’s concert attracted to Steinway Hall last evening quite a numerous audience, but surely not a one hundredth part of the admirers of the gentleman’s violin performances. The artist has never been in better condition, and his full command of the bow and finger-board were illustrated by faultless execution and matchless eloquence of delivery. Señor Sarasate recited with Herr Bonawitz [see above]. To dwell upon the technical excellences of the violinist’s works would result in rather dry reading for non-professional persons, and to attempt to convey an idea of their charm and power over an assemblage of even average sensibility, would be, within our present limits, to court failure. We shall never, in our judgment, enjoy the fruit of more faultless intonation, or listen to a more exquisite tone than is wrought by Señor Sarasate’s bow, under the guidance of an artistic temperament of unsurpassable fineness and culture unrivaled by any performer equally young in years. As a rule, violin pieces secure but slender attention, and the applause bestowed upon them is in acknowledgment of difficulties overcome, and rarely in compensation for actual enjoyment. Señor Sarasate has been before the public very frequently this season, and his talent has changed this, not only, we opine, for his own benefit, but for that of other eminent artists whose visits may be awaited in the future. His share of the night’s labors, yesterday, was much appreciated. The remainder of the bill was interpreted by Signor Ferranti, whose animal spirits are unflagging, and whose two buffo arias gave great pleasure; by Herr Bonawitz, a pianist who has acquired all that can be learned of the technique of the instrument, and who only needs genius, and by Signor Randolfi, M. Dachauer and Miss Nininger.”

“Beneficiaries—in the concert hall, at least—have a hard time nowadays, as the multiplicity of attractions, both musical and dramatic, dazzle the public mind to such an extent that it is frequently indifferent to the claims of a deserving artist. An example of this was shown on Tuesday night, when one of the best violinists that ever visited this country, Señor Sarasate, had a benefit concert. The hall was but poorly filled, although the artists and the programme deserved a crowded house. The concert opened with a duo for piano and violin from ‘Les Huguenots,’ which was rendered by Messrs. Bonawitz and Sarasate with a finish, expression and spirit that brought out in strong relief the characteristic excellences of the themes taken from the opera. Then Miss Nininger and Signor Randolfi sang a duet from ‘Traviata.’ The lady’s voice, which has been under the experienced training of Albites, has been heard before in opera and concert, and has latterly gained considerably in firmness and breadth of tone. Her facility of execution and power of expression testify to the excellent Italian school of singing in which she has studied. In the trying scena, ‘Ah! fors e lui,’ from ‘Traviata,’ she sang with an ease, passionate fervor and perfect execution in the cabaletta that brought applause even from those who had heard Nilsson. Randolfi’s fine baritone voice appeared to advantage in the two songs which fell to his share, and Ferranti proved himself the king of buffo singers. Bonawitz played his own nocturne, of which we have spoken at length before, and a selection from ‘Lohengrin,’ which the erratic Liszt has woven together in piano form. Bonawitz is a pianist that pleases more and more according as he is heard in public. He is not one of those artists that startle or create a furor at first, but each time he develops new beauties and interesting characteristics in his style of playing, and never oversteps the bounds of true art to pander to the sensational. Sarasate’s principal selection was a fantasia on themes from ‘Der Freyschutz.’ No more difficult or trying work for the violin could be imagined. We think it a mistake to play such works. The execution is wonderful, undoubtedly, but there can be nothing to please the public ear. The piano is the only concert instrument capable of imitating orchestral effects, and while we admire the daring of the violinist who undertakes the same we can only regard it in the end as labor misspent. In the variations on a popular melody like ‘Home, Sweet Home,’ the clear, beautiful tone and exquisite finish of Señor Sarasate’s violin playing came out in its true colors. Mr Louis Dachauer proved himself a very capable accompanist.”

“Signor Sarasate gave a pleasant entertainment on Tuesday evening at Steinway Hall, before an audience respectable in numbers and cordial in applause. His violin playing is always grateful to the critical ear, for his touch is clean and true, his tone is rich, and his sentiment is delicate and correct. The duo for piano and violin, on themes from ‘The Huguenots’ by Thalberg and Vieuxtemps, gave a [venerable?] exhibition of these excellent qualities, while the fantasia of his own on ‘Der Freischütz’ was still finer, and at least as keenly relished. So genuine an artist as this young [illegible] is rare in our concert rooms. In the duo [illegible] the composition of Mr. J. H. Bonawitz, a pianist who has but recently arrived in New York. Mr. Bonawitz is a vigorous, and, in many respects, an excellent player, and his share in this piece was entirely satisfactory. In Liszt’s arrangement of the ‘Festspiel and Brautlied’ from ‘Lohengrin,’ later in the evening, he gave a better test of his abilities, and showed that he lacks both sentiment and precision. A variety of vocal [illegible] was contributed by Miss Nininger, Mr. Randolfi and Mr. Ferranti, and Mr. Dachauer acted as accompanist.”