Philharmonic Society of New York Concert: 2nd

“The programme of the second concert of the Philharmonic Society (31^st season) was the following [see above].

“This was an interesting selection of pieces, though the proportion of really strong music was not very large. The new symphony by Joachim Raff deserved careful attention as the production of a composer whose work, if not often brilliant, is always conscientious and sometimes original. It opens with a beautiful allegro, full of cheerfulness and grace, and most ingeniously treated—a little melody first borne by the violoncello solo (Mr. Bergner) with a striking flute accompaniment, and afterwards taken up by the reeds, with a similar accompaniment for the strings, being the most attractive portion of it. But the bright promise of the first movement is hardly fulfilled by the subsequent three. The second, a scherzo, is rather dry. The third (by a mistake in the programme the second and third were made to change places) is an andante with commonplace variations. The finale is not very striking. The symphony, however, was well played, and we can say the same of the meditative and to our taste rather wearisome love music from the ‘Romeo and Juliet’ symphony of Berlioz. The best number was the last. The noble Weihe des Hauses overture was splendidly and sympathetically performed, and brought a highly creditable concert to an impressive close.

“The solos were good. We expressed our very favorable opinion of Mlle. Drasdil when she made her first appearance in this country at the Mills and Damrsoch soiree three weeks ago. The beautiful prayer of Ferdinand Hiller’s which she sang so finely on that occasion was one of her selections also last Saturday night. Haydn’s exquisite ‘Spirits’ Song’  gave none of the opportunities for display which a new-comer might have been expected to seek in her first efforts before a strange audience, but the beauty of the lady’s phrasing and the excellence of her voice must have been appreciated by every musician. She has a contralto voice of singular quality, with a clear metallic tone, like a tenor. Herr Benno Walter, of whom we have also spoken before, is a young violinist of great merit, playing with smoothness, purity of tone, and expression.”

“The second concert of the thirty-first Philharmonic season occurred at the Academy of Music on Saturday evening. Although the programme was of unusual variety, the attendance was not so large as there seemed reason to anticipate. The orchestral selections were not, be it said, of a very attractive kind. Raff’s symphony in G major is, of course, a very scholarly work, but it has fewer ideas than one can reasonably expect in a work including four elaborate movements; while the love-scene, from Berlioz’s symphonic poem of ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ though abounding in delicious phrases and admirable instrumental combinations, is too incoherent to leave a deep impression, either as to thought or treatment. Both pieces were capitally recited, though we do not think that the string-players of the Philharmonic Society were distinguished by fineness of execution. The performances of the soloists, on Saturday, afforded most pleasure. We have already written of the admirable voice, fine style, and deep sentiment of Mlle. Anna Drasdil, a contralto who was heard at Steinway Hall a fortnight ago. Day before yesterday, Mlle. Drasdil sang, as on the occasion of her début in this City, a beautiful prayer by Hiller; she delivered, besides, and in the most classical manner, Haydn’s ‘Spirit’s Song,’ and a ballad, by Pinsuti, called ‘Son of the Ocean Isle.’ The latter, in our opinion, requires, to be as effective as intended, a purer enunciation of the English text than Mlle. Drasdil, good scholar as she is, is able to bring to its interpretation. The other soloist was Herr Benno Walter, a violinist whom we also listened to previous to Saturday, and whose playing of the first movement of Beethoven’s well-known concerto for violin, (opus 61,) showed him to have a greater command of the finger-board than of the bow—his attack from the heel especially, having almost a pizzicato sound—and, in a general sense, a technique insufficient to allow that maestria in the rendering of the composition which the variations of the exquisite theme, particularly, exact. The final selection was Beethoven’s vigorous overture in C major, called ‘The Consecration of the House.’”

“The attendance at the second Philharmonic concert, which took place at the Academy of Music on Saturday evening, was small, although the programme was worthy of the attention of musical students.”

“New York, Dec. 23.—At the second concert of the Philharmonic Society, Dec. 14, Raff’s Symphony, in G minor, No. 4 (new) was performed. Though not differing materially in style from those works of the same composer with which we are already familiar, this symphony is well worth hearing and, indeed, must be heard several times before its merits can be fully appreciated. The first few bars of the introductory Allegro furnish a key to the whole Symphony; a dreamy mystical beauty, as of

‘Those hills of flowers ne’er fed the bee;

That shore no ship has ever seen.’

pervades it all. This movement contains a very graceful fragment of melody for the violoncello (exquisitely rendered by Mr. Bergner), which is afterwards taken up by the reeds. The Scherzo, which follows, is quite intricate, and is scored in a manner which shows the composer to be thoroughly master of the resources of an orchestra. In the Andante there is a series of massive and sustained chords leading to nothing in particular, and it is here that the work seemed to me weakest. The Finale, however, is both effective and interesting.

“The work was very coldly received by an audience which was evidently unequal to the task of forming an opinion for itself. The other orchestral pieces were the ‘Liebescene’ from Berlioz’s ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ and the fine ‘Consecration of the House’ Overture, in C major, by Beethoven.

“The orchestra, conducted by Carl Bergmann, now numbers one hundred performers, including 38 violins, 14 violas, 13 violoncellos, 15 double basses, 2 flutes, 1 piccolo, 2 oboes, 2 clarionets, 1 corno anglaise, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, and tympani. Among the violins we recognize the familiar faces of Messrs. Matzka, Bristow, Noll, Hill, Mosenthal and others, who are not only valuable members of the orchestra but excellent soloists. The orchestral selections at this concert were well rendered, although the performers never play as well at the beginning as towards the end of the season.

“The vocalist was Miss Anna Drasdil, who sang recently at one of the Mills-Damrosch soirées. Her selections were [see above]. Miss Drasdil’s fine contralto voice sounded well in the Academy, its peculiar metallic quality being less noticeable there than in Steinway’s music-room. She sang, as I judge she always does, with such earnest and tender feeling, that her success was assured from the first. She divided the honors of the evening with Herr Benno Walter, (announced as solo violinist to the King of Bavaria,) who played the first movement of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto. He played with much skill, and drew from his violin a very pure, sweet tone; but his bowing was not strong, and he was unequal to a full interpretation of what the giant composer says in his great Concerto. This, however, was no special discredit to the young artist, for there are very few violinists who can play that Concerto as it should be played.”