Combination Concert: 4th

“The worst storm of the season, a storm of rain and ice, and snow commingled, interfered sadly with musical enterprises last night; still, there was a fair audience at the Academy of Music, and the concert of Messrs. Theodore Thomas, Rubinstein, and Wieniawski was more successful than under such untoward circumstances one might have expected. The programme was as follows [see above].

Mr. Rubinstein’s second concerto is a very striking work, remarkable for its clearness, regularity, and a certain vigor of thought and expression. He played it with gusto, and was admirably sustained by the grand orchestra. The sonata (which on one of the two editions of the programme was not described at all, and on the other was described wrong) was the so-called ‘Moonlight’ (No. 14). Mr. Rubinstein’s interpretation of it was not sentimental, but it was graceful and beautiful, and reflected the noble spirit of the grandest of all composers. The ‘Cat’s Fugue’ of Scarlatti is described as a sonata, and that is the name, we believe, which its maker gave it, but it is not a sonata in the modern sense of the term; it is little more than an elaborate fugue in one movement, and a very fine example of it is of that once fashionable form of composition. Mr. Rubinstein gave it a splendid and brilliant rendering. Being recalled, he played the march from the ‘Ruins of Athens.’

The violin concerto, chosen by Mr. Wieniawski, respecting which the programme left us in the dark, was the familiar one in E minor. The andante in this concerto is one of Mr. Wieniawski’s best pieces, and the rondo is but little less excellent. He was recalled after the Ernst fantasia, and played his extraordinary arrangement of the ‘Carnival of Venice.’ The orchestra, we need hardly say, was magnificent.”

“Another of the capital entertainments, which have resulted from the union of Mr. Grau’s principal artists and Mr. Thomas’ admirable orchestra, was given last evening, the Academy of Music being, on this occasion, the place selected for the entertainment. Mr. Rubinstein played [see above], and the familiar and sweet funeral march which, recited in deference to an encore, showed in the strongest light the variety of the performer’s touch. Mendelssohn’s delicious violin-concerto—the finest of the standard works for the most expressive of instruments—was superbly executed by Mr. Wieniawski, the rondo of the composition giving special prominence to the artist’s ability to overcome without the slightest apparent effort, and in a performance in which facility and delicacy must be particularly clear, the greatest difficulties of technique. We do not think that Ernst’s fantasia on themes from Bellini’s ‘Il Pirata’ was executed throughout with the perfect surety of earlier nights, but the brilliancy and effect of Mr. Wieniawski’s effort fully deserved the summons which caused him to add Paganini’s variations on ‘Le Carnaval’ to the numbers of the bill. The overtures to ‘Oberon’ and ‘Lohengrin,’ and Liszt’s arrangement of Schubert’s ‘Hungarian March,’ were the orchestral selections, and it is superfluous to say that a more intellectual and finished delivery than was supplied of the three pieces could not be wished.”

“Saint Cecilia herself could scarcely have been expected to fill the Academy of Music on so wild and tempestuous a night as last evening. Nevertheless, the combined attraction of Rubinstein, Wieniawski, and the orchestra of Theodore Thomas brought together a sufficient number of heroic people to make a tolerably full and certainly a most enthusiastic house, and the fervor with which the great pianist was received was greater than on almost any previous occasion, rising, indeed, to such a pitch that he was called out after playing Scarlatti’s Fugue five times. Finding the audience so determined in their enthusiasm, Rubinstein relaxed his usual custom of not accepting encores and played with noble solemnity Chopin’s ‘Funeral March.’

Few pianists are able to make the instrument they play effective in so large a building as the Academy of Music, but Rubinstein has the requisite power, and the breadth and grandeur of his style were never more conspicuous than in his playing last evening. Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight Sonata’ was happily substituted for the longer and more intricate opus 109, at first announced.”

“The last concert but one of the Rubinstein & Thomas combination took place last evening at the Academy of Music, which, owing to the weather, was not by any means so well filled as the merits of the truly classical performance warranted. Those present, however, enjoyed a rich musical treat, such as is seldom presented; for, with such artists, very little was left to be desired. Whatever may be said in regard to Rubinstein and Wieniawski, and both have already been abundantly praised—yet not more than they deserved—it cannot be denied that the co-operation of the well-trained orchestra of Thomas was most effective in its results. The concert last night was among the best yet given. Rubinstein selected his own concerto (No. 2) in F major, and in the second part played a Beethoven sonata and the Katzenfugue sonata by Scarlatti. His brilliant efforts received, of course, enthusiastic acknowledgment. Wieniawski interpreted Mendelssohn’s concerto and Ernst’s fantasie, ‘Il Pirata,’ with his usual artistic skill and finish. The orchestra did its work with characteristic precision. The overture to ‘Oberon’ and Schubert’s Hungarian march were faultlessly performed.”

“Rubinstein played with his customary power, and, being recalled after the Cat’s Fugue, gave his famous arrangement of the march from ‘The Ruins of Athens.” As for the orchestra, I need only say that it was that of Theodore Thomas!”