Thomas Symphony Concert: 1st

“It will be the earnest endeavor of Mr. Thomas to make the coming series of concerts as interesting as the preceding, and his aim will be the same which was proposed in the circular of last year:—‘While the same general tendency of the programme will be the same as in former years, his especial aim will be to restrict them to works of the highest order, both of the old masters and those of the present day.’ SEASON TICKETS $8 EACH…Subscribers desirous of having the same seats for the series of concerts, can select them at the box office of Steinway Hall DURING THIS WEEK.”

Advertisement: New-York Times, 03 November 1873, 7.

“Six grand symphony concerts will commence on Saturday evening, Nov. 22. Season tickets $8 each, including reserved seat.”

Announcement: New-York Times, 09 November 1873, 5.

“The first of Mr. Thomas’ symphony concerts at Steinway Hall may be attended on the evening of Saturday week [sic]. We learn with much pleasure that the prospects of the success of these excellent entertainments are brilliant. On the first day of the sale of season tickets no less than 500 were at once purchased.”

Advertisement: New York Herald, 13 November 1873, 9.

Program and prices.

Announcement: New-York Daily Tribune, 13 November 1873, 5.

Brief; lists performers and program.

Announcement: New York Post, 15 November 1873, 2.

“One week from to-night Mr. Thomas will begin, at Steinway Hall, his series of symphony soirees. The programme will introduce Mr. M. W. Whitney as vocalist, and Mr. Luebeck, a new violinist, of whom good things are said. The orchestral writers to be represented at the first soiree are Beethoven, Schubert, Berlioz and Svendson.”

Advertisement: New-York Times, 16 November 1873, 7.

Program.

Announcement: New-York Daily Tribune, 17 November 1873, 6.

“The first of Mr. Theodore Thomas’s Symphony Concerts (seventh season) is to take place next Saturday at Steinway Hall, and subscription tickets for the season are now on sale, while seats for the first concert can be obtained on and after to-morrow. In some of the Western cities, Mr. Thomas has had this Autumn a remarkable success, and notwithstanding the discouragements of the season, which have been felt in all sorts of public entertainments, and to some have proved ruinous, we have no reason to doubt that he will be enthusiastically welcomed on his return to his own city. In any event he is certain to persevere, for his courage rises superior to fires and panics, and nothing but death will prevent the accomplishment of his noble designs for the advancement of true art in America. [Lists program.] This is a superb selection of pieces, and we are certain to have a superb performance. We risk little in predicting that the Schubert Symphony will be something remarkable.”

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Announcement: New York Post, 18 November 1873, 2.

“Mr. Theodore Thomas has been at some pains to deprive Europe of its most highly esteemed violoncello player, Mr. Louis Luebeck, who will be presented to the American public for the first time at the first of the new series of symphony concerts, on Saturday evening, at Steinway Hall. Mr. Luebeck comes direct from St. Petersburg to this city, to be henceforth identified with Mr. Thomas’s incomparable orchestra. An excellent subscription has been booked for this winter’s symphony series—better by far than in any past season. The sale of seats for the first concert (22d instant) started to-day at the box-office and music stores, and was decidedly brisk. The opening programme is rich and rare in quality.”

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Advertisement: New-York Times, 18 November 1873, 7.

“The sale of tickets for the first concert will commence this morning, at G. Schirmer’s.”

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Announcement: New-York Times, 20 November 1873, 5.

“The sale of seats for the first of Mr. Thomas’ symphony concerts was commenced yesterday. We are glad to be able to mention that it was large, as a proper appreciation of the admirable entertainments Mr. Thomas and his orchestra provide for the New-York public denotes a welcome growth in the popularity of good music. The promise of Saturday’s programme, which we have already made room for, and which may not be read in another column, indicates that the standard of selections is to be kept, this Winter, as high as ever. And the record of Mr. Thomas’ orchestra is so creditable that nothing need be said in relation to the performance beyond mentioning the name of the band that will furnish it.”

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Announcement: New-York Times, 22 November 1873, 6.

“The first of the series of Mr. Thomas’ symphony concerts may be attended at Steinway Hall this evening. A musical event of greater interest it would be hard to name. We presume that most readers interested in matters of the kind have already shown their appreciation of its character by making sure of their seats for to-night, if not for the full number of entertainments to occur.”

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Advertisement: New York Herald, 22 November 1873, 2.

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Announcement: New-York Daily Tribune, 22 November 1873, 7.

“…it is gratifying to learn that, despite the depressing influence of the time, the demand for tickets has been unusually large. These concerts are looked forward to by all intelligent connoisseurs with the [entire line cut off] perfection than any other entertainments given in New York.”

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Review: New York Herald, 23 November 1873, 9.

“The grand orchestra, 70 in number, of which America may justly be proud, and which Mr. Theodore Thomas has spent years in bringing to a state of perfection second to none in Europe, drew a very large audience to Steinway Hall last night. It is truly an orchestra of virtuosi, blended into a perfect ensemble by the ordeal of experience and endowed with Promethean fire by that consciousness of innate power and earnestness of resolve that true musicians alone can experience. The first work on the programme was the grand overture of Beethoven, ‘Weihe des Hauses,’ written immediately before the immortal Choral Symphony. The commencement of this colossal work, with its strong, nervous chords and phrases, instinct with harmonic life and power, showed the magnificent quality of the orchestra. Not only was there clockwork precision, but also that warmth, feeling, glow of expression that speak of intelligence and earnestness on the part of the individual members of a band. The bassoons had a long and trying passage to themselves, accompanying and coloring the second theme of the overture, and each note was given with distinctness and effect. After then came a rush of the strings, instinct with fire and feeling, and succeeded by a beautiful episode for the horns and their confederates.

The Allegro con brio came next, with an élan on the part of the entire orchestra that was only exceeded by an attention to the distinctness of phrasing and intelligibility of rendering that characterize such incomparable players. An adagio pause here and there, as it were, to take breath, and the overture rushed towards the finale, losing not a spark of the divine fire with which the composer has endowed it.

Mr. Myron Whitney, the representative American basso, then sang an air from Bach’s Passion music (St. Matthew), ‘Give me back my dearest Master,’ and although he brought to the rendering of this grand work all the wealth of an exceptional voice and thorough classical school, yet the effect was not what might be desired. Bach’s Passion music must be presented in its entireity [sic], or it cannot produce success, no matter what may be the attainments of the singer or the orchestra. Mr. Whitney was more successful in the lovely arietta of Beethoven, ‘In questa tomba oscura,’ which was encored, and drew forth from the artist a splendid rendering of the grand aria of Savastro [sic], in ‘The Magic Flute.’ The other soloist on the occasion was Mr. Louis Lubeck, a violoncellist of considerable renown in Europe, and lately brought to our shores by Mr. Thomas. He essayed a concerto by Bernhard Molique, the celebrated violinist of Nuremberg. The work demanded abundance of power and wonderful facility to accommodate the subject, as given by the ’cello, to the varying colors of the orchestral treatment, and Mr. Lubeck proved himself fully equal to all the requirements of the occasion. His tone is mellow and sympathetic and yet instinct with nervous vitality, and his execution is smooth, flexible and effective.

The lovely symphony in C of Schubert, the greatest of the favorite composer’s works, was the principal feature of the concert. It was a genuine triumph for the orchestra. From the emphatic declamation of the horns in the introduction to the Titanic sweep, hurricane like, of all the instruments in the finale, there was not a flaw. The opening Allegro ma non troppo seemed to be the expression of one mind, each nuance of expression being limited in the most delicate colors. The second movement, Andante con moto, with its quaint Oriental theme, draped in a gorgeous raiment of instrumental effects, brought out the orchestra in its most vivid colors. The kaleidoscopic changes in the treatment of the main subject, with its diamond setting of light episodes, seemed to be specially adapted for the purpose of giving each department of the orchestra an opportunity for individual display, which was not lost. The Beethoven-like Scherzo, playful as Puck, yet never losing the characteristics of the prince of lyricists, the fruit of an inexhaustible fancy and the offspring of the imagination of the poet-musician, was handled by Mr. Thomas’ musicians with a delicacy and refined coquetry that left its lustre [sic] undimmed. The last movement, Allegro vivace, so bizarre and beautiful in its very capriciousness, exuberant in ideas until there is a very pantomime of subjects all struggling for predominance, the happiest effort of the Midas of melody, as Schubert has been happily named, was given with rare effect. No wonder that Liszt should exclaim, after listening to such a symphony, ‘Schubert! Schubert, le musicien le plus poête que [sic] fut jamais!’

One of the most delightful thoughts of Hector Berlioz is his musical portraiture of Queen Mab, and he found able interpreters last night in Thomas’ orchestra. The fanciful picture of Mercutio became for the moment a tone picture, over which danced and laughed elves of all kinds. The reeds were particularly jubilant, and many a sly joke was poked at the strings by the flute, oboe and clarinet. The concert closed with a symphonic introduction to one of Bjorndsen’s poems, ‘Sigurd Slembe,’ a Scandinavian subject by Mr. J. Svendsen. Each season seems to develop new qualities of excellence in the unrivalled orchestra over which Mr. Thomas wields the baton, and which he has so long and so faithfully trained for the proud position they now occupy. To him we are indebted, not only for the first production of the greatest works of ancient and modern schools in this country, but also for their interpretation by the representative orchestra of America.”

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Review: New-York Times, 24 November 1873, 4.

“The first of the series of six Symphony Concerts which Mr. Thomas has accustomed the New-York public to anticipate every Winter for the past six years, was given at Steinway Hall Saturday evening. The performance indicated that there would be no falling off, this season, from the high excellence of earlier recitals, and the presence of a large and appreciative audience showed that the interest long ago taken in Mr. Thomas’ enterprises is undiminished. There were some admirable points in Saturday’s work. We cannot hope to listen to a more exquisite execution of the scherzo, of Berlioz, called ‘Queen Mab,’ and as clearly illustrative as music can be of Mercutio’s fanciful lines in ‘Romeo and Juliet.’ Writing of greater delicacy was never assigned for interpretation to a body of violinists, and when we remark that it was read with absolute correctness, and that the reading was colored as cleverly as the least trying concerted music, we shall have only done Mr. Thomas’ orchestra the justice due to its skill and industry. The scherzo, which may be referred to as the test piece of the entertainment, led to the second part of the programme, while the first was commenced with Beethoven’s fine overture known as ‘The Consecration of the House,’ and written for the opening of the Josephstadt Theatre, in Vienna, in 1822. The first half of the bill also included the most important composition of the night. Schubert’s symphony in C can surely not be classed with the symphonic efforts of either Beethoven or Schumann, but it is a work of no ordinary worth, and the andante con moto—the second of its four movements—is of unquestionable beauty. Mr. Thomas’ band played the whole symphony to perfection, the mechanical correctness of the delivery in no way interfering with its expressiveness. A vigorous specimen of scoring for orchestra in shape of a ‘symphonic introduction,’ entitled ‘Signur Slembe,’ and from the pen of J. Svendsen, was the last number of the evening, and was done with immense vivacity and power. As usual, the labors of the band were diversified by solo performances. In Mr. Louis Lubeck, who Saturday made his first appearance in the United States, Mr. Thomas has secured a violoncellist whose delicious tone and unexceptionable playing of cantabile passages made ample amends for certain inaccuracies of technique discernible in the difficult cadenza of a concerto by Molique. The vocalist of the occasion, was Mr. Whitney, whose resonant voice was listened to in an air from Bach’s ‘Matthaeus Passion Musik,’ in Beethoven’s arietta ‘In questa tomba oscura,’ and, as an act of deference to an encore, in ‘Qui sdegno,’ from Mozart’s ‘Zauberfloete.’ We cannot find fault with Mr. Whitney for not making Bach’s aria, which cannot be successfully detached from the great work of which it is a part, as effective as was expected. But an increased warmth in his declamation and a more thorough command of his resources would have much enhanced the merit of his after-contributions to the concert.” Provides program for the next concert.

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Review: New York Post, 24 November 1873, 2.

“Mr. Thomas on Saturday night opened his symphony season auspiciously, Steinway Hall was well filled, and the audience were both attentive and appreciative. Beethoven’s ‘Consecration of the House’ was listened to with respect, and a Scherzo by Berlioz gave evident pleasure; but the most admired orchestral piece of the evening was Schubert’s symphony in C, a work replete with melody, and calling into legitimate use the best resources of the orchestra. Everything in this delightful symphony is satisfying. The composer awards with equal skill the extremes of dullness and grotesqueness, and has left a composition which must always give lively pleasure when played as it was on Saturday by Mr. Thomas’s admirable band.

Mr. Leubeck, a new violoncellist, made his first appearance, and at once claimed a very high rank in his branch of art. His success was instant and decided. Mr. Whitney, the basso, sang solos by Bach and Beethoven, and was well received.”

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Review: New York Sun, 24 November 1873, 2.

“The first of a series of six symphony concerts, to be given this winter by Mr. Thomas, took place on Saturday evening at Steinway Hall. The audience was a large one, and was in great part composed of those of our citizens who are sure to be seen at concerts of unusual excellence and interest. The Philharmonic Society at one time gathered together these musical devotees, but the contrast between the lack of enterprise and the careless presentation of works by that society and the splendid discipline of Thomas’s orchestra is so great that those interested in such matters are fully aware that we can now look only to the latter body of musicians for an entirely satisfying presentation of orchestral music.

Indeed, the comparison between this and other orchestras might be carried further without fear of the results so far as the former is concerned, for the opinion has been often expressed by those long accustomed to listen to the performances of the finest orchestral bodies of Europe that all those details which make up perfect orchestral playing are as fully mastered by the instrumentalists under Mr. Thomas’s direction as by any body of musicians in the world.

It needs but a few moments to satisfy any listener of this. Just as the great singer is recognized even before she sings her aria by the delivery of the recitative that precedes it, or the great pianist by the fragments with which he tries his pianos before beginning his concert-piece, so the perfect drill of this orchestra was plainly felt in the first striking chords with which, in the Beethoven overture, the concert was opened. What followed was only the reiteration and confirmation of the perfection of mechanism that these announced. Every bow touched the strings at the same instant, the down stroke of the violins was as the movement of a single arm. The notes were ended precisely together. So it was in all the other details—the sforzandos were given with a unity and emphasis almost startling, the crescendos and decrescendos were graduated with a delicacy and symmetry as complete as that which the performer on some great organ commands with a hundred stops under his control. The tutti passages were delivered with a power and unity that gave them an exciting character. It would be tedious indeed to recite in detail all the points of excellence to which this orchestra has been brought, and we pass from these general observations to a brief consideration of the programme presented. [Lists program.]

The main feature of this programme is of course the great Schubert symphony in C—the second of the two he wrote in that key, and the seventh in the order of his symphonies. It is the maturest [sic], richest, and fullest expression of his great powers, and perhaps the next existing work in orchestral importance after Beethoven’s symphonies.

So at least thought Schumann, who hardly found words to express his admiration of it. And yet the people of Schubert’s native city—the Viennese, boasting of their musical culture—refused it a hearing for eleven years after the composer’s death, and then only would listen to two movements of it, relieving the tedium of those by having an aria from Donizetti’s ‘Lucia’ interpolated between them. After this it was not again vouchsafed a hearing at that city and the composer had been dead twenty-two years, though in the meantime Mendelssohn had brought it out at the Leipsic [sic] Gedwandhaus concerts.

Surely here was a prophet without honor in his own country, and those who are accustomed to bewail a low standard of musical taste in this country, as for example did Rubinstein when he was here—may gather comfort from the fact that so large and audience as that assembled on Saturday evening listened to the whole work—and it is of prodigious length—with patient attention, absorbed interest, and every manifestation of approval and delight.

The programme was not of equal interest throughout. It contained a judicious blending of the old and the new, and brought forward a new and excellent violincellist, Mr. Lubeck [sic], in a tedious concert by Bernard Molique, a man who, however respectable as a violinist and composer, seldom showed a particle of genius in his work.

Mr. Whitney’s aria from the Mathius passion music was in place when he sang it at the Handel and Haydn triennial festival, where this sacred composition was given in part, but out of place at the Steinway Hall concert. Such a piece, so antiquated in form, is certain to be misunderstood if taken from its surroundings and presented alone. It was, however, finely sung, as also was the Beethoven aria and Mozart’s Qui Sdegno in the second part of the programme. But Mr. Whitney mars his singing of English by an affectation of inability to speak his native language without a foreign accent. Of all the things that can lend dignity to a singer’s efforts, one of the chief is a pure and cultivated utterance of his native tongue, and, per contra, nothing is in worse taste or more puerile than the slight put upon a noble language by the pretence [sic] that it is improved by being half dressed up in the foreign inflections.”

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Review: New-York Daily Tribune, 24 November 1873, 4.

“The first of Mr. Theodore Thomas’ seventh series of Symphony Concerts was given on Saturday evening at Steinway Hall, and all true lovers of art will be glad to know that it was attended by a full house, the audience being better than even the average of last Winter. [Lists program.]

Mr. Thomas is somewhat famous for the composition of attractive programmes, but he has seldom arranged a more enticing bill than the brilliant one set forth above as the prelude to a season which promises to be unusually interesting. In writing of the Philharmonic Society last week we predicted a Winter of lively emulation between the two orchestras upon which we depend for our best musical entertainment, and the experience of last Saturday full confirms our anticipations. If Mr. Bergmann’s one hundred players have been roused to unwonted industry and ambition, it is evident that Mr. Thomas will push them to the utmost, and it will tax their best energies to keep abreast of him. In the production of novelties of real value Mr. Thomas has always been so far in advance of everybody else that he may be said to have distanced competition. His enterprise in this regard was illustrated in the first concert, and will be still more conspicuous in the second. But it is not the chief duty of a conductor to be forever playing something new. The perpetual craving for fresh fare is a symptom of depraved and vulgar appetite, and there is something honest and brave in the reverence with which the Philharmonic Society turns back, year after year, to the old masterworks which must always be the foundation of whatever is greatest in art. These are creations of which the cultivated listener can never tire. Age cannot wither nor custom stale their infinite variety. No man knows this better than Theodore Thomas, who makes Beethoven the basis of every programme, and has never vaunted his own success in procuring the latest productions of the modern composers. Whatever novelty he brings forth, he plays not because it is new, but because it is good, or because it illustrates the tendencies of contemporary style, or certain steps either of progress or retrogression with which the student of modern music ought to make himself familiar. The test of merit in an orchestra is not the success with which it tickles the uninstructed public with fresh sensations, but the intelligence and sympathy with which it gives voice to those sublime creations which the consent of the whole world has placed among the grandest works of genius. Toward this noble object Mr. Thomas bends his best endeavors, and he prides himself much more upon the highly finished and eloquent interpretation of the classics than upon mere enterprise and good fortune in the collection of musical curiosities.

It will hardly be believed that he brings back his orchestra more perfectly balanced, more complete obedient to his will, richer in tone, and more refined in expression than it was when we last heard it; but such is the fact. Every year it grows more and more homogeneous, and every year its improvement strikes us with fresh surprise. Its very first utterance on Saturday, in the Beethoven overture, was almost startling, the attack was so true and the voice so full and hearty. The strings seemed to vibrate as if in answer to a single will. No one swerved from the tone by so much as a hair’s breadth. Among all the sixty players there was no uncertainty, no hesitation, no lack of confidence even for an instant. As a result of this rare combination of boldness and decision, every phrase of the overture stood out in clear relief. The most intricate and confusing passages were revealed in all their wonderful structure, and every thread which is woven into the brilliant fabric could be distinctly traced. The same excellences were equally conspicuous in the great Symphony of Schubert, whose dazzling splendors have never been so fully revealed to us before. The clearness of the performance must have impressed everybody from the start. The extraordinary beauty of the coloring, the perfect blending of the parts, and the inimitable spirit and vitality of the orchestra could hardly be overpraised, and the impression sinks deeper and deeper into our mind as we reflect upon the superb performance. It was in the glorious finale of course, with its tremendous sweep of the long-gathered forces, that the band achieved its greatest triumph. Even Mr. Thomas himself here abandoned his customary impassive demeanor, and the music rushed onward to the close in the midst of an excitement which affected audience and performers alike. Where all was so far above the ordinary level of excellence, it seems invidious to single out any one department of the orchestra for special praise; but the perfection of the brasses was so marked that we cannot pass it over without a word of recognition.

The charming Scherzo of Berlioz, which is little known here, made a beautiful contrast to the Symphony. A gem of fairy fancies, it was rendered with exquisite grace and sentiment. The Symphonic Introduction of Svendsn’s is entirely new in this country, and indeed we had no practical acquaintance with any of the works of this young and promising Norwegian composer until Mr. Thomas gave us a specimen of his quality last Summer. This Introduction is short, vigorous, and richly scored, and will doubtless often find a place upon our concert programmes.

The solos on Saturday were all good. Mr. Whitney sang the aria from Bach’s ‘Matthæus Passion’ with taste and feeling, Mr. Listemann playing the violin obbligato. In Beethoven’s splendid arietta Mr. Whitney’s success was still more decided. We have never heard him to greater advantage, and there is probably no piece of music extant, which more exactly suits his voice. Being recalled, he sang the ‘Qui sdegno’ from ‘The Magic Flute.’

The new violoncellist, Mr. Lübeck, is a valuable acquisition to the country. He is an artist of marked ability, having an excellent technique and a sympathetic touch. He reminds us in style of Mr. Bergner, although hist one is not so full and sensuous as that of our favorite New-York performer, but to compensate for this he is more moderate in the use of the tremolo which Mr. Bergner is rather inclined to carry to excess.” Lists program for second concert.

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Review: Dwight's Journal of Music, 29 November 1873, 135.

“Theo. Thomas gave the first of his series of six Symphony soirées, on Saturday evening, Nov. 22. The house was crowded, and it was gratifying to observe that the financial troubles, which have nipped in the bud all projects for concerts of an ordinary kind, do not affect enterprises of such pith and moment as that of Mr. Thomas.

His orchestra comprises 70 performers, and he is constantly adding to their number such soloists of high merit as he can secure. Either of his two violinists, Jacobsohn or Listemann, would win applause in any concert hall in the world; and of his latest accession, the violoncellist Lübeck, I will speak hereafter. The concert opened with Beethoven’s noble overture ‘Weihe des Hauses,’ which was played in a manner that could not be surpassed. Then came the lovely air from Bach’s Matthæus Passion: ‘Give me back my dearest master,’ sung by Mr. M. W. Whitney, with violin obligato by Mr. Listemann. The air could hardly be interpreted with finer feeling than Mr. Whitney manifested in his singing, and his magnificent voice is too well known to need description.

Then followed the Symphony of ‘heavenly length,’ Schubert’s in C; that wonderful tone-poem, which, though its performance occupies nearly an hour, contains not a measure, not a note, that could be spared. Beethoven has written grander music, and Schumann has composed Symphonies which take stronger hold of the intellect, but, for divine sadness and soulful beauty, rich and vivid coloring and sustained interest, there is nothing like this work. Words are inadequate to express its effect upon the mind, and it is hard to find terms sufficiently warm to praise its performance.

The other orchestral pieces were a graceful Scherzo by Berlioz, ‘La Reine Mab, ou La Fée des Songes,’ (written in the peculiar style of that composer), which seemed to please the audience mightily, and a ‘Symphonic Introduction,[’] by J. Svendsen, to Bjorndsen’s poem ‘Sigurd Slembe.’ Mr. Whitney’s second aria ‘In questa tomba oscura’ (Beethoven) brough an encore, to which he responded with an air by Mozart.

Mr. Louis Lübeck, lately arrived from Europe, and now a member of the Thomas Orchestra, made his debut in a Concerto for the violoncello by Molique. His splendid playing in certain portions of the Symphony had already attracted the attention of critical listeners, but the audience was unprepared for such a display of talent as was made in his performance of the Concerto. An exquisitely pure tone and great facility of execution are with him only means to an end, and that end is to give the fullest, freest interpretation to the music before him. It is seldom that we have the pleasure of hearing a performance so artistic. If he did not take the house by storm it was because there was so little of the sensational and so much of true merit in his playing.”