Philharmonic Society of New York Concert: 5th

“The fifth Philharmonic concert of the present season was given at the Academy of Music last evening, when the programme rehearsed on the afternoon of the previous day was recited with due familiarity. The entertainment was interesting enough as an ordinary concert, but it certainly lacked the distinctive features one has a right to expect in a performance gotten up by the most prominent musical organization in the country. The solos yesterday, viewed in this light, were especially unsatisfactory, for Miss Antonia Henne, although endowed with a fine voice, is deficient in the maestria of delivery exacted by such compositions as ‘Che Farò.’ Miss Henne lacks, too, the sentiment required to make works like ‘O frage nicht’ and ‘Nach hall,’ by Rubinstein, as expressive as they are intended to be. The pianist of the occasion was Mr. Emile Guyon, who plays correctly, but whose touch has failed to bring, even from a splendid Steinway, the tone many mediocre artists would have succeeded in eliciting from it. Mr. Guyon, besides, has little or no fancy, and something more than a colorless reading of the romance and rondo from Chopin’s E minor concerto is requisite to bestow upon poetical writing of this kind its charm and eloquence. The achievements of the orchestra pleased us most. Mozart’s ‘Jupiter’ symphony was recited with spirit and precision. Raff’s fifth symphony—‘Lenore’ erst and so often done by Mr. Thomas’ band—proved very effective, the andante deriving particular beauty from the volume of sound Mr. Bergmann always draws from his forces, while the march and the finale were rather inferior to the movements as interpreted by Mr. Thomas’ orchestra, whose performances for crispness and nuances are simply unapproachable.”

Review: New-York Daily Tribune, 16 March 1874, 7.

“The fifth concert of the Philharmonic Society gave us a programme in which the solos were so prominent that for half an hour it was difficult to realize that one was not listening to a miscellaneous entertainment at Steinway Hall. The following were the selections [see above].

Mozart’s ‘Jupiter’ Symphony [illegible] of the greater classics. Its proportions are [illegible], compared with the length of some more [illegible]. And its instrumentation, judged from [illegible] contemporary schools, seems wonderfully [illegible]. But no educated listener [illegible] real breadth, and dignity [illegible] the influence of that exquisite perception [illegible] which sheds such a peculiar light [illegible] that Mozart wrote. Under Mr. Bergmann’s sympathetic direction, the performance was appreciative and poetical. It seemed to us that the first movement was taken at a very slow pace, the allegro vivace being quite as deliberate as the subsequent allegretto, but we are not disposed to find fault with Mr. Bergmann’s tempo, so long as it does not produce the effect of dragging, which it certainly did not in this case. The andante cantabile, in which the violins are muted, was played with great feeling, and the minuet was charming.

Raff’s ‘Lenore’ Symphony is no longer a novelty in this city, and it will perhaps be enough to say that the performance was smooth and delicate, though we missed something of that richness of tone and variety of color which were so remarkable in Theodore Thomas’s interpretation of the same work. The fullness of Mr. Bergmann’s string orchestra, however, was a great advantage in the beautiful andante.

Miss Henne deserves our compliments for her good taste in the choice of songs, and we wish that every lady who is honored by an invitation to sing before the Philharmonic Society had as correct an idea of what is appropriate for such a concert. If she lacks all the grandeur of voice and breadth of style which are required for intensely dramatic music like Gluck’s celebrated scena, she has at all events a true artistic feeling, and she understands the pathos of that noble composition. She gave also a refined and agreeable interpretation of Rubinstein’s beautiful songs (‘O Ask Not’ and ‘Echo’), and left upon her audience a most agreeable impression. Mr. Guyon, the pianist, cannot be said to have made a distinct impression of any kind. He began the familiar Romance very well, with a clear sonorous tone, a distinct but graceful touch, and well-marked rhythm; but the Rondo was altogether commonplace.”

Review: New York Herald, 16 March 1874, 3.

“The fifth concert season of the Philharmonic Society took place on Saturday evening at the Academy of Music. The first orchestral work on the bill was the ‘Jupiter’ symphony of Mozart, No. 4, in C major, opus 38, one of the grandest works in the symphonic répertoire. The performance of this work was characterized by more brio, finish and care than has been generally found at those concerts of late years. The passages for the wind instruments—which are by no means easy, and which at times tax the powers of the performers to the utmost extent—were admirably given, and the strings showed more perceptible color than usual. The other orchestral work in the programme was Raff’s ‘Lenore’ symphony, which was brought out some time ago by Mr. Theodore Thomas with great réclame. The soloists were Miss Antonio Henne, contralto, and M. Emile Guyon, pianist. The former gave an interesting rendering of the well-known scena from Gluck’s ‘Orpheus,’ ‘Che faro senza Euridice,’ but failed utterly to interpret the fanciful songs of Rubinstein which she selected for the occasion. M. Guyon played the romance and rondo from Chopin’s concerto in E minor. It is hardly in consonance with the true Philharmonic spirit to give only extracts from such a work. One would naturally expect at such a concert to hear it in its entirety. M. Guyon has a neat, graceful style; not of much breadth and lacking in warmth and spirit. A few false notes here and there betrayed the presence of nervousness; but the general effect of his performance was calculated to inspire a feeling of desire to hear him again when less affected by nervousness.”

Review: Dwight's Journal of Music, 21 March 1874, 199.

“At the fifth concert of the New York Philharmonic Saturday evening, March 14, two symphonies were played: Mozart’s in C major, No. 4, known as the ‘Jupiter Symphony,’ and Raff’s Symphony No. 5, ‘Lenore.’ Both of these works are already familiar to us through the interpretation of Mr. Thomas. The society, which of late has been singularly unfortunate in the choice of its solo performers fared on this occasion even worse than usual; Miss Antonia Hermer [Henne], who has an agreeable voice (but no method) sang the ‘Che faro’ from Orpheus and two songs by Rubinstein (O Frage Nicht, and Nachhall,) and Mr. Emile Guyon, who has nothing whatever to recommend him, played at a Romance and Rondo from Chopin’s Piano Forte concerto in E minor, Op. 11.” –A. A. C.