Philharmonic Society of New York Private Rehearsal

Event Information

Venue(s):
Academy of Music

Conductor(s):
Carl Bergmann

Event Type:
Orchestral

Record Information

Status:
Published

Last Updated:
16 October 2025

Performance Date(s) and Time(s)

23 Jan 1874, 2:30 PM

Performers and/or Works Performed

1)
LIST OF PERFORMER(S)/ORGANIZATION(S)
Participants:  Philharmonic Society of New York
2)
Symphony, no. 4, op. 50, E minor
aka Arcadian symphony
Composer(s): Bristow
3)
Michel Angelo, op.39
Composer(s): Gade
4)
Faust-Ouvertüre, Eine, op. 59
Composer(s): Wagner

Citations

1)
: Strong, George Templeton. New-York Historical Society. The Diaries of George Templeton Strong, 1863-1869: Musical Excerpts from the MSs, transcribed by Mary Simonson. ed. by Christopher Bruhn., 23 January 1874.

“Private Philharmonic rehearsal 2 p.m. Bristow’s Arcadian symphony took me by surprise. It’s much more than tolerable & respectable. It’s fresh, vigorous, somewhat original & as a whole pleasant to hear. It strikes me that Bristow is fully entitled to rank with the Raffs & Rubinsteins, at least. I heard the work without the least prejudice in its favor—indeed I expected to be bored & angry at the production of a specimen of ‘some trash,’ when we might be listening to Mozart or Beethoven. Gade’s overture to ‘Michelangelo’ is showy & good, but the subtlety of expression that makes ‘Michelangelo’ an appropriate title, rather than Pietro Perugino, or J. M. W. Turner is beyond my grasp. Wagner’s ‘Faust’ overture seems to me tetanic rather than Titanic. Why Faust, & not Cornelius Agrippa, Sinson Magno or Michael Scott? After rehearsal, a meeting of the society, and then, of the directors.”