Thomas Orchestral and Promenade Concert: 1st

Event Information

Venue(s):
Belvedere Lion Park

Proprietor / Lessee:
Paul Falk

Conductor(s):
Theodore Thomas [see also Thomas Orchestra]

Event Type:
Orchestral

Performance Forces:
Instrumental

Record Information

Status:
Published

Last Updated:
17 October 2017

Performance Date(s) and Time(s)

04 Jun 1865, 3:00 PM

Program Details

The name and numbering of this series of concerts by Theodore Thomas and his orchestra at Falk’s Belvedere Lion Park are inconsistent throughout the citations found and recorded by Music in Gotham, and especially throughout the month of June:

On series’ name:
In June, the papers use different names for this concert series in advertisements and announcements, and no single paper is consistent within itself. Titles used in the citations include: Symphony and Promenade Concert, Grand Promenade Concert, Grand Orchestral Concert, and Popular Concert; performances on Wednesday tend to be billed as “Symphony and Promenade” concerts and performances on Saturday as “Grand Orchestra/Promenade” concerts, but there are exceptions to this. “Grand Orchestral Concert” is favored by all of the citations beginning in July.

On series’ numbering:
The New York Herald was the only paper to advertise a performance on 06/04/65 and call it the first of this series; that same advertisement notes scheduled performances for every subsequent Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday (with no end date). No other Sunday concert by the Thomas Orchestra or at Belvedere Lion Park, though, is announced or advertised by any of the papers, including the New York Herald. Moreover, the citations in both the New York Herald and the New York Times state on 06/07/65 that that date’s performance is the first of the series. Concerts are then sporadically and inaccurately numbered through the fifteenth of the series, but from the fifteenth of the series onward, the series numbers in the citations mostly align with those assigned by Music in Gotham.

For these reasons, Music and Gotham has titled all of these events “Thomas Orchestral and Promenade Concert” and used a contiguous numbering beginning with the concert on 06/04/65. By doing so, Music in Gotham accounts for every concert that was likely a part of this series, and aligns its numbers with those in the citations beginning with the fifteenth concert on 07/22/65 (the point at which the citations largely standardize). The citations for each event provide the divergent series titles and series numbers (when given) used by the New York Times and New York Herald in advertisements and announcements. Citations from other papers are included when available, but these are fewer in number. Discrepancies about start times and orchestra size are also recorded throughout the citations.

Additionally, the performances were free, but it is irregularly noted by the citations until about halfway through the series; the price is listed as “free” only when Music in Gotham records a citation that includes this price information.

Performers and/or Works Performed

2)
Composer(s): Fahrbach
3)
aka Diebische Elster, Die; Thieving magpie
Composer(s): Rossini
4)
Composer(s): Gung'l
5)
aka Fantasia on themes from Wagner's Tannhauser; Fantasie on themes from Wagner's Tannhäuser
Composer(s): Unknown composer
6)
Composer(s): Rossini
7)
Composer(s): Strauss
8)
Composer(s): Hetsch
9)
Composer(s): Auber
10)
aka Dom Sebastian, King of Portugal; Dom Sebastien; Don Sebastian
Composer(s): Donizetti
11)
Composer(s): Hamm
12)
aka Artist's; Artist; Kunstler
Composer(s): Strauss
13)
Composer(s): Weber

Citations

1)
: Theodore Thomas, vol 2 [eds. Upton and Stein], 0000.

     Program.

2)
Advertisement: New York Herald, 03 June 1865, 7.

"EVERY WEDNESDAY SATURDAY AND SUNDAY.

GRAND CONCERT.

Commencing at three o'clock P.M.

The first concert will take place on SUNDAY, JUNE 4, 1865.

The orchestra comprising thirty of the best artists in the city.

Conductor,

MR. THEODORE THOMAS.

The first concert will take place on SUNDAY, JUNE 4, 1865.

PAUL FALK, Proprietor."

3)
Announcement: New-York Times, 05 June 1865, 5.

This is either a review of this concert or a general announcement for the Thomas series at Belvedere Lion Park in June 1865. It's impossible to read aside from a word here or there (one of which is "Falk"). There is a New York Times announcement on 06/07/65 for the concert at Belvedere Lion Park that afternoon which references this review/announcement, but it provides no further details about its contents. (See Thomas Orchestra Promenade Concert: 2nd, 06/07/65.)