Eben’s Concert

     “[Eben’s] first concert in this city.”

     “Concert,—Mr. F. J. Eben, the popular performer on, and professor of the flute, will give his annual concert at Irving Hall, on Saturday evening. [Lists performers.] An interesting feature of the programme will be a quartette of flutes.”

     “Prof. Eben, the celebrated flutist, gives a concert this evening at Irving Hall, which has more than the ordinary claims to public favor. Beside being one of the most accomplished and distinguished of living performers, Prof. Eben has been always ready to volunteer his services for every concert given in aid of any benevolent object, and has thus sacrificed a great deal of valuable time and strength in aid of others. As a gentleman he is universally respected and esteemed. Beside his own share in the performances, his programme for this evening presents a strong array of distinguished performers; and on every account the concert will be one of the most attractive of the season.”

     “This evening Mr. Eben, the well-known flutist, will give his first concert at Irving Hall.  He has a large array of talent to assist him, all well known and popular with the public.  Mr. Eben has a large circle of friends, the public has recognised his abilities and we trust that on this occasion his first concert after many years residence, he will be supported liberally.”

     Saturday evening, the celebrated flutist Eben gave a big vocal and instrumental concert at Irving Hall, at which the charming Miss Laura Harris and MM. Barclay, Mills, Mollenhauser [sic], Schmitz and Bristow were heard.

     “Mr. F. J. Eben’s concert at Irving Hall, on Saturday evening, was an exceedingly agreeable affair. The gentleman is well known and esteemed as one of our best flute-players. His excellence on the instrument was exhibited in a fantasia on themes from ‘Norma,’ which he played exceedingly well, and won and merited an encore. With three amateurs, Mr. Eben also gave us an agreeable movement from a quartette by Kuhlan [sic], and performed, likewise, in a duo for flute and piano, and in a romanza for flute and horn, (the well-known moliere from ‘Le Clair.’) The remaining numbers of the programme were interpreted by Miss Harris, who sings with more care than was her wont; Mrs. J. H. Barclay, whose true and pure contralto voice is always heard with pleasure; Mr. S. B. Mills, whose solo was of course encored; Mr. Ed. Mollenhauer, who suffered the same fate; Mr. Ernest Perring, and Mr. Schmitz. Mr. Geo. F. Bristow conducted.”

“Our excellent flutist, Mr. Eben, gave a most interesting concert in Irving Hall. We are pleased to be able to add that it was absolutely successful. A piece for four flutes made such a singular impression and had to be repeated. Accordingly, it seems that Cherubini’s old well-known answer to the question, ‘What is more boring than a flute?’ – ‘Two flutes’ – does not apply when it comes to four of them.”