George W. Morgan Concert: 8th

Event Information

Venue(s):
Irving Hall

Manager / Director:
Lafayette F. Harrison

Conductor(s):
George W. Colby

Price: $.50; $1 reserved

Event Type:
Chamber (includes Solo)

Performance Forces:
Instrumental, Vocal

Record Information

Status:
Published

Last Updated:
13 August 2016

Performance Date(s) and Time(s)

10 Jun 1866, 8:00 PM

Program Details

Sacred Concert (last of the season)

Performers and/or Works Performed

Citations

1)
Announcement: New York Post, 08 June 1866.
2)
Announcement: New York Herald, 09 June 1866, 8.
3)
Announcement: New-York Times, 10 June 1866, 4.
4)
Announcement: New York Herald, 10 June 1866, 5.

“The last sacred concert will take place at Irving Hall this evening.”

5)
Advertisement: New York Herald, 10 June 1866, 7.

Although Colby is listed as “Conductor,” he only appeared as an accompanist for this concert.

6)
Review: New-York Times, 11 June 1866, 4.

“The last of Mr. Harrison’s exceedingly popular and thoroughly delightful Sunday concerts took place yesterday evening at Irving Hall. The attendance as usual was overflowing. Long before the time of commencing there was a queue of payees extending to Fifteenth-street. There is need of some entertainment of this kind, and we are glad to know that Mr. Harrison is sufficiently satisfied with the result of his experiment to announce that the concerts will be resumed on the first Sunday in September. The programme last evening last evening was unusually liberal, numbering fourteen pieces. The artists were [lists the performers] . . . and Mr. G. W. Colby (conductor, and let me add here one of the very best accompanyists we have ever listened to). This strong army of favorite singers and performers was of course sufficient to delight the audience, inconveniently crowded as it was. We have at various times spoken of most of these well-known names. Miss Kate McDonald is, however, new to the community. She is young and petite. Her voice is a soprano of good but not remarkable power. It is sufficient for the slight demands which she now makes upon it. We have rarely heard a voice of more beautiful quality, or one which answered so quickly to the intelligence of the singer. Its ductility is simply amazing.  Intervals which veterans attack with caution seem to form themselves on her lips, and in the difficult process of diminishing or augmenting the sound, she meets with no kind of obstacle.  Let us add that Miss McDonald’s taste is excellent, and that in her phrasing she exhibits an earnestness and warmth which we scarcely look for in one so young, and rarely find in her seniors. It is to be hoped that the lady’s voice may not be unduly forced, for the time is not distant when, with proper study and attention, she must command a leading position in the world of art. Her pieces last night were rendered exquisitely and in each instance obtained an encore. The compliment was well merited. Of the gentlemen we have already names it is unnecessary to speak. They are always good. Mlle. Toedt played acceptably, and was warmly applauded. The concert, indeed, merits nothing but praise.”

7)
Review: New York Post, 11 June 1866.

“The last of the Sunday evening concerts at Irving Hall was a crowning success of a series of entertainments of a very superior character, and was listened to by a large audience.”

8)
Review: New-York Daily Tribune, 12 June 1866, 4.

“The last of Mr. Harrison’s series of Sunday Evening Concerts, at Irving Hall, was a brilliant success in every way. The performance was both varied and excellent—the artists concerned never sang or played better.  Miss Matilda Toedt is improving most rapidly; her style is broadening, her manner is more assured, and she plays with more passionate abandon.  Miss Kate Macdonald fully sustained the encomiums we passed upon her first essay in public. Her voice is charming, her method excellent, and her execution and intonation clear and true. She must, however, be careful of over tasking her voice, which is of a timbre which will bear so much forcing and no more. We have rarely known a more uniformly excellent series of concerts, and we hope that they will be renewed early in the Fall.”

9)
Review: New York Herald, 17 June 1866, 5.

“The short season of sacred concerts given at Irving Hall during the months of April, May and June closed on Sunday last.  Those Sunday evening reunions became extremely popular, and were very well attended.  They will be resumed in September, on a much larger and grander scale.”