James M. Wehli Matinee Concert: 1st

“The brilliant reputation which Mr. Wehli has won by his sheer genius will, alone, insure a brilliant attendance on this occasion; he is, par excellence, the fashionable pianist of the day, and is certainly more popular than any pianist except Gottschalk, that has visited us since De Meyer. During his brief visit to England last Summer, he composed several new pieces, among them a Fantasia on themes from Verdi’s ‘Un Ballo in Maschera,’ which is among the most brilliant of his compositions, and fully as effective as his Faust fantasia, together with other lighter pieces of a most graceful character. There will doubtless be much curiosity to hear the new creation of this extraordinary pianist.”

“Mr. James M. Wehli, the celebrated pianist, gave his first Matinee at Irving Hall on Saturday afternoon before a very large and elegant audience, which was attracted by the brilliant talents of that distinguished artist. Mr. Wehli’s style has special attractions for the public, his selections being generally of a dashing, florid character, even his large pieces being founded upon subjects well known to all. In addition to this he is individual in his style, like Gottschalk or Thalberg, and impresses his hearers by his unmistable [sic] originality of style and manner. Mr. Wehli is not only a perfect master of all the mechanical difficulties of the piano, clear and brilliant in his scale passages, remarkable for his bravura, for his extraordinary passages of thirds, sixths and octaves, for his unerring certainty in large skips, for his clear and decided articulation of complicated phrases, for the freedom and brilliancy of his left hand, but in addition to these acquirements he treats the piano in accordance with its character and its large capacities. Under his hands it has vocal powers and capacities for sentiment and expression, which are unrevealed by ordinary concert players. He thoroughly understands the art of contrast, but his playing never degenerates into mere physical force followed by p. p. whispers. He controls the power, by strength of finger and flexibility of wrist, and produces the subdued pianissimo by the exquisite and sympathetic delicacy of his touch. In these distinguishing points of excellence Mr. Wehli has certainly no superior and very few equals—in this country none.

His performance on Saturday excited the usual enthusiasm; his grand force and his exquisite shading combined, acted as a spell upon his audience, which expressed its delight in reiterated and unanimous encores. It is unquestionable that those who listen to Wehli’s playing derive from it both pleasure and instruction—pleasure from his display of the perfect mechanism and grace of the art, and instruction from his rare and beautiful treatment of the instrument in the development of its grand and expressive qualities. It is not, therefore, a matter of surmise that Mr. Wehli always attracts the most accomplished and talented of our amateur and professional pianists in addition to the general public.

Miss Antonia Henne, who assisted on this occasion, is a rising and talented young artist. She has a voice of exceeding beauty and flexibility, sings with taste and expression and needs only experience to give her that freedom and abandon necessary for effective public singing.”