Liederkranz Concert, 1862-63 Season: 1st

“[A] series of four subscription concerts.”

“Then there is the ‘Liederkranz,’ under the direction of Mr. Paur, announcing four concerts made up of some rare selections; such as: Finale from Mendelssohn’s Lorely [sic]; Gade’s ‘Comala;’ the ‘Mignon-Requiem’ and the ‘Manfred’ music (melo-drama, solo and chorus) by Schumann; the Symphony-Cantata by Mendelssohn; Eight-part choruses by Palestrina and Lotti; Gloria from Beethoven’s great Mass in D; and Credo from the Mass written by Liszt for the Convent at Gran. Truly a tempting feast in these dry times!”

“The German Liderkranz, of New York – one of the most vigorous and excellent of our many admirable Teutonic singing societies – will give the first of a series of four subscription concerts. . . . At these important entertainments it is intended to bring out several musical works of great merit, by modern composers, as well as a number of classical compositions of celebrated old masters, works which have never been performed in this country.”

          “Irving Hall.--The first grand subscription concert of the German Liederkranz came off last evening at Irving Hall, and attracted an extremely brilliant audience. It is proper that the success of these admirable entertainments should be marked and conspicuous, for their merits are manifold, and their cost a mere trifle. The Society that manifests this laudable spirit of enterprise can boast of a a well-balanced and powerful chorus, composed of amateurs who pay for the privilege of singing, and regard the preliminary study as a labor of love. With the addition of an orchestra of forty performers, the combination, it will be seen, is of a sort that could not be brought together in any other way. It is of more than philharmonic proportions, without any of the pretence of the latter association, and at one-half of their price of admission. We refer to these things because they should be known by those who love good music. The programme last night opened with an overture by Gade, which, without being well defined, possessed much boldness of treatment; then followed--to take the instrumental morceaux first--the finale to 'Lorely,' by Mendelssohn, a kind of music which one cannot readily classify as operatic, and then a concluding overture by Lobe. One of the gems of the first part of the programme was the violin concerto (opus 64) by Mendelssohn, performed by Mr. Bruno Wollenhaupt, with a scattered orchestral accompaniment under the somewhat uncertain  bâton of Mr. Paur.. Mr. Wollenhaupt has largeness of style and abundant execution. His conception of this well-known work was extremely fine. The members of the Liederkranz sang various choruses during the evening with rare precision and admirable feeling. Madame Rotter. from the German Opera, also assisted on the occasion, singing Schubert's Serenade, and attempting two other pieces–one of them from ‘Lorely’–with hardly the same success. The orchestra and chorus were the attractions of the concert, and both were first rate.”

          “The first grand concert of the series of four announced by the German Liederkranz took place last night at Irving Hall. The orchestral selections included several novelties, such as Gade's overture, 'Michael Angelo,' and Lobe's overture 'Reiselust.' The choral selections were from Hiller, Lachner and Mendelssohn, the latter represented by the finale to ‘Loreley,’ in which Madame Rotter took the solo.  This lady also sang Schubert’s ‘Ave Maria’ with great acceptation.

          The chief success of the evening was, however, the excellent violin playing of Mr. Bruno Wollenhaupt, who gave Mendelssohn's violin concerto (op. 64) in E, and a caprice of Vieuxtemps. Wollenhaupt is a careful player of the best styles of violin music; and before an audience particularly fitted to both enjoy and criticize the most classic violin performances, he achieved a success which excited his hearers to a pitch of enthusiasm rare in a concert room.

          The concert was largely attended.”

     “The German Liederkranz Society gave their first of four subscription concerts on the evening of Nov. 13th. The programme was not happily selected, and was, with few exceptions, fatiguing. Gade's 'Michel-Angelo' overture opened the proceedings; it is interesting, sonorously instrumented, mannered, characteristic opf the composer, uncharacteristic of the subject. Lobe's overture 'Reiselust,' Hiller's 'Song of the Spirits,' Vinz. Lachner's 'Hymn to music,' and Fr. Lachner's 'Sturmes Mythe,' are well made works, devoid of the divine fire.  Mr. Bruno Wollenhaupt played Mendelssohn’s exquisite violin concerto, which Mr. Mollenhauer gave us recently at the first Philharmonic concert.  The comparison was not in favor of Mr. Wollenhaupt, who was more happy, however, in his execution of Vieuxtemps' 'Fantasie Caprice.' Madame Rotter sang Schubert's 'Ave Maria,' and the solo part in Mendelssohn's 'Loreley' finale; she is less successful as a concert singer, than as the soubrette of the German opera, where her sprightly acting has so enlivening an effect. The ‘Loreley’ finale was the feature of the concert, but so soon after hearing the impassioned ‘Fidelio’ we were not in a mood to appreciate Mendelssohn’s cold finish as it deserved to be enjoyed.”