Chamber Music Concert: 1st

“Mr. Theodore Thomas announces four soirées of chamber music, to be given with Mr. William Mason and the other artists belonging to the original Quartette at Steinway’s rooms.  They will occur on February 17th, [sic] March 7th, March 21st, and April 4th.”

“The first soiree of Chamber music took place at Steinway’s rooms on Thursday last, when Mozart’s Divertimento in D No. 1, Beethoven’s familiar trio in E flat, and Schumann’s Quartette in A minor were performed. The execution of these works was excellent, and the interpretation was both scholarly and skillful. Mr. Mason played on a small upright piano—the latest invention of the house of Steinway, and one of the most singularly-beautiful instruments we have ever listened to. It possesses the quality of a grand piano without, of course, the overwhelming power of that instrument. It suffices in every way for the interpretation of concerted music, and permits, which a grand piano does not, the other instruments to be heard.”

The performance of all musicians was naturally highly satisfactory.

“Messrs. Mason and Thomas have inaugurated the twelfth season of their ‘Soirees of Chamber Music.’ How greatly are the admirers of classical music in the community indebted to these persistent and painstaking artists!  It is undoubtedly more a labor of love with them than anything else, as the music they perform is of too high an order to attract the masses, and therefore the pecuniary result cannot be large.  Their reward is found in the delight of their appreciative listeners, and in the contribution thus made to the sum total of genuine musical cultivation in this city.”