Sunday Evening Concert: 11th

Event Information

Venue(s):
Steinway Hall

Manager / Director:
H. L. [impressario] Bateman
Lafayette F. Harrison

Conductor(s):
Theodore Thomas [see also Thomas Orchestra]

Price: $.50; $1 reserved

Event Type:
Orchestral

Performance Forces:
Instrumental, Vocal

Record Information

Status:
Published

Last Updated:
7 December 2017

Performance Date(s) and Time(s)

11 Nov 1866, Evening

Program Details

Owing to its popularity, this concert series was moved from Irving Hall to Steinway Hall in order to accommodate larger audiences. This is the first performance of the series given at Steinway Hall.

It is also the first concert in this series for which Harrison collaborated with Bateman and his concert troupe. As per the review in the New York Herald: "[Harrison] has recently entered into an association with Mr. H. L. BATEMAN, and the numerous clients of both gentlemen attended in force last evening."

Performers and/or Works Performed

2)
aka If guilty blood
Composer(s): Handel
Participants:  Euphrosyne Parepa
3)
aka "With verdure clad"; Schopfung, Die. Nun beut die Flur das frische Grun
Composer(s): Haydn
Participants:  Euphrosyne Parepa
4)
aka Prayer; Preghiera; Mose in Egitto, Dal tuo stellato soglio; O esca viatorum
Composer(s): Rossini
5)
Composer(s): Schira
Participants:  Pasquale Brignoli
6)
aka Chaconne, unidentified
Composer(s): Bach
Participants:  Carl Rosa
7)
Composer(s): Mercadante
Participants:  Signor Fortuna
8)
Composer(s): Rossini
Participants:  Pietro Ferranti
11)
aka Porteur d’eau, Le; Wasserträger, Der; Water carrier, The
Composer(s): Cherubini
Participants:  Thomas Orchestra
12)
Composer(s): Wagner
Participants:  Thomas Orchestra
13)
aka Prophete. Coronation march; Grand processional march; Krönungsmarsch; Crowning march
Composer(s): Meyerbeer
Participants:  Thomas Orchestra

Citations

1)
Announcement: New York Herald, 04 November 1866, 5.

Brief; appended to announcement of the tenth concert in the series. "The eleventh concert will take place November 11, at Steinway Hall."

2)
Announcement: New York Herald, 06 November 1866, 5.
3)
Advertisement: New York Herald, 08 November 1866.

"Mr. L. L. [sic] HARRISON has the pleasure to announce that he has effected an association with Mr. H.L. BATEMAN, by which they will be enabled to introduce to the patrons of the Sunday Concerts, &c., all the members of the renowned combinations known as the

BATEMAN TROUPE."

Lists performers.

4)
Advertisement: New-York Times, 09 November 1866, 7.
5)
Announcement: New York Post, 10 November 1866.

The Sunday concerts which have been given under the auspices of Mr. L.F. Harrison, at Irving Hall, have been extraordinarily successful, so much so that the accommodations of that Hall have proved far from sufficient. To meet this difficulty and at the same time to draw out a still larger attendance, he has engaged the brilliant Bateman concert company, all of whom will participate in the concert given to-morrow evening. Mr. Theodore Thomas, with his splendid orchestra, will assist."

6)
Announcement: New-York Times, 10 November 1866, 5.

Part of listing of amusements. Includes performers.

7)
Announcement: New-York Daily Tribune, 10 November 1866, 5.

"Mr. L.F. Harrison, having made arrangements with Mr. Bateman for his fine concert company, will give his eleventh Sudnay evening concert to-morrow evenign, at Steinway's Concert Hall, instead of Irving Hall. This change was made necessary by the overcrowding of Irving Hall at the last two concerts, when hundreds of persons were unable to obtain admission. To-morrow evening the whole of the Bateman Company will appear, which make the performance one of the most brilliant of the series."

8)
Announcement: New York Herald, 10 November 1866, 5.

"Sunday Concerts.--Mr. L.F. Harrison announces that he has effected an association with Mr. H.L. Bateman, by which the artists of the Bateman troupe will hereafter take part in the Sunday concerts. These admirable entertainments have won their way steadily with the public, until they have become a feature of metropolitan life. Irving Hall, spacious and elegant as it is, was insufficient to accommodate the large numbers who patronize these concerts. The eleventh concert will therefore take place at Steinway Hall. Owing to the association to which we have just referred the entire Bateman troupe will on this occasion take part in the programme. We shall be greatly astonished if the regular patrons of the Sunday concerts do not muster in force on this extraordinary occasion. It will be a treat to hear Mme. Parepa in her grand classic arias."

9)
Announcement: New-York Times, 11 November 1866, 4.

"Steinway Hall.--Our readers must not forget that the great Bateman troupe appears to-night at the eleventh Sunday concert. The combination between Mr. Bateman and Mr. L.F. Harrison promsies to be most fortunate and opportune for all musical purposes. The Sunday cocnerts were popular before; with the injection of the Bateman element (Mme. Parepa, Sig. Brignoli, Sig. Ferranti, Sig. Fortuna, Mr. S.B. Mills, Mr. Carl Rosa, and Mr. J.L. Hatton,) they will be irresistible."

10)
Review: New York Herald, 12 November 1866, 5.

“The audience at the first Sunday concert in Steinway Hall last evening was far larger than ever before assembled in that hall not excepting even the opening night. Three thousand people at a concert is a rare sight in this city, and we can safely place last night’s audience at that number at the very least. Not only was every seat occupied, but a large proportion of the audience had to content themselves with ‘standing room only.’ It was a good natured audience too, for everything on the programme was encored. The orchestra, under the direction of Mr. Thomas, played the Rienzi and Wasserträger overtures, and the entire Bateman troupe assisted in the concert. It seemed as if the sight of the immense audience inspired all the artists to unwonted exertions. Signor Fortuna surprised us in the aria, ‘Alla Pace,’ from Il Giuramento. His voice was much stronger and he threw more fire and animation into it than at any previous concert since his début here. Mr. Carl Rosa is deserving of much praise for his artistic rendering of that chef d’oeuvre of violin difficulties, the Chaconne, by Bach. We have spoken before of this piece, the score of which is a curiosity and a terra ignola to any save a first class violinist. Both Brignoli and Parepa received an ovation which was well deserved, and beyond doubt sincere on the part of the audience. The former sang one of his best pieces, the charming reverie, ‘Sognai,’ by Schira. It is a simple, plaintive theme, set off with orchestration such as one seldom meets outside the opera. Mme. Parepa achieved a fresh triumph in Handel’s magnificent air ‘In Guiltless Blood.’ It is in oratorio alone that the grand volume of her voice and its richness of expression obtain full scope, and it is a treat to hear her in one of Handel or Haydn’s sublime arias. Signor Ferranti sang the ‘Pro Peccatis’ of Rossini’s Stabat Mater pretty well, although he seemed entirely out of his element, and we expected every minute a tra, la, la refrain to burst forth. Mr. Mills played a selection from Chopin’s imaginative concerto in E minor with the taste and finish of a true artist. The well known prayer from ‘Moses in Egypt,’ with orchestra and piano, was sung by Mme. Parepa and Signori Brignoli, Ferranti and Fortuna.”

11)
Review: New-York Times, 12 November 1866, 5.

“The full capacity of the Steinway Hall was tested last evening, on the occasion of the eleventh Sunday concert. These entertainments, as our readers are aware, have taken place heretofore at Irving Hall. Mr. HARRISON, to whom we are indebted for them, has recently entered into an association with Mr. H. L. BATEMAN, and the numerous clients of both gentlemen attended in force last evening. By 7 o’clock East Fourteenth-street was lined with a dense mass of human beings waiting for a chance to purchase their tickets. The sight was no doubt gratifying, but to the enthusiasts we would suggest it were a simpler plan to procure their tickets in advance. We have no doubt the Messrs. BATEMAN and HARRISON would consent to the arrangement, and the mind of the policeman would be relieved of much care. By 8 o’clock—at which hour precisely the overture commenced—fully three thousand persons were seated or standing in the hall and its two galleries. Notwithstanding this unusual attendance there was no discomfort. The means of ingress and egress are nearly perfect, and the dimensions of the hall, and its novel and successful method of being lighted, admit of perfect ventilation. The programme was admirable. Mr. BATEMAN’S artists are of the first degree of excellence.  The public owes him a debt of gratitude for his enterprise in bringing such talent from Europe, and in the matter of applause the public seemed fully disposed to liquidate this debt. The public expected change for each note, and resolutely attempted to encore every piece. A few, among whom were the artists, made a feeble resistance, and so we are able to announce the termination of the concert and to congratulate, not too prematurely Messrs. BATEMAN and HARRISON on a well-merited success. Mme. PAREPA sang two of her best sacred pieces—‘If Guiltless Blood’ by HANDEL, and ‘With Verdure Clad,’ by HAYDN. There is nothing simple in these works. They require great compass of voice, overtopping and undermining any modern composition. Even where voice is found for their interpretation it is difficult to find an artist whose phrasing is clear and declamatory without being flashy and inarticulate. In Mme. PAREPA every excellence is combined.  We have never heard an oratorio singer who possessed qualifications so ample and yet so exquisitely under control. The lady was encored in both pieces. Signor BRIGNOLI was in admirable voice, and sang a couple of pieces with fine artistic skill. The Reverié, by SCHIRA, is a dreamy, thoughtful composition, exquisitely varied in its coloring and instrumented quite effectively. This, too, was of course encored. The same favor was bestowed on CARL ROSA’S able rendition of BACH’S Chaconne, but the young violinist, after being twice called out, declined the honor. Signor FORTUNA sang the aria, Alla Pace, from ‘Giuramento,’ with élan and fullness of voice. We have not heard him to such advantage on any previous night of the season. Signor FERRANTI stepped airily from lively to severe, and proved that he could occupy either extreme in a satisfactory manner. He sang pro peccatis from the ‘Stabat Mater’ finely. Mr. S. B. MILLS played the Romanza and Rondo from CHOPIN with superb skill. Such playing is simply perfect. It leaves the critic no other task than the pleasing one of bestowing unlimited praise on one of the youngest and best of living pianists. The orchestra under Mr. THEODORE THOMAS was of course admirable.”

12)
Review: Dwight's Journal of Music, 24 November 1866, 349.

"Musical Correspondence, New York, Nov. 19: The Sunday Evening Concerts formerly given at Irving Hall, and now transferred to Steinway's have become decidedly successful with the public. The programmes are made up of symphonies, overtures, etc., by Beethoven, Haydn, Mozart, and other composers, played by an excellent orchestra under the direction of Mr. Thomas, with vocal and instrumental solos by various artists. At the last two of them, lately, Madame Parepa sang, and as finely as we have ever heard her, arias by Handel, Haydn, etc., with very great effect.  The other members of the Bateman troupe acceptably assisted; Signor Ferranti, in a 'Stabat Mater' air, apparently finding it difficult to avoid gliding into his more familiar rôle of Figaro. Carl Rosa awakened a genuine burst of popular enthusiasm by his fine playing of Bach's splendid 'Chaconne;' his audience would evidently have been well pleased to hear it three times. Mr. Mills gave Chopin's Romanza and Finale from the Concerto in E, with great taste and finish, on a resonant Steinway Grand."

13)
Review: Dwight's Journal of Music, 24 November 1866, 352.

"Carl Rosa, the young violinist of the Bateman concerts, has at length taken that position in New York which was from the first accorded him in Boston.  The enthusiasm which he awakened here last winter was in singular contrast with the coldness with which he had been received by New York audiences and critics. Most of the latter had scarcely mentioned him, while they bestowed all their praise upon the singer and the cornet-player; some patronizingly said: 'Very well for one of his age' with study he will improve, &c.; while others, like Mr. Watson, of the Tribune and the Art Journal, only mention him disparagingly. But this is all changed. Rosa has completely won the great audience in Steinway Hall during these last weeks; and as will be seen by our New York Correspondence, his playing of Bach's Chaconne, before an immense crowd, was encored with the greatest enthusiasm: The musicians crowded round him and assured him that his position was now taken, and the critics had to chime in."