Thomas Sunday Evening Concert: 25th

Brief. "We also note that the Soprano, Miss Kate McDonald, will make her appearance at the Sunday Concerts of Mr. Harrison."

“Mr. Harrison’s twenty-fifth grand Sunday concert took place at Steinway Hall last night before an immense audience. The programme consisted of the Freischutz and Lodowiska overtures, Don Giovanni fantasia, ‘The Standard Bearer,’ and a march by Gungl, all for the orchestra; a flute solo by Heindl, the Rakoczy march and ‘Recollections of Home,’ played by Mills, and Schubert’s Ave Maria, Gottschalk’s Cradle Song, and ‘Many a Time and Oft,’ sung by Miss Kate McDonald. The orchestral selections were admirably rendered by the excellent body of musicians engaged in these concerts. Mr. Heindl delighted everybody with his beautiful flute solo. Mr. Mills’ style of playing the Rakoczy march is too well known to need further praise here, and Miss McDonald’s voice is ever acceptable in public with its birdlike tone and artistic cultivation.”

"The last Sunday concert was given with an unusually light programme, but was remarkable for the reappearance of Miss Kate McDonald, and the Sunday debut of Mr. John Clark.  The former is a keen slight, sympathetic vocalist, whose delivery of Topliff’s graceful song, ‘Consider the Lilies,’ was, to say the least, acceptable.  Mr. Clark sang a song supposed to be from Mozart, and curiously and mysteriously entitled “Who treads the path of duty.”  We were puzzled to think what passage from ‘Music’s immortal child’ came under that description; but recognized at last our old sacred acquaintance ‘In diesen heilgen hallen.’  The version which has been misapplied to this grand air is moral enough to be tedious in two verses: but, poetically speaking, it is profane.  The original, however, is as sacred as music-lover and Sunday worshipper could wish, for it invites the weary heart to a temple of grandeur and of rest.  It was not in the best taste to give us the irrelevant and profane version, when, at the worst a good translation could be had; but Mr. Clark’s rendering was careful and clever, albeit wanting in the quality which all bassos need to truly sing Mozart, and which only one out of a thousand possess--we mean imagination--as necessary to the singer as to the poet of composer.”