The Press.
London, England, 1857-05-23 00:00:00

CONCERTS.

JFAN SEBASTIAN B ACM'S antiquated and contra-
puntal overture in D was quite a curiosity at the
third Philharmonic concert. Professor Bennett, the
conductor, was quite right in his veneration for the
great master, the father of all the great composers,
the pioneer of classic art, to introduce this clever
" suite"—which is the proper term—so full of ideas
carried out in such a masterly manner. Next to
Bach, the debut of Rubinstein the pianist, after an
absence of some years, when he visited London as a
youth, was the great event. He performed a con
certo in G, a nocturne in G flat, and a polonaise in
B tint. Of his wonderful powers as an executant
there is but one opinion—of his capabilit;es as a
composer there are, as usual, strong dissensions
amongst the amateurs and professors. One objection
taken against him will not stand for a moment,
namely, the introduction of new effects. It will
never do to limit the extent of executive
skill. Paganini on the violin, Bottesini on the
contrabasso, Lindley and Piatti on the violoncello,
Liszt and Thalberg on the pianoforte, and other
great soloists on ogler instruments, have widened the
domain of art, by proving what could be done in
overcoming difficulties, or rather in achieving appa-
rent impossibilities. What is extravagant is soon
banished; what is really within legitimate bounds
remains. An original thinker mu.st not be
summarily judged and sentenced. To define
Rubinstein's claims as a creator will require more
than a single hearing. Mme. Clara Novello sung
two grand airs from Mozart's Idemino and Gluck's
Ipheginia en Tauride ; and the symphonies were
the A minor, No. s, of Mendelssohn, and the,F,No.S,
of Beethoven, with Spohr's Bergveist overture.
Here were noble materials judiciously balanced.
At the third concert of the Musical Union, Sainton,
Gotirie, H. Blagrove, R. Blagrove, and Piatti were
the stringed players, and C. Halle the pianist, the
latter playing to perfection Heller's " Promenades
d'un Solitaire," and iu Spohr's trio No. 2, in F,
op. 123.
Mozart's Requiem and Mendelssohn's Lobgesang
were performed on Wednesday night at St. Martin's-
hall, un ler Mr. Hullah's direction, the chief singers
being Miss Banks, Miss Palmer, Miss M. Moss, Mr.
Sims Reeves, and Mr. Thomas. Mr. Reeves' singing
in the " Hymn of Praise" was of the loftiest order
of declamation.

Whilst the above performance was going on, there
was no inconsiderable gathering at Exeter hall to a
concert given by Mme. Madeleine Graver, the pia-
niste, and Herr Goffrie, the violinist, the latter con-
ducting the Royal Italian Opera orchestra. Mine.
Graver's vigorous playing of the D minor concerto
by Mendelssohn, and of her share in the duo by
Moscheles and Mendelssohn, on Weber's Preciosa
march, having as colleague Mme. Schumann, was
well appreciated by the auditory. There was a new
vocalist—heard for the first time in England—Mlle.
Westerstram from Stockholm. Her speciality is in
the altitudes of the soprano register, attacking the F
in alt with ease and with no ordinary certainty. As
the Queen of Night in Mozart's Zauberfiote she
would be valuable. Ernst, Bottesini, Mine. Novello,
Mine. Caradori, and Miss Dolby, Weiss, and Rei-
chardt assisted in the programme.

511

Mrs. Anderson's annual morning concert is one of
the fashionable events of the season. As in 1850, it
was given at Her Majesty's Theatre, with the artistes,
vocal and instrumental, of that establishment, with
the addition of Mme. Novello, Signor Bazzini, the
violinist, Mrs. F. B. Jewson, the pianiste, and Mr.
W. Cusins, who is equally pianist, violinist,
organist, and composer. Mrs. Anderson, who is
pianiste to the Queen, and instructress to the Royal
Princes and Princesses, has been rarely heard of late
years; but when she does favour the public, a classic
display may assuredly be relied upon. Amateurs owe
her especial thanks for keeping the name of Hummel,
one of the best of composers for the pianoforte, from
being forgotten. Why his works are so much neglected
by modern players is unaccountable. Bazzini's
execution of the Donizetti theme was brilliant and
thoroughly effective. Giuglini and Alboni were
the vocal stars of the programme; and Piccolomini's
vivacity was transferred with success from the stage
to the concert-room.

The Crystal Palace Concerts, with the Royal
Italian Opera forces, vocal and instrumental, in-
crease in attraction on every occasion. The pro-
grammes are necessarily confined to operatic
selections, as, in the thick of the season, there can be
no time to rehearse novelties; and, as the thousands
congregated within the transept are evidently in the
aggregate not the regular visitors at the Lyceum, the
pieces so familiar to the latter are received with un-
exampled enthusiasm, almost every item being
redemanded. These concerts, in fact, open to the
suburban residents an opportunity of hearing the
greatest singers of the age in the daytime at mode-
rate prices. The madrigals, so nicely sung by the
chorus, and the concerted finales make also a great
impression.
Mme. Enderssohn gave a concert on Wednesday
at the Beethoven rooms in Harley-street, having the
co operation of Messrs. Millard, Allan Irving, Miss
Stabbach, and Mrs. Lockey as vocalists, and Mme.
Schumann and Herr Ernst as instrumentalists, with
Balfe as accompanyist, a new song by the latter,
" The deserted bride," being well sung by Mme.
Enderssohn.

MR. RUSSELL'S LECTURES UPON rim CRIMEA will
be resumed this afternoon, at three p.m., at NVillis's-
rooms, and continued on Thursday afternoon,
May 28, and Monday afternoon, June 1, at the same
hour.

THE FIRST FLOWER SHOW of the season took
place on Wednesday, in the grounds of the Royal
Botanic Society, Regent's-park. Favoured by fine
weather, the lete proved unusually attractive. The
gardens themselves were in full glory, with the turf
fresh and green, the lilacs and chesnuts in their
earliest bloom, and the tender green of the leaves
untarnished by the influences of heat or dust.
Within the great flower tent the view from the
mound did not present the accustomed panorama of
rich and variegated colouring, for the flowers were
unusually backward. The roses and exotic orchids
were not in full bloom. The show of geraniums,
pelargoniums, and of azaleas, was in each case ex-
cellent. Cluster globes and pyramids of their three
species were judiciously intermingled with other
plants of less hardy character or less exuberant
bloom, and filled up every chasm that might other
wise have broken the continuity of brilliant tints and
blooms. The fete, on the whole, was very success-
ful and was well attenued, the leading not)ility and
gentry being present.
CREMORNE-GARDENS were opened on Monday last,
with a grand fete and illuminations. The weather
was favourable and the gardens were crowded.
There was also a good concert, in which great vocal
talent was exhibited, in various a/ fresco perfor-
mances, by artists new to London audiences. In the
theatre, which has been newly decorated, a troupe of
sable rnelodists performed a burlesque opera, which
excited bursts of laughter ; and a very beautiful
pantomimic ballet, entitled, The Gipsy Girl, or, the
Doctor in Love, supported by the talents of Miss
Cushnie, Miss Louise Leclerq, and an efficient
corps•de.ballet, under the direction of M. Milano,
afforded intense amusement to a crowded audience.

Two OF THE RAREST SPECIMENS of xylographic or
block books, cut entirely on wood, which were the
precursors of printing by means of moveable types,
have recently come into the possession of Messrs.
Boone, of 19, New Bond•street. Of these the first in
point of rarity is the " Liber Regum," or, " Life of
David," pictorially illustrated with two woodcuts on a
page, with descriptive texts beneath, and extending
to twenty pages. So little is known of this work,
printed about the year 1430, that it escaped Heinecken,
who specially devoted his researches to the history
of early printing. Brunet and Dibdin are alike
meagre in details—in fact, but one other copy is
known to exist, and that is in the Imperial Library
at Vienna. The other is known as the " Biblia
Pauperum," of which facsimiles have been
The copy in Messrs. Boone's possession corresponds
with the description given by Heinecken as being
the first impression, a copy of which sold at
sale for 215 guineas. Both these volumes

"4

een given.
orrevonds
Ls being of
at Willett's
aes are in

5t2

matchless state, being uncoloured, not pasted back
to back as is generally the case with similar books,
as the ‘g Ars Moriendi," " Apocalypsis S. Johannis,"
&e., but the leaves are set, as in books of ordinary
printing, with the reverses blank. The margins also
are of ample dimensions.