The Sun.
London, England, 1869-06-17 00:00:00

MR. KUB S ANN UAL COA CERT.

Mr. Kuhe's concert, which is always considered
one of the great events of the musical season, took
place yesterday afternoon at St. James's Hall, and
long before the commencement of the programme a
brilliant audience occupied every seat in the spacious
bui!ding. The vocalists were Madame Adelina
Patti, Mdlle. Vanziui, Mdlle. Grossi, Mdlle. Lieb-
hart, Miss Edith Wynne, Madame Florence Lancia,
Mdlle. Drasdil, Madame Sainton-Dolby, Mdlle.
Titiens, Signor Mongini, Herr Reichardt, Mr. Ver-
non-Rigby, Signor Foli, M. Jules Lefort, and Mr.
Santley. The instrumentalists : Violin, Madame
Norman-Meru ia ; violoncello, Signor Piatti ; harp,
Mr. John Thomas; and pianoforte, Mr. Kuhe.
Such an array of talent is seldom to be met with in
a siegle programme, and when we add that we had
neither absentees nor excuses we have said suffi-
cient to convince every lover of music that the con-
cert must have been one of extraordinary goodness.
Part 1 opened with Kreuzer's trio " Trenne nicht
dais Band der Liebe," by Madame Lancia, Herr
Reichardt, and M. Jules L6fort, which was given
with much excellence, the soprano part more espe-
cially. Then came the first of the many beauties
which followed, viz., a duo for pianoforte and vio-
loncello—Mendelssohn's " Thema con variazoni,"
by Mr. Kuhe and M. Piatti, and a more masterly
performance certainly has never been heard
within St. James's Hall. The execution of
Kuhe was extraordinary, both as regards
finish and delicacy of touch, and the intense ex-
pression M. Piatti drew from his instrument called
forth the most enthusiastic applause. On hastily
glancing down the programme we find it will be
an impossibility in our limited space to particularise
every item of the concert, we must therefore cow eat
ourselves with selecting some of the most prominent,
and to carry out that intention we come to Aldine.
Titicns' Aria " Non mi dir." Never 1)9.3 the en-
chanting composition of Moz-irt been more finely
sung, and at its conclusion the audience were
completely carried away by the performance,
and an encore was insisted on. The great
vocalist, with that good humour for which
she is so remarkable, at once complied ; but
instead of repeating the air, she sang " The Last
Rose of Summer," which actually converted the
enthusiasm into a positive extacy of delight. Ou
silence being restored, Mongini appeared, and sang
Donizetti's romance from "La Favorite," " Una
Vergina," with remarkable power and sweetness.
Miss Edith Wynne sung Benedict's beautiful ballad
" Rock Me to Sleep," the componer splendidly
accompanying the vocalist. Then carne a duo from
Figaro, " Sull' aria," by Mdmes. Titiens and Patti,
and here again another triumph was achieved, but
this time the audience were gratified with a
repetition of the aria, to their intense
delight. Mr. Santley's singing Schira's aria, "Io
Carnal," with Piatti's violoncello obligato, was
superb. Mr. Kuhe having given another exempli-
fication of his wonderful power and control of the
pianoforte by the performance of a brilliant arrange-
ment of his own of the airs from "Dinorah," Mduie.
Patti again appeared, and this time she created the
greatest enthusiasm by her singing the old Scotch
song, " "Iwas within a mile o' Edinburgh town,"
which was increased by her wonderful rendering of
the finale to "La Sonnambula." Madme. Vanzini
sang Meyerbeer's "Robert toi quo j'aime" with re-
markable brilliancy. Mdme. Norman-Neruda per-
formed a solo on the violin with a firmness and
purity of tone that was truly astonishing. Mr. John
Thomas gave a brilliant fantasia on the harp, and
Mdlle. Drasdil sang two English ballads, the one
by Benedict, " I murmur not," eliciting the greatest
amount of applause. Mdme. Sainton-Dolby sang
a ballad by Plimpton ; but the truth must be told ;
time, and wear, and tear have not spared even the
voice of the once great contralto. Aldine. Lieb-
hart met with rather a discomfiture, for, notwith-
standing;all herlittle playful eccentricities, herVolk-
shied "Ruck ruck" fell very flat. The concert, as a
whole, was really a splendid one, and we congratu-
late Mr. Kuhe on the great success which attended
the brilliant entertainment.