Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1870-06-16
THE BEETHOVEN CENTENNIAL.
New York's Imitation of the Hubs
Hubbub-All About the Opening
Concert.
ndence OF The Evening Star. I

lSOTreSpODuenCe Ol ENtnlns
NEW YORK, Jnne Is, 1870.
New York is having a racket. The great
Beethoven Centennial Festival has commenced,
and the initial concert has passed OF with
noise sufficient to distract deaf mute.
Although the day opened with occasional
showers, as the hours wore on il became bright
and pleasant, and at evening the weather was
charming,-just right 10 call out the large as
semblage which gathered at the great American
WOodshed, alias Coliseum" to get their tym-
panums tiekled with sweet sounds The
audience came III slowly, and when the pro
gramme commenced not more than one-third OF
the house was seated.
First came Beethoven's grand symphony in
minor, in tour movements, by the Great Classic
Orchestra of three hundred and htty, as Was
said. They played so ClasSlcally that person
with less than three ears on his head couldn't
hear them bsVond the center OF the house, but
nearer il sounded Passaby well, the nrst and
second movements especially being played with
taste and expression. At the close of this piece
the dollar men, who were standing IN crowds in
the open area which was rallied OF around the
sides and rear, ana slightly raised above the
mann floor, by one common impulse, as IL were
pushed aside the uSheTs, cleared the rails, and
made one grand rush for the reserved seats Oh
the floor. The confusion was lndescrIbaoie.
Everybody was on foot at once. On they came,
jumping over seats and crushing in lucNle>s
hats, running down the aislcs, and dodging into
all the empty seats. The fashionable iOwn-
town merchant who had paid his hundred dol
lars for four choice seats, where his family
might at once air their aristOcracy and hear the
music, soon found his Hlbernlan porter safely
slowed away next to him. Parepa, who had
tust come out TO sing this rush commenced,
was obliged to cit down and wait for the tumait
to cease.
All the seats being quickly filed, the audience
soon quoted and order once more reigned in
Warsaw. Then came the "Intammatus," with
Parepa in the aria. She sang splendldly, OF
course, and SO intiamed the audience that It's
repetition was demanded and obtained. The
chorus dragged fearfully and sang abominably.
After this a little, weak, spongy New Jersey
glee club, which by some strange mischance
had got inside the builCing, sprung leak up
under the caves, and delivered a Madrigal; at
least the programme said a Madrigal was com
ing in just here; but it was difficult TO decide
whether another row had started over in that
corner, or whether the voices were scraSing up
for the next chorus.
Next came Mend lssohns chorale, Thanks
be to God" From the start il was evident that
the conductor had no control whatever over his
singers They pitched in anywhere they thought
they could get note on the hip, and the excited
conductor evidently didn't know whether he
was pitching hay or bee had stung him. From
tho sound, one would have thought that the
Bowen crowd which yelled about the streets Of
Washington the Saturday night before election
were on the platform. 1t was mildly suggested
by my neighbCr that Col. Fisk's regiment be
sent tor, and that end of the house cleared and
the disturbance stopped; but to the RELIEF OF
everybody the vocal storm finally spent itself.
Next came the Overture To Stradella, by L. =.
GIlmore's Military Band, under GilmOre's direc-
n.
mendous applause. His conducting was almost
faultless, and his band played superbiy. New
Workers unite in saying that Trey never heard
It equalled. 1t created perfect Iurore, and
Gilmore was compelled TO repeat the overture.
This followed by the stan Spangled Ban
ner, also under GilmOre'S direction, with fuil
vocal and instrumental force and artillery az
Compartment. The first half OF the solo was
sung by the chorus singing soil, and the last
laif by Parepa alone. She sang grandy. Every
wor6she uttered could be heard and understood
~ a1aa 4.Ee fu,rV.
came in all parts on the chorus. Every tongue
was loosed, and the cannons banged with
geance.
This perinrn2nca t-rned the New Workers
upside DOWN. They were frantic With ehtis-i-
asm, and the applause was terrific. Shouts for
Gilmore and Parepa were heard, and AZ III,
came forward the excitement OF the audience
seemed to know no bounds. Or course the piece
was repeated.
Tie overture to Oberon, which followed
under the lead of Carl Rosa, passed on yer,
creditably, but the audience were evidently too
much exhausted with their previous cheering TO
applaud. Rosa was little excited and beat a
little wild, perhaps, but his youth and mex
perience excused him.
just here those sucking doves from New
Jersey got on a rampage again, and roared
gently on Part Song. The audience wouldn't
endure this, and multitudes left the building.
Then came the closing piece, the Halleuilb
Chorus, which wac performed most miserably,
and the Grand Inaugural Concert was over.
In general terms il may be called failure so
far as the music was concerned. Ii will bear no
sort of comparison with the opening concert AZ
the Boston Jubilee last year. The arrangements
are very imperfect, and the singers more or les
mixed up, no one knowing where his or her seat
is AT Boston the platform was divided into
balconies, sections and rows, which were in
charge of marshals, who knew the number Of
every seat, the name of the person who was 70
occupy it, and where he came from; and everr
singer knew month previous to the jubilee
whore his seat would be, so that although tn
chorus was nearly six times as large as the on.
here, all were seated without the slightest con
fusion. The singers here also very Justly cor
plain that the building is hard to sing in. Man,
of them rehearsed but little before coming here,
and but few since they arrived; and this COM
bined with the want of discipline in their organ
iZation, was fatal to their singing to night But
we hope for better things hereafter, for the
Handel and Haydn Society OF Boston will Join
the chorus to- morrow, and give ii backbone.
The organ, which was built here for the occa-
sion, is so feeble that it hardly deserves men
ton. 1t sounds about as loud as two-hundred-
dollar melodeon would in st. Aloysius Church
Horrible things are expected from a large
CallIope, which has been placed in an upper
window at the rear of the building No one
knows why such a calamity should be sent upon
US. CErNG