Litchfield enquirer., 1875-11-25

more IO4eraOiG. daElng tn0 OEcucSAEA score to look over we were prepared for the surprises, and made some curious dis coveries, fer instance, that several diabol- ical squavks which we could not locate before, came from trumpets with mutes. The T4 time which occurs in the Infer no was divided in the score into alternate bars of 34 and 44' time. We see from the papers that the PhilharmOnics were by Wachtel who was sick, and that they suffered as they deserved in purse and reputation from their injudi- cious competition with Thomas.
 On Sunday morning we attended church at St. Ann's (Catholic). This IS beauti- ful church. not as gaudy as Catholic churches are apt to seem Q Protestant eyes. with magnificent organ and prob ably the finest choir in the city. Rossini's Messe Solennelle was beautifully sung. This IS a very fine composition. much more ''churchly' in tone than the Stabat
 Mater. After hearing so much orchestral music we found ourselves all the while contrasting organ with orchestra. The organ uDquestionably has a much fnel bass, and its effects are quieter and per
 haps nObler than those of the orchestra
 but it lacks the vitality and versatility oi the strings, the unequalled purity of tone of the horns, and the startling power oi
 the trumpets and trombones. Its slow movements are magnificent, its sustained tones unequalled, but it cannot give the grand rush of a Beethoven Allegro, nol those sudden, beautiful contrasts of tone in which orchestral music abounds.
 -a DOCTOR voS BULow.
 Monday evening celebrated the opening of the Chickering Hall. and the first ap. pearance of Von Bulow. the pianist, in New York. The Hall is beautiful build. ing, about two thirds the size of Steinway Hall, we'll ventilated, and admirably cal. culated for piano concerts. The first dash of light into the prismatic refectors iu the ceiling was quite startling and drew g round of applause from the house. All the music on the program was Beethoven's, and the concert opened with his Overture.
 "Consecration of House" certsinly very appropriate to the occasion, but much in. ferior to his symphonies and not very well S0In tNa rI1 for orchestra and piano. Out stepped lit tie man, rather concaited it struck us, with very brusque manner, and the audience gave him a warm reception. Having talk en his seat at the piano, he kept beating time with his head at the orchestra, rather unnecessarily and conspicuously we thought, till the time came for the piano to strike Tn. In few moments we had come to the conclusion that he was not a conceited but rather modest person His execution and expression are simply marvellous His style Is nervous, rather stacato, but he gives such a clear, bril- liant, complete interpretation of the au- thor that admiration and delight follow close after wonder in the minds of his hearers. He fingers like a devil. If a Mephistopheles were sitting down to amuse Dr. Faust at Chickering Grand he could not better Dr. Von Bulow's exe- cutien. The audience were in raptures and applauded repeatedly, but he would give no encore.
 The next number on the program was the Sonata Appassionata, and we cannot conceive of q finer interpretation than he gave of thst grand work. While other players struggle with the difficulties of a composer, Won Bulow's command of tine instrument is such that they offer him no He goes right into the heart of the matter, throws his whole force into the interpretation of the meanings and hints and suggestions of meaning of the author. 4 wonderful revelation it is to those who have slaughtered Beethoven in a slow way themselves, and have heard others slaughter hIm more rapidly, but have never had more than a giimmering conception of what the old master meant. Moreover, Beethoven's piano scores never seem more than suggestion of hls real thought. They are transcriptions of un- written symphonies which need all the genius of Von Bulow and the full power Of the modern piano to interpret. Then they become super-human. It is no long, CT Bulow. but Beethoven in the full frenzy of composition, now emphasizing here and there a thought to be sure it is un- derstOod, now altogether forgetful of his audience and of himself, possessed of mu- sic as of devil
 The orchestra then played the Larghet to from the Second Symphony. and played It very wel-the only really satisfying work of theirs during the evening.
 Fon Bulow followed uith the Fifteen Variations. Fugue and Finale. This was D more remarkable exhibition of his pow CT of execution than either the Concerto or the Sonata, but the music seems inferi- or. The audience had been growing more and more enthusiastic all the eTeping, had called the pianist back repeatedly but could get no encore. This time they were too em phasie for refusal In vain the little Doe tor shook Lands with the con ductor as if he were Tn some way the occasion of the uproar. Finally he sat down to the piano and played the beautiful Scherzo from the 18th Sonata ss beautifully as he played ev. else. With this his part of the concert closed and he took his seat by the piano while the orchestra played the Egg mont overture, poorly we thought. In fact. through the whole performance one could not but regret that von Bulow and Thomas do not play together. Perhaps is may yet come to pass before the season is over.
 We are no critic of piano-forte playing but unquestionably Von Bulow is the