The Portland daily press., 1878-02-13
Art and Music.

1873 large aud important canvas. In the
foreground Russian carriage, drawn by four
magnificent horses, harnessed abreast, comes
rapidly along street, the animals on a fast
trot. The somewhat muddy gray road has
mere ana there red reflections cast by the gor-
geous Northern Lights n the sky the street
lamps and the torch which the black capped
coachman holds. Inside is a traveller wrapped
10 his robes To the right of the carriage three
begging pilgrims slightly Intoxicated stagger
along. staff 10 hand, needless of the rapidly ap-
preaching carriage. A fourth, more sober than
the rest. hurries toward it at the risk of being
run over, aad holds out his hand for aims to
the traveller.
Mr.. Inness, on painting" in Harper's IS
Monthly, hits hard at the COMMONLY received
ideas of art and artists. He dou't believe in
much teaching; only in occasional hints to the
pupil; and deprecates painting after meth
od' as destructive to individuality. He tells
the truth when he says that sour country is
hooded with the mercantile imbecilities OF Yer
boeckhoven and hundreds of other European
artists whose very names are detestaton to
any lover of truth He is no admirer OF the
'skiD-deep beauties of Bougereau," and hates
tine ., ldoatry which worships waxen images"
fne true artist loves only that work 10 which
the evident intention has been to attain the
truth; and such work Is not easily brought to
hne POLISH" It is not often that the ideas of
our best artists find their way into print, and
sho oitAOic 10 WOrtu Cdr6iul r6dQlng.
Jerome Hopkins has written an opera. Not
little, lovely Bibls opera, this time, but full.
fiedged secular affair, for grand orchestra and
| solo singers of the most elevated vocal and
dramatic power. 1t is entitled dumb Love-"
the theme is romantic, the scenes pastoral
Tho libretto is fouuded on German tale By,
musseus; Frauz loves Meta, having seen her;
| Meta is in love with Frsnz's voice, his person
being unknown to her until the last acs, when
| be returns, with wealth and houors and still
| youthful. The third act passes in the haunted
chamber chan OF the Rammelsbsrg castle, where
| selves, and Mr. Hopkins thinks that lust here
| he has worked miracles, depicting disblerie by
means of orchestral efforts and on scale of
counterpoint which will be conceded to be
novel There will be 20 dramstis persona, be-
sides the chorusss. of whom but two are en-
| gagged. Hopkins gives this for his Orpheon
| schools az the New York Academy of Music
| May 7.
The Mile. Litta, who has gained so high
share of foreign praise at present by singing at
the Italiens in Paris, is Marie Won Elsner. a
| quite youog woman, native of Bloomington,
| Ill. There her father, who is Prussian, used
to teach music, and married her mother, the
| daughter of William Dimmitt, one of the old
| ana once wealthy settlers of that region. He
| taught his daughter what he could, then sent
her to the Cleveland conservatory of music,
where rich and music-loving citizsns became
| interested in her and sent her to Paris She
STUDIED with Nine. La Grange, the celebrated
| singer OF generation ago, now a successful
| teacher in Paris. She is under engagement to
Escuuier OF the Italens for number of years
She Is described in le tiers from Paris as of un-
| prepossesslng physique, which renders her sue
| cess in opera more remarkable; but Bloom
iugton person describes her as a perfect Ger
man blonde, with fair, almost marvellous COM
| piexlon, plue eyes, golden hair, "divine'
| form, and manner absolutely be witching"
Ems reads like an imaginative description
Patti is having astirring time of it at Naples.
When she arrived they declined to receive her
| at the Hotel Royal, as she was accompanied by
"a friend" and she had to go to the Mobile.
She was in high dudgeon, refused TO rehearse,
and in consequence found an audience at San
Carlo as cold as stone. 10 less than an hour
she sang the whole house into warmth, enthu-
s1asm, frantic delight-it was the "Trayiata''-
and the next morning the papers made positive
| excuses. Nay more, the committee of the thea
tire came to pay her the unusual honor OF a visit
IN state She refused to see them. Expecta-
tlo9 was on tptoe as to her reception the next
| nlght. 1t was feared she wonld be hissed.
NOT at all. She sang the Barber" and with
tne same effect as before, her voice acting on
taeir premedltated sulkiness like the rising sun
,I oD mlsts. In the scene in which she has to
spell the name of Rosna she kept up one high
note 50 long that the unhappy baritone who ac-
companied her-and not bad one either-had
to stop three times for breath, she mocking
MIN with look the while Naples has now
| given up all idea of resistance aud has taken
op lts old position-at her feet. She receives
| Sl 800 night, with right to half the surplus
wnen the receipts exceed S3,800 Ga the night
OF the "Barber' they took 80 700 at the doors;
she therefore received an extra $3.50, or a total
| OF about S2.S5o for the nights work, not count
| Ing her bonus of revenge-N. Y. World
A novel experiment has lately been tried at
Glasgow in connection with the Saturday pop-
ular CONCERTS, conducted by Dr. Hans Won 3D.
low. The last performance of the series being
at hand, it was resolved to supply the audience
OF the last but one with list of all the works
in ths repertory, and invite them to mark the
pieces of their choice, those obtaining the high
est number of votes to form the closing pro-
| gramme. The result is curious aud as to the
musical taste of Glasgow, instructive OF the
| eighty-three works In the list only five re-
ceIyed no votes at all, so that we may assume
g greas diversity OF opinion among the electors.
Inc largest number agreed upon anything at
all gave 279 votes to the Tannhauser overture,
that to William Tell receiving the next great.
est amount OF support with 2l3. Programme
music therefore stands high on the banks Of
the Clyde, to the exclusion of such works as
the finale to Beethoven's septet the overture
to Oberon, and Haydn's Symphony in B-fat,
all OF which were out of the running. DIR.
d
for Liszts Fantasia on Hung arian melodies.
duo concertante for two pianos by Saint
Saens, aud fantasia on Scottish airs by Mo-
scnelles, which had respectively los, 95 and 126
votes. Patriotism carried Fosters Rob Roy
overture to victory with 81 suffrages, The
young ladies', we expect, voted in a body 95
strong for the overture TO Tampa; and, with
| their lovers; ran Mendelssohns Wedding
March ahead with 131 "ayes" True cui-
ture on its part, secured a place for the over
ture to Zauberfiote, with 100 votes; bat how
are we to explain the favor shown to the last
movement in Hayden's Farewell symphony
and Mozsrt's Musical Joke? If a surgical op-
GRAFTON De needed to make Scotchman under
stand verbal wtticism, a musical production
OF that ilk must be very far beyond him indeed
But our wonder abates when we call to mind
mat there IS large Irish colony in Glasgow.
NO doubt 1t was Pat,-the rogue-who gave
LIS votes to Haydn's comedy and III to Mo-
zart's burlesque.-N. Y. World.
1t may not be out of place to note some of
the bemishes aud defects of choir-singing as
they have been sometimes painfully realized
through long and various course of obserya-
tiop. 1t is no easy matter so to subdue the
pride and individuality of choir singers as to
induce them to blend their voices together.
each IN some instances, seems inclined to make
MS part separate and independent from the
rest, and so it sounds not like twenty
voices with twenty Independent results. The
toute ensemble of the choir and congregati
NolCoS 10 d prime ESSENTIAL Tor superior cOngr6.
gatonal song. When all the voices mingle and
unite In producing one strain of sound the iu-
tonation is perfect. The individual voices still
give coloring to the whole, but the individual
distlnctness is not detrimental to the inter-
minglng. This excellent effect cannot bs pro-
duced without study and practice The sing
ers should try to slug into each others voices
so that there may be unity and sympathy Of
tone. There are choir singers who imagine
that this unity comes as a matter of course.
Tney do not practice together, they are not
used to each others voices, and when they pass
into the performance of their music on the
Sabbath, their rendering of it is marked not
by the blending and interfusion of voices, but
by that multtudinous and separate enun-
citation of sound which makes the true musi-
cian feel that the organ is vainly trying to blend
number of incohesive, self-wlled and antsgo-
n1stic notes. Very often in country choirs and
congregations one or two singers appear deter
mined to set up for themselves. They are anx-
ious that their voice should be heard separate
ly from all the rest, and this they easily accom-
plish If their voices are at all strong. They
give their voices what is called ''sort Of