New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-04-25
MUSIC AND THE DRAMA.
30. 81 purI IA pMoNTU SOCIETY.

THE PHILHARMONIC SOClkkT.
,r,.. New-York philharmonic Society brought US
s,,,tvsshth season to brilliant elose Inst nj
80 xancprt Of exceptional interest and splepoOr
I ss,hs broxfamme was ss follows:
EaDISsIs aG an 20 Theodore
TLbmas BY George q. Bristow.
!. :. ~ +, S,,srS mulerupgT Act III, Scenes
snd with the vocal Sdi:s snstwin
=. ,,,,. .ss,,va,tera ..... Mrs Buxton
s. e,..tv,.d ...........Slg. Csmpanini
HagsD: 80. MA seinbuch
n fvmphopy Us A, No. DEC
= AZ 4. 4 has been supposed that the plan OF this
,,cc,, was suggested by the recent performance ot
!. .sIect,on from "sIegfriedD by the symphony
society it may be proper to say that tine case s
49, ether way The foil programme Of the Philhar-
ooroert Including the name Of Signor Cam
,,.,,,r sas been in our possession all Winter ana
lions for the concert OF last night have been
voipe on, to our personal knowledge since
-, ,ly mart az the season. The orchestra collected
81. tbA Wagner scenes embraced substantially an
sha available and comDeten. players IN TINS CITY, ~
On f;rst violips 81 second, 10 Wolas. Ia
,,,. I 4 basaes futes 3hautboys English horn,
ela,,nets hasa clarinet, 3 bsssoons. harpS'
horns. q trumpets bass trumpet, 3 tromoones' Dass
trombone, tuba, kettle drums, bass druln' slllu,
arum and cymbas atotal Off rs Instrument anu LEO
man. So fine q band has seldom been hearo IN Now
York It's strength, it will be observed, was no' guy
a. cha esxtraH instruments-the additional reeus
ana brasses which Wagners scores require, ou.
alsoin tho superb body of strings. which produceu
= most imposing effect in the symphony ana INC
fantasia aud fngue, as well as in the G0tteruam'
) marune.p The rehearsals had been long and care
mi: the spirit Of the men excellentj ana as
result we Ind Dy far the most highly nnlsheu per
formance given in this city since the old 4homas
orchestra was dissolved
We have already expressed our appreciation ol
ME- Bristows admirable scoring of the Chromahc
Fantasia aud Fugue, and repeated hearings con-
Arm our Judgment Of the mastery treatment OF the
,nstruments and fns taste in orchestral cOloring
displayed by the adapter. we'll as the aVailaol-
sty of Bach's composition for the uses to which
Mr.. Bristcw has put it. The pEopriety OF such
transcrptions IS hardly worth debating; the pracq
dee is sanctioned by too many ilustrous examples
and too strongly approved by the general sense OF
audieDces TO require defence Mr. Brlstow mas
made free use of modern tone-effects; but he has
neither tempered with the form of his original nor
changed its spirit. He has given us an arrange
ment of great beauty, delicate character ana per-
iDanent value, and 1t seems to US sure OF aequehC
place IN future programmes. The orchestra hanuleo
it with an afectionate care which must have been
highly gratifying to MIR. Bristow, as it was to the
audience.
The two scenes from the third act of Wagners
a Dusk of the Gods end with the famous Funeral
March, and almost Immediately precede the finale
s,of the opera, which was performed here with Nine.
Pappenheim as the vocalist few years ago. Inc
music naturally suffers as all such extracts must.
from the lack of dramatic action and scenic Effects
and still more from the auditors ignorance Of what
has gone before it /; for Wagner's use Of leading
motives Is always carrying MS back to the earlier
scenes of his drama, and reminding US OF the MAIN
syringe of his plot and in the last act OF the Cot
ferdiiinmermg" especially, as the story hurrieS
toward the catastrophe. his orchestra reviews and
epitozes the most significant scenes of all the four
4 days, performance. Hence, 1t is only to those who
know this opera that the music appears
( in its true Significance, its charm and It's
ciearness. Yet in some respects this portion
} Of the Trilogy Is the most suitable for the
concertroom of all the specimens yet presented in
New-York 1t embraces certain distinct, persist
eft, and strongly contr asted movements Cf we may
use that term of highly melodions form, to which
the Imagination readily attaches itself, and With
the aid OF little explanation from the programme
IL Is easy TO follow In fancy the whole course OF the
play The salient passages to which we refer are
the fascinating song Of the Rhine Daughters, the
meeting OF the hunters, the story of SieUePs life,
interspersed with the mysterious forest music and
the piping of the birds. and lastly, the Funeral
March, with its oyerpowering combination OF i've
!; of the most important and striking themes
connected with SieGfriePs career. All these
= sr1oyements" have intrinsic musical
beauty which it is impossible to resist or
forget. and they are 30 wholly unlike one another
that the variety in the spirit and pattern of the
music gives the effect of dramatic animation. The
yocalists were admirably chosen. and the Co
!: operation of Sig Campanini was simply invaluable
80. all
heart with an exact comprehension of Wagner
which would have filed with establishment If we
Z had not remembered his personation of LOhen0rin,
and with love for the music which. in an Italian
tenor, Is probably unprecedented. The difficulties
of the vocal part are almost heartbreaking. but be
did not seem to mind them. He sang with fervor,
I case grace, manliness, and conscientious fidelity
10 the text with German intellectually
and italian elegance and he proved that he
could be as great in tho later of Wagner he
is In the romance the knight of the Swan, or the
tneful scenes Of Donizett. If we are to single out
any one portion of his performance as particularly
fine, we must mention the long and poetIcal but
very trying narrative which introduces the bird
song, this was substantially perfection. In
q word, CampaninI was In close sympa-
thy with the entire performance last night;
while IN the "6iegfriedo q week ago. it
was evident that be was not SO fortunate. Mr..
Remmerts sang unusually we'll; Mr. Steinbuch
was quito satisfactory 10 less exacting role; Miss
Sherwins fine voice was heard with pleasure 10 the
leading part OF the trio of river nymphs and Mrs.
Buxton aud Miss Henne completed the tuneful band
OF eistsrs. We should not omit to say that the
sooslists were admirably sustained by most Judi.
eions accompaniment.
The orchestra. DO doubt gave q great surprise to
those who imagine that Wagner uses his instru-
snents TO overwhelm the voices with incessant fuss
and fury and tne blowing of much brass. Nothing
can be further from the truth than tho popular
des that bis orchestra IL noisy. His extra instru.