Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-04-12
Two Interesting Concerts.

The Bernhard Listemann Club of Boston
under the management of Mr.. Joseph 81.
Cuttings, gave two very interesting concerts al
the Pennsylvania College for Women, in the
East End, on Monday last Mr.. Cuttings had
generously relinquished his prior claim on
Old City Hall for that particular day. in favor
OF the Grand Army celebration. which had a
| prior general claim on that historic spot. So
| the concert went out to the East End, and a
| 1alr bevy Of ardently appreciative school girls
cnleny constituted the audience. The per-
tormance-that Of the evening, at least-was
| worthy OF larger number of listeners.
| 1t is much to be regretted that the parts OF
| beethoven's great q minor Quartet, Op. Is,
| could not be found, although the substituted
number, the well-known andante cantabile by
| Ischalkowsky, was in its own way very beautl-
fnl and admirably performed. In the Saltarello
from Grieg's G minor Quartet, the Italian
| dance form seems to have been trans
planted to the North and filled with
the wild, grotesque spirit of Muscovite
| carnival. MIR. LiStemann and his associates
brought out finely all this riotous abandon, as
well as the passages of more reposeful senti-
ment occurring here and there. This string
| quartette did better ensemble playing, on the
whole, than any heard here in late years.
There was just balance of tone and q smooth
ness and finesse in phrasIng that are not at all
common among the travelling clubs. Mr.. Ru'
dolph Rissland, second violin, and Mr.. Fritz
Llstemann, VIOLA deserve their full share Of
credit for this.
MendelssOhn's CHEEKY, brilliant and beautiful
Trio lin ID minor; Op.49), for violin, violoucello
and planoforte, formed the literal center of
gravity of the programme. And it was very
creditably played. The rich, glowing allegro.
the inetably lovely andante, the scherzo in its
unaffected gayety and archness, SO char
the exceedingly brilliant finale-the
contents OF each movement were
brought out by Messrs. Bernhard Listemann,
Fritz Giese and Cuttings with a fidelity and
effectiveness that were really surprising in
view of the limited rehearsals had. Mr.. Git
tings always shines in ensemble work and in
TINS trlo which demands as much technique
from the pianist as a concerto, he fairly outdld
himself 1t was a mistake. however, to raise
the lid of the pianoforte; in SO small q hall 1t
naturally overpowers the strings
MIR. Listemann chose for his solo number
Vieuxtemps' Fifth Concerto. 1t was good to
hear the veteran violinist, whom we all re-
member SO well as Theodore Thomas concert
master In years gone by, and who is now con-
ductor of the Philharmonic Orchestra in Bos-
ton. The effect Of years could be seen in a
certain nervous abruptness of bowling, but his
playing was, nevertheless, full of vitality
and artistic significance, and technically
clean and brilliant. Mr.. Gieses extraordi- |
nary mastery of the violoncello, his rarely |
plant and sensuous tone, the certainty and |
ease of his execution, IS well as his finely fin
lshed phrasing have several times heretofore |
aroused Pittsourg audiences to enthusiasm. |
The same qualities were fully displayed on this |
occasion, both in Servias too familiar fantasie,
lie Desir," and In the dainty. Characteristic |
moment muscaIe"by Schubert Top. 81 No. 81, |
which he gave as an encore-piece. MI. Franz |
RucQuoy, the fiauJist, who was here in the fall |
with the miscaled Boston Symphony Orches-
tral Club" (deceased), played the same piece
one of his own writing-that he then played, |
and with the same welLnigh phenomenal exc
cution and goodly taste.
Miss May Beesley was the vocalist of the |
evening. Whether 1t was the clear. starry
evening, or the cozy hall, or the many girlish
faces encouragingly upturned, or what not
Miss Beesley certainly sang last Monday in a
manner thatvastly excelled any of her previous
singing within the present writer's hearing. All
trace of nervousness, physical or artistic had
disappeared, giving way to reposeful mastery
OF her resources, which enabled her to prove
beyond doubt. what could hitherto be only
that Pittsburg possesses in her
cotordtllr singer such as we have never yet had
living am ng us. Miss Beesley's voice Is of ex-
cepuonal range, full powerful and flexible, if
not OF the most sympathetic quality in all
registers Her vocalization on Monday even.
ing was facile and brilliant to i degree; the
many delicate msdnces abounding in the Italian
style were most gracefully done. Her two
programme numbers-Meyerbeer's oft-heard
"Die Bekehrte," were, more
,ver, invested with all the artistic taste and
ignifcance they demand. Although f A.
iacdowelPs rich. passionate love song mo.
f the set of six) showed certain limitations IN |
he line of true lieder singing, it means much
@ express the hope that the larger public may
ave frequent opportunities of hearing Miss
3eesley sing just as she did on this particular
yening.