Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-12-18

The Musical Association of Allegheny
could not ask stronger proof of public ap-
probation than was afforded by the num-
bers and the applause of the large audience
nearly 1000 persons-that brayed the
beastly weather of last Tuesday evening to
attend the opening concert of the asso-
Citations fourth season. The sight of that
audience must have been a strong encour-
agement to Director W. A. Laferty and
the rest in their upward strivings.
At the beginning it was announced that
the soprano soloist of the evening, Miss
Grace Miller, was so indisposed as to be
unable to appear. This was a serious
drawback, even more than might appear on
the surface. For the chief work of the
evening, Max Bruch's cantata, ''Scenes
From the Fritbjof-Saga, had been chosen
really for the sake of Miss Miller (who
had sung it in GERMANY, and with no little
misgivlng as to the ability of the mascu-
line section of the chorus to overcome its
manifold difficulties
Bruch's cantata is, indeed, work of
many difficulties; but it is important enough
to make the attempt 10 surmount them
worth while. This composition it was that
in, 1852 FIST established the reputation of
Max Bruch (born at Cologne, 1888, still
iying), and led the way to his present
rank as one of the leading German COM
posers of the day and particularly as the
foremost representative of the epic cantata-
When Bruch came over in 1883 and brought
out his "Arminius" in Boston, Mr.. John
S. Dwight, sketching his career, wrote:
HE has led a restless life, with constant
shifting of the scene, in striking correspond
L Al Ill
changes and chord-shittings, which are
some of the most characteristic modern
features of his largely orchestrated compO-
sitlons" "Frithiof" is full of the COM
poser's individuality as thus limited at, and
remains to-day one of the most admired of
all his works. 1t is setting of six scenes
extracted from the Frithjof-Saga of Esaias
Tegner: first, the hero's return from Ork-
neys; second, the bridal procession taking
his beloved, blgeborg, to King Ring; third,
FTiLhjot's revenge, burning the temple in
which the false kings are sacrificing; fourth,
his departure into exile; fifth, Elgeborg'S Ia
ment; and sixth, Fridjof'S sailing away in
'Ellida" to become sea rover.
1t would have been much clearer to the
audience if the programme text had shown
the divisions and titles of these separate
scenes 1t is also pity that the first hear
ing here of such work should have to be
without the elaborate, vital orchestral part,
and that the sopranos absence should i'm
pair one scene and cause the omission of
another. But it was good to hear FIRTH
iof' in any form, and the association is to
be commended for its ambition, if nothing
more.
Or course, the SO men Of that chorus did
not form faultlass medium for such music.
They had evidently studied hard and they
sang with the best will and intent, but the
work was beyond their powers. One need
not go into detail as to the chorus singing
nor as to that Of Mr.. Adolph L. Nevin, the
tenor, who with rare courage undertook q
soprano part that he Had never so much as
rehearsed with its accompaniment The
quartet Especially Mr. Charles T. Bender,
first tenor, and Mr.. Ross w. Drum, first
bass) brought one comforting spot into the
general uneasiness and shakiness of the
performance.
In such surroundings there is small won-
der that DR.. B. Merrill Hopkinson, the
Baltimore baritone, betrayed in his voice
some slight nervousness in making his local
debut in the title role of the cantata. That
nervous tremolo was about the only blemish
on his delightful performance, and even
that disappeared later in the evening, when
he sang Franz's "Marie" and Schubert's
"Erl-King." His voice has tenor-like
ring in the upper register and a rich,
satisfying quality throughout. DR.. Hop
kinson got much dramatic effect even out
of the slipshod translation of Tegner's text
and in those broadly contrasted songs he
achieved complete artistic triumph.
Mr.. A. Karpachewsky, boyish stranger
-self-taught, they say-gave a very re-
show, it might be called. 1t certainly was
not art. His playing of Hauser's "Rhap-
sodie Hongroise" did come within hailing
distance of being an art effort. the piece
itself being of the wild Slavonic stripe.
The rest was what one might look for from
astrolling Magyar-full Of fire and sensation,
abrupt and exaggerated, executed with
dash and vim, but full of all kinds of faults,
artistic and technical The encore show he
gave was positively disgraceful, at con-
cert of this class. Mr.. Karpachewsky
might have been made virtuoso of the
Remenyi kind had he been taken in hand
we'll satisfied with everything he does for
anyone to teach him the sorely-needed ru-
diments of the art
Mr. Ncvin had so strained his voice in
the terrific effort to supply Miss Miiler's
place that he did not DO himself justice in
his programmed solo, the Cujus Aninlam
from ''Stabat Mater" The entire chorus
was heard in Mozart fragment, 80
Praise the Lord" and two selections
from the Redemption" The sol1dity, vigor
and effectiveness with which "Unfold, We
Portalsr' was delivered, gave proof of
what Mr.. Lafferty and his singers can do
under proper conditions. Miss Adele Rea-
hard, the regular accompanist of the asso-
citation, is entitled to high praise for the
artistic and effective manner in which she
fulfilled her very arduous task on Tuesday
evening.