The San Francisco call., 1896-03-12

the seidl tour. The orchestra played all sorts
OF Wagnerian selections-the fire scene from
"Die Walkure," the prelude and glorification
from "Parsifal" and other exalted gems-and
mammoth Photographs drank up the sounds,
while microscopes reproduced Seidl in the
act OF conducting. Then Rivarde played con-
certos, so did Sauret, and they were repro
duced phonographicslly and kinetoscopically,
so were Lachaume's performances, and when
the party left Edison he assured them that by
the I'd of May, when the METROPOLITAN or
chestra starts on its tour, number of ma
chimes would be ready to send on ahead of the
artists, which would far surpass the work OF
any human press agent. This is not all, how
ever, that the wizard has promised to do for |
Seidl. OF course the great man and his SOLO |
lists are to travel in special car. Inside this |
will be a car of the common or garden variety, !
but electricity is to be so used in its outward
adornment that al night wondering rustics |
will see for miles around the word "Seidl'
written in letters of fire as the train flashes
through the country-all OF which shows that
Seidl, in addition to being conductor is q
man who knows the spirit of the times in
which he lives
Ambrose Thomas had pet retreat, where
he retired from the world each year 10 medi-
tate and compose. 1t was little island in the
archipelago OF st. Gildas. off the department
of Cotes-du-Nord. He bought it over twenty
years ago and built charming villa there,
close to the little harbor, which was large
enough to shelter his yachts Mignon and
Trecor. NJ Araouln-Dumazet, writing in lie
Temps, has this to say about Ambrose Thomas
retreat: every tiny is this isle of Illiec. 1t is
composed of three immense rocks, joined by
strand OF pebbles, on which thick grass has
grown up. Between two of these rocks Am
broise Thomas built his villa, granite
structure one story high with a gabed roof.
Three Of the windows look on vine-covered
walk, another three command view of the
terraced lawn, beyond which is the wide ex-
panse of the ocean. At the foot of the rocks is
little garden, and among the crags and cliffs
are pine trees and little paths in which the
celebrated composer loved TO wander.
at was in this little kingdom that Am broise
Thomas composed sMignon.' The villa was
furnished by him with odds and ends that he
had been picking up for years; old curiosites,
benches and chests that had long served the
peasantry in the surrounding country, but
the living-rooms were fitted up with more
comfortable furniture. His own room was
very simple, however; little iron bed in a
corner and an old chest of drawers inlald
with copper were all the furniture he used.
but the room was hung with antique Gobelins
tapestry. The island, situated as it is between
the restless ocean and the calm waters of Port
Blanc, is a charming retreat. One quits it
with regret, casting last look at its horten-
sias and yuccss, which fraternize with the
cabbages in its little garden.''
In Europe it has hitherto been supposed that
Americans possess the monopoly of inventing
patent transferable furniture. Some writers
have gone so far as to say that in American
households if you take up hand mirror you
are apt to find that it is frying-pan on the
other side; that musical boxes are disguised as
armchairs; tea cosies as footstools; and that
nearly ali the window draperies are instantly
transformable into fire escapes. European in.
genuity has lately set itself to work to achieve
something transiormabe on Its own account,
and M. J. F. Cuypers, a manufacturer of in
struments at The Hague, now proudly an
nounces that he has invented q new type of
harmonium, which can be changed at will into
writing-desk, dressing-table and a book
case. The Continental press bestows consider
able praise upon this latest addition to the
ranks of musical instruments.
German composers continue to employ the
shining hour by composing new works and
sending tn enf to the theaters subsidized by the
different courts, where the works are carefully
examined and form for the most part the
object of a special report. The Royal Opera
house OF Dresden received last year no less
than thirty-seven new scores, which were
almost all rejected, and the other theaters have
had equal evidence of the industry of COM
posers. Even th1rd-rate theaters in Germany
do not hesitate to produce an entirely new
lyric work, but the production of new operas
SO far exceeds the consumption that it is i'm
possible for all to be produced.
lie Menestrel says: "a simple little docu-
ment shows the value OF AMBROSE Thomas as
a teacher. 1t is the list of his pupils who in
the space of fifteen years obtained the grand
prize of Rome at the Paris Conservatory for
composition. This is the list: 1857, Charles
Colin: 1861 Theodore Dubois; 1862, Bour-
gault Ducoudray; 1868, Massenet; 1864, |
Victor sieg; 1865, Charles Leneveu; 1868, |
Rabuteau and Wintzweiller; 1870, Charles
Lefebvre; 1871, Castor serpette; 1872, Gas