The San Francisco call., 1896-03-29
A BEvY OF "s.N BAD" BEAUTIES.

ing food of orchestral, chamber, vocal
and other concerts. AT present the inun-
daton is such that the wonder is that the
city is not quite submerged.
Not only is there a weekly symphony
matinee and concert given alternately by
the Philharmonic Society, under Anton
SeidI. and the Symphony Society, with
Walter Damrosch as leader, but every four
weeks the Boston Symphony Orches-
tra play at the Metropolitan Opera house.
And now comes Theodore Thomas with
his Chicago orchestra booked for a'series
of seven performances. also at the Metro
politan. An idea OF the labors Of the
orchestral musicians during these
especially trying times may be obtained
from the fact that the gentlemen of tue
Damroscn Opera Company during the
past forty-eight hours have given two
symphony concerts and two heavy operas.
This evening there are two orchestral con-
certs going on, at the Metropolitan and
Carnegie Hall, under the direction of
Thomas and Damrosch respectively. AS
it was impossible to get lair idea of both,
l compromised by attending neither,
negative procedure for which tine per-
formance of "Die erdaemmerung"
this afternoon peculiarly fitted me.
''Tannhauser, 'Lohengrin" and "Sieg-
fried" have been repeated this week and
"Der Freischutz" was given a first and
only hearing last evening. 1t used to be
standing joke in Munich that If any opera
was postponed on account of the ipdis-
position Of Frln. This or Herr That" the
manager always showed in der Frei-
schutZ,' for it always went by ITSELF"
This merely serves to show what an old
standby and universal favor,te this truly
beautiful opera has been ever since its first
appearance in Germany. The greatest art
lists have sung in it and yet we find that as
a result OF the cry of the local press for more
Wagner and more Wagner, not only
the old Italian operas are, for the most
part, de ervedly done away with, but the
works OF masters like Beethoven, Weber
and Schumann are severely criticized or
even ridiculed.
Those VITO went to the Academy last
evening will, the expectation of listening
to good production of Weber's master
piece must have been sadly disappointed
for it was rendered as though it had never
been rehearsed. Indeed, between the acts
the prima donna was heard practicing her
scales. etc., behind the curtain. The sing
ing and acting of Herr Fischer as Caspar
was excellent as 1t always is, but the rest
of the cast were not at all equal to their re-
specttve tasks, or ii they we're the indiffer-
ence shown was objectionable Herr
Lohse, wDo conducted, brought out the
eIieCtS oI Tie WCHUeIiul ORCHESTRAL SCOTe III
such q manner as TO make one wish that
he had as good band of artists on the
STAGE.
Walter Damrosch distinguished himself
| this afternoon by his conducting of Wag-
ners crowning triumph and the virtual
elimination OF his career as composer
1.-The Waning OF the Gods" as a friend
aptly renders Die Goetterdaem merung."
| 1t would be difficult TO conceive more
dramatic rendering of the part of Bruen-
hide than that of Frau Klatsky. The
work of this remarkable woman grows on
| one the more she is seen and heard. By
the time she leaves (there is to be an addi-
tional week, in which she appears once
more as Isolde) there will be sense of
deep regret in the hearts of hundreds of
| wel-earned friends.
| Alvary as Siegfried was new to me in
this work. What has been said of him as
Siegfried in the drama of that name ap-
plies to him equally in this. He seems as
if made to order for the part. If the Ger
tainty of his intonation and the evenness
of his phrasing were only equal to the nat
ural beauty OF his voice nothing would re-
main to be longed for, as his personal
appearance and acting are ideal Fischer
was the same reliable Hagen as when he
first gave the drink of forgetfulness to
Siegfried at the Metropolitan in 1883.
fraulein Eibenschutz made sweet Gu
trune and the King Gunther of William
Mertens is the best work he has done yet.
The Rhinedaughters and the choruses
were very effective. The scenery, as in all
productions of this work in America, left a
| great deal to be wished for.
| Thursday evening, the 10Th inst, had
the pleasure of listening to most UNIQUE
entertainment given at Carnegie Hall by
| the Musical Art Society of this city.
This organization consists wholly of vocal
soloists, chiefly church singers, for the
purpose OF rendering the works of the
earlier church COMPOSERS aud other choral
compositions which are rarely heard ir
the ordinary concerts, owing to theil
difficulty.
So great is the expense involved 1.-THE
chorus numbers fifty-two high-prlceo
artlsts) that but two concerts year are
possible.
! On this occasion compositions bv Pales
trina, Lotti, Felice Anerio and an s.Ancient
Eastern Hymn wonderfully harmonizeC
by List, formed the first portion of the
programme. The absolute iidelity to ths
pitch observed by all. even throughout
the longest numbers unaccompaniec
| without falling a shade of a tone, wa.
astonishing and would be impossible ex
| cept with just such band of vocal yir
| tuosi.
Still more trying in way was the las
part OF the programme when Frank Dam
rosch the director, led them through al
the harmonic tortuosities of an eight-par
song, by Peter Cornelius. Here, too, tn,
| encore showed no falling from the orisina
key. The quality of tone throughout was
exquisite and the shading ideal. coulc
not repress the desire to hear some time
somewhere, the works of Wagner suns
with such truth of intonation and with
such lovely tone color.
EDGAR STILLMAN KELLEY.