The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1898-05-03

and would be delighted to hear Of the
Americans getting a good beating!"
The Figaro has an interview with Cen
eral Cluseret, who was one of the Com
mune's war ministers in the 1871 insur-
rection, and was, according to his own
account, made full general by Presi-
dent Lincoln during our civil war.
This gentleman seems gifted with a
strong imagination, and the accuracy
of his report Of a conversation with
Lincoln, which he describes in his let
ter, is, according to his own account,
somewhat open to doubt. He says:
Lincoln could not speak q word of
French. l only knew about dozen
words of English. Lincoln would not
have an interpreter, yet he wanted an
accurate account as to his army with
out its passing through the channel of
the politicians. So tete-a-tete in his
closet he handed me a pocket dictiona-
ry, took UP another himself and for
two hours we went at it hammer and
longs In the end we perfectly under
stood each other" This little anecdote
makes one rather sceptical as to the
value of M. Cluseret's opinion of our
army l give it as a mere curiosity:
There is no army in the United States.
The twenty-five thousand men intend
ed to keep down the red Indians in the
far west are of no account. But there
are plenty of volunteers; very steady,
very brave, and as many of them as
money can procure. AS / have been in
command of these volunteers for four
years I know them well-good fellows
and gallant fellows, but politicians
above all things; professional value,
zero The war of secession did not
produce a single great captain" Is
this not lovely! I should like to ask
this new Tartan d. Amerique how he
managed his command of the volun-
teers with "about dozen words of
English" Three words per annum be-
fore he was made full general"
At the Kahn Saal I heard. Herr Nor
itz Rosenthal in his last recital a short
time ago. His powers may fairly be
termed phenomenal, for he has not only
an extraordinary command over the
keyboard, but in everything he inter-
prets intimate knowledge Of the sig
nificance of the music Is evinced, and
you never have what may be termed a
false reading of any master. The pro-
gramme at this recital included works
by five composers, and 1t is difficult to
say in which the player excelled. The
first item was Beethoven's sonata in e
major, one Of those which are described
as being in the composers third man
ner." 1t was composed for the most
part In 1920 when Beethoven was still
at work on his great Mass in D. How
ever strange, If not incomprehensible,
his last sonatas may have been in for
mer years, they are no longer riddles to
intelligent amateurs, and the example
in e is a favorite, chiefly on account of
the beautiful air and variations which
constitute the third movement. AS to
the rendering of Schumann's Etudes
Symphoniques, no terms Of praise could
be deemed excessive. + was reminded
of Paul Hidden by the daintiness of the
technique. Every variation was inter-
preted in the most eloquent manner,
and, where speed was required, the
pace attained was positively startling.
and the execution as accurate as it
could well be. Whether the final move
point open to question, but it is marked
allegro brillante, which is an elastic
term. Three pieces by Chopin came
next, and afforded abundant evidence
that Herr Rosenthal could at will sub
due his strength and make it give
place to grace and sentiment The
pretty, but by no means easy Etude in
B fiat, from the second book, OPP. Is,
was charming. Rubenstein was repre-
scented by a serenade and his '"Torea-
dor ct Andalouse," and the programme
ended with LISTS Thalberg-like Fan
tasia on Don Juan. This paraphrase
is caricature of Mozart, and it's diff
culties are enormous, but Herr Rosen-
thai made light of these, and after sew
eral calls granted Chopin's waltz in A
fiat, OPP. AZ. / noticed a number Of
Americans in the Saal, and from now
on we can expect the influx-if war
does not come-of our countrymen.
ALFRED STILLE IVES.