The age-herald., 1900-05-12
MUSICAL FESTIVAL
 A GRAND SUCCESS ,Ing Concert Last Night an
 Artistic Triumph. THE PROGRAMMES VARIED Large and Brilliant Audiences Attend ed Both Matinee and Night Per- formances-Loving Cup for
 Mr. Guckenberger
THE PROGRAMMES VARIED

1 der the auspices or the Blrmlngnam MUSIC | al Festival association closed last night
 with decided eclat. There were two con- | certs esterday-afternoon and evening
 and in these performances three artists
 new to this city were heard. They were
 Miss Isabele Bouton, mezzo-soprano; Miss l Gertrude May Stein contrlto, and Evan
 Williams, tenor.
 Immediately after the final note of the
 "Meistersinger," sounded by kettle drum.
 cymbal and chorus in unison, Rufus N.
 Rhodes, president of the association, ad-
 vanced to the footlights, thanked the au-
 dience for it's part in making the festival
 a financial success; thanked the chorus for
 it's share in making an artistic success of
 the affair, and thanked MT. Guckenberger
 the musical director, and then on behalf of
 the chorus presented Mr. Guckenberger a
 loving cup of solid silver, lined with gold. The Matinee
 The afternoon concert attracted large | audience, but the programme as published
 was not carried out. and the substitute | numbers, or some of them at least, were | monotonous.
 The programme opened with the Plying | Dutchman" overture, and MT. Mollen- | hauer, the conductor of the orchestra,
  | But following the overture the audience
 was disappointed in not hearing "Sentas' | ballad, and further disappointed in not | hearing the local female chorus in the
 "Whirl and Twirl number. The orches- tral parts, it seems, were not In the pos | session of the Boston Festival librarian. They were left behind and the two num-
 bers referred to had to be dropped. Two
 other pieces were heard in their stead; | good numbers they were, but they were | tI, o1tr fiSaH
 For number two Miss Isabele Bouton | sang O. Don Fatale," from Verdi's Don | Carlos This artist has a strong, rich meg | 20 voice, and she established her reputa-
 tion at once as a singer of rare ability. | For an encore she sang a lullaby by Hans | com.
 l In lieu of the other number, the "Whirl 1 and TwirI'' which had to be dropped from | the programme MT. Mollenh2uer gave Paganinfs Perpetual Moton,' arranged for the first Violins. In response to an ell l core the orchestra played a spring song by | Lacome But however beautifully these | substitute numbers may have been rem | dered the audience, and especially the le- | male chorus, must have felt sore. | Tschaikowski's string pece-Audante rom the B flat quartette-was well periormeu' and so was Vokmann's serenade for strings | with violoncello solo, But so much string | orchestra no matter how artistically play | ed could not fail to be wearying to the au- l dience The first part of the programme 1 closed with the childrens chorus-lhto | the World" by Benoit-Mr. GuckenDerger
 directing. The children acquitted them- i selves well at the start. Considering the
 fact that they had only short rehearsal l with the orchestra they did well through | ont the cantata. The breaks toward the | close of their performance. where the coun- l ter themes made the work peculiarly diffi-
 cult, were not surprising, when it was | noticed that the orchestra became sluggish l and did not keep up with the runaway l YoiceS
 | The second part of the programme open l ed with the most classic work of the festi 1 val-Schubert's Unfinished" symphony. MT. Mollenhauer and the orchestra dis | tinguished themselves in this number. The l reading and the execution were fully up to l the performance of Beethoven's symphony
 No. 5, which the festival audience heard | year ago. The first violins were strong | and "at home" and the wood | winds. The 'celos. too, without which
 there could be no Unfinished" symphony,
 were in the hands of artists. But there were few of them-only two of them And 1 there were only two violas where there should have been three or four 1 After the symphony Miss Bouton sang | the aria "Ah, Rendimi." and her singing | will be long remembered. The encore piece was an aria from Rossi's opera "Mtrane." l The programme closed with Svendsen's | Coronation" march-a splendid march | la Wagner. and while it was doubtless en- l joyed by the audience, it was quite too
 heavy for an orchestra of only forty. To l play the "Coronation' ("Kroenng's | march') in the right style an orchestra | of sixty or seventy with trumpets and not | comets, is required.
 l Having referred to some of the defects of
 the Boston Festival orchestra, it can be I tlNf,, &>1I 4lA4 | the exception of the comets, was singular l ly fine The four horns could not well be 1 improved upon. Theodore Thomas when he | was here in March did not have a better
 horn quartette than was heard in the Bos- l ton organization. Particularly noticeable was the fine. soft horn work in the child 1 rens cantata.
 Closing Concert
 1 The programme advertised for last night was followed without a break. Wagner's 'RienZi' overture was well ren- l dered; and then came the march and chorus | from "Tannhauser." Evan Williams the | distinguished tenor, followed with two solos
 from 'Jeptha" (HandeD. MT. Williams is | an ideal tenor. His voice is of rare purity l and he sings with fine expression. In re- l sponse to calls he sang Where Love Lies l Bleeding"-a simple ballad that captivated I the audience.
 The next number was by Miss Stein--the
 grand aria. "Adriano,' from "Rienz," and
 it provoked great applause. The encore l piece was beautifully rendered
 The remainder of the programme con-
 sisted of Max Bruch's cantata Fair El- | len,' with Miss Provan, soprano, and MT | Miles. baritone, as soloists; the ballet
 music from Samson and Delilah," Grieg's
 ''Discovery' for male voices, serenade
 for strings, and the finale of the last act | of Wagner's "Meistersinger." Fair Ellen" | with it's "Campbells are Comn'" theme, | and its stirring climaxes, proved so popu-
 lar that MT. Guckenberger was forced to | give more of it. He repeated the latter part.
 The chorus was in as good condition and
 was fully as effective on Thursday night.
 It achieved a triumph in each number in | which it took part. But it's best work. 1 without question, was in the "Meistersng-
 er." This was the most difficult music per- | formed during the festival, but it was the
 music in which the chorus shone to great
 est advantage. It was a revelation indeed.
 Ar,6 h sC rI- Fa. ,fC1f n