New-York tribune., 1908-01-26

and among the Puritans, All animal spirits die
within you as you enter that gray and green monu-
| ment. decorated with statues of Sophocles and
| Minerva and other solemn people of similar size
and whiteness. There are no boxes-embleIns or
| worldly show and insincerity-only rows and rows
| of gray-green chairs throughout the whole or the
house. The auditorium is very long and narrow
with the stage the narrow end, much smaller
than Carnegie Hall in New York The orchestra
just fits, like the soldiers IN box In this rectan-
gular building the centre OF the galleries seems
long the stage. but two rows of seats run
all the way along the sides of the house TO the very
platform. that the end seat is like stage box
II is for this seat that the rushers contend in their
painting flight upstairs.
There is a tremendous scramble for five min
utes and then a fiat calm; for though the hNe
hundred seated and the gallery is packed the
rest of the house is blank and empty. and 1t IS
a whole hour before the concert begins. Most OF
early birds already deep in the perusal OF
the programme. which might think 'was made
for their especial benefit, so generous an amount
of information does II give Here for instance, is
typical programme in fat book of eighty pages:
an analysis of Haydn's symphony in Z major an
account of his rise in England. a sketch OF his
patron Saloman: after description Of three dances
by Mozart. anecdotes about Emperor Joseph ii,
about Mozart's fondness for dancing. the masked
balls in Vierna; then history OF the origin and
evolution of the waltz. including court memoirs
poems by Ransard a description by De Quincy;
affairs and a dissertation on concert room clap
ping. and finally criticism of the Beethoven
symphony TO be performed Quite a readable vol
ume I assure you. that puts to shame New York's
programmes full of corset and l'cuor advertise
ments
MUSICIANS APPEAR.
BY and by the musicians begin TO stroll in and
hold little whispered conferences with their in
struments-bendng their heads attentvely to their
viols oboes what not, waking them up and
asking them how they feel, while the instruments
give yawns and sQueaks and means. The au-
dience glides through the many doors and soon
the whole house begins to hum with that expect
ant nurmur and excitement that precede q per-
formauce Last of all, when every seat is filed
and every eye is fixed on that gold framed space
in which are seen the dim black forms Of the mu-
scians and the quiverins instruments. IN darts the
conductor, Dr. Karl Muck, conductor Of the Royal
Opera in Berlin, the Kaser's Approved and Bos-
toms Joy.
It is not alone his power conductor which
gTatifes. X is also his interesting personality
which steals I'D even TO the ''rushers' in the dis
tant gallery. This is in spite of the fact that a
more intensely reserved leader can hardly be i'm
agined. A small, neat well made figure, austere
and grim IN every line of the black coattails. he
! hardly be 10 conduct at all NO wag-
glings of the head tossed hair or frantic gestures
take your eye. Some people grumble that he is
like a wooden soldier but that is not discerning.
His is a very tense and vibrant figure. full Of
bottled lightning which once in a long time shows
in a sudden lunge. His baton strokes are like the
play Of q master fencer who has only to turn his
wrist and the trick is done When at the end
Of a piece he answers the applause by turning
his head over his shoulder for half second toward
the audience he displays clever. sarcastic counte-
nance clean shaven. but TeutoniZed by a pair of
horn trimmed eyeglasses Most Boston women
love his dark and saturnine look and the appar-
ent contempt In which he holds them They say
that he refuses TO learn English because he would
then be obliged TO talk 10 people at receptions
He IS q OF intellect, is Herr Muck You feel
il as he speaks his wordless messages TO the
musicians and straightway that prosaic. black
coated group calls up harmonies. The whole long
building burns and thrills with sound so that the
dim lights. the gray-green walls, the dingy people.
sink away while you feel your hair put new
glory and your soul expand"
ABSORBED LISTENERS.
The .rushers' are the best listeners you ever sat
with. From the time Herr Muck calls attention to
the time when the last note has fallen not sound
or motion comes from the five hundred. You look
into the line Of pale and shadowy faces focused on
the little soldier the black fTock coat The sound
of a waltz fills the air-a waltz that programme |
tells US made by Mozart the lovely ladies o,
Vienna These wan school teachers seedy students,
decayed gentlefolk-of what they thinking? or
the trio in q major dead hopes. OF Paradise. OF
dinner? Somehow you feel mournful about them /
They take their pleasures very sadly. compared 10
the gallery crowd at the grand opera in New York
where the merry Italian barber and the nsouclant
French waiter Shrek Bravo Bis Encore" |
Those you feel sure viii go home q family, a |
bottle Of claret and noisy argument But these |
Bostonans you fear will repair TO single bedrooms
a little water from the tap. When the Puri- |
tans relaxed enough import thsse joy giving
German musicians, do wish they had also taken |
kindly 10 the German beer