The sun., 1909-11-05
The PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY
k.sfIRST CONCERT UNDER GUS
TAyE MAHLERS BATON.

The Philharmonic Society gave the
first concert OF its season at Carnegie
Hall last night. The concerts now take
place on Thursday evenings and Friday
afternoons, and the title public re-
hearsai" can therefore no longer be
applied to the afternoon entertainment.
There will be eight OF these pairs Of
concerts. supplying the place OF tho long
established series OF the society. Other
series will be given on other days. The
Philharmonic, which as all lovers OF
music know has been reorganized and set
upon the foundation OF a guarantee fund,
is entering upon a new chapter in its
history, one which promises to be filed
with incident. and judging from the
Indications OF last night with interest.
Gustave Mailer, now the conductor Of
the orchestra. has reduced it's forces
somewhat. The strings now begin with
sixteen first violins and rest upon eight
double basses. There is a new concert
master, Theodore Spiering: Xavier Reiter.
s,virtuoso among his kind. leads the horns;
' Leo Schulz In the solo 'cellist. and there
are some other changes OF significance.
But OF them there need be no elaborate
record. An orchestra Ia an entity. and
BY it's fruit IL must be judged.
The programme OF the concert con-
sisted Of Beethoven's overture "The Con-
secration OF the House" and -Eroica-
symphony. Richard Strauss's tone poem,
It'll Eulenspiegels Merry Franks and
Franz Liszt's symphonic poem -MazeHpa.- .
Very properly there was no soloist; the
orchestra and the conductor were the
stars Of the occasion.
There will be numerous opportunities
10 study the merits OF the reconstructed
Philharmonic orchestra. The impression
which it. made last night was one Of
decided improvement. II would be idle
to assert that it's tonal quality has yet
. falfilled a perfect ideal. but the plain
truth must be told. and II is that so long
as labor union restrictions control the
musical situation in this city an ideal
orchestra will not be developed here.
without doubt the new Philharmonic
contains much Of the best material which
the union can supply, and IL the tone OF
the strings is yet somewhat opaque and
wanting in distinction the blame must
not be laid at the door of the generous
hackers Of the orchestra nor OF its con-
ductor. On the other hand it can be
said that the wood wind shows marked
Improvement and that the brass, while
somewhat vehement at times last night,
sIwell organized
The ensemble playing. it is a pleasure
] to,note, has emerged from the mists which
surrounded il last season. IL was not
always distinguished last evening by per-
feet precision and there were passa ges
in which unanimity was lacking. but on
the whole there was an encouraging
demonstration OF the achievement OF a
good conductor in the matter OF dynamics,
attack and nuance. The orchestra has
many gradations between a pianissimo
and its uttermost forte and when il spoke
lRfull power it did not cease to be musical.
There was a beautiful gain in clarity.
The balance of tone not only among the
three choirs but among the instruments
cf each one was far better than il was
last year. This too must be set down
to the credit of Mr.. Mailer. With so
much that shows progress thus early in
the season it is natural to expect still more
-Rdvance before the winter is ended.
The music heard last evening calls for
no discussion. Mr. Mahler's readings
might be made the subject Of much. but
the season is 80 young. Why bend its
youthful shoulders with weighty comment
on readings? The performance Of the
overture was honest and straightforward
in intent. but in execution the perform
snce was not as polished as that of the
first movement OF the symphony which
followed. Here the orchestra and the
conductor were at their best.
Only in the characteristic violin passa ge
NJ the coda did Mr.. Mahler jar tradition.
Here he offered for consideration a most
vigorous sforzando. which seemed to
tIleap entirely out OF the tonal picture.
Otherwise the reading Of the first move
nent was free from eccentricity. There
was no attempt at articulation Of the
skeleton, no experiments in spectrum
analysis. The clear white light of the
music was permitted to shine with its
own radiance.
The funeral march was effectively
played though Mr.. Mahler showed that
he had his own ideas about relative tempt.
The scherzo was taken slowly and very
distinctly and the trio was made most
musical, most melancholy. In the finale
there were again some accentuations
Characteristic of Mr.. Mahler's intellectual
bent. But on the whole there was no
ground for quarrel with the interpreta-
llou III was SCI iOTbu cACChchby oho III
some passages with notable color and
dramatic utterance.
The Strauss number was admirably
performed. The certainty OF the orches-
ira in the treatment OF this music was
in sharp contrast TO the technical uncer-
tainty which used TO prevail. The per-
fornance moreover had tonal richness
and an elasticity OF style which promises
well for the future.
Mr.. Mailer. as most music lovers
know. is distinguished by scholarly
Interpretation rather than by flaming
temperament. As to the value OF the
Intellectual mastership in the production
Of artistic results there can be no question.
Perhaps some OF those who learned to
love picturesque doings on the conductors
podium will find Mr.. Mailer less fasci-
mating than his predecessor. but 1t is al
together likely that those who respect
serious musiciaDship, grip on relative
values. mastery OF ensemble and pene-
tratve insight into musical structure