Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1914-10-17
Song and Concert
in Philadelphia

III iliAoNSiHliD
In spite Of the war, 1t was much the
same orchestra that gave the first con-
cert of the season at the Academy Of
Music yesterday afternoon. Mr. Stokow-
ski, tall, angular, masterful, with feet
spread wide, still seemed to pull physical
ly each particular accent from his or
chestra by those familiar side motions
! OF his arms. The orchestra, too, was
much its old self, both in numbers and
tore. The ravages OF war weru not ap-
parent Indeed, the damp day, swapping
a dozen fiddle strings did far more exc
| cution. The lack of novelties in the
| coming seasons program, owing to the
| imposslbility Of securing scores, will
probably be the most disastrous result
Of European conflict on the Philadelphia
| Orchestra.
| The men worked we'll together, in spite
| of martial troubles. There were little
slips, to be sure. as in the beginning OF
the overture to Der Freischuetz," and
the horns and flutes, on the whole. were
not so smooth or so evenly resonant AS
ski carried the men with his customary
keen sense of accent from the suave
beginnings OF Webers overture and its
touches of what have been so we'll called
ragged rhythm" to the clash and
sparkle of 'Rimsky Korsakow's Spanish
Caprice"
Brahms Second Symphony which made
the bulk of the program, is a piece that
does not lend itself altogether to Mr..
Stckowskrs finest virtues as a conductor
Though lovely piece of symphonic writ
ing In Its kind, IL lacks the passionate
full-accented qualities of great emotion
with which the conductor does his best
work. Neither pathetic" nor "heroic,"
.as IL Is sometimes called, IL shows mas
terry of technique put to pleasant expert
use, rather than big feeling. 1t is the
work of hero in his least heroic mo-
inent5 full Of easy, effortless command.
Rimsky-Korsakow's Spanish dances are
hardly so modern or so interesting as
sibelius contribution to the program.
snowy, giving almost every instrument
chance for solo display, 1t suggests
everything rlotous from La Belle Oterc"
to the music of the gambling house In
Thais.' But 1t gives no such simple
satisfaction as Sibelius' Swan of Tuon-
Ella"
Like much of the new music, Sibelius
legend aims at the creation of an i'm
aginative mood by clear and simple tonal
means rather than the technical in
trtcacies of the older school. Yet how
eloquent the singing strings that bring
us the first picture of the Finnish king
dom OF death, with its broad. black wa
ters. Tremulous, deep pizzacato, set
against the eloquence of English horn,
the most skillful of muted dimnuendoes,
the Icy quaver of strings and flutes bring
the most compelling effect of strange,
uark' sorroWtul beauty. K. NJ.
Alma Gluck With the Orchestra
The fourth symphony Of Tschaikowsky
in F minor and the temperance. after
several years. of Alma Gluck as soloIst
Will be the important features OF the
second pair of concerts which the Phila-
delphia Orchestra viii give at the Acad-
emy of Music on next Friday afternoon
and Saturday evening. BY way of inter
esting contrast, Leopold Stokowski will
begin his concerts with the overture to
Mozart's masterpiece of light OPERA "The |
Marriage of Figaro" and the program |
will also include the delightful music |
Whlcn SchuDert wrote Tor the romantic |
drama, "Rosamunde, Princess of Cy- |
prus,' and which was rescued from |
oblivion by Sir George Grove and Sir Ar |
thur Sullivan when they journeyed to |
Vienna in 1867 to inquire into the fate OF |
a number Of Schubert's manuscripts. Mr.. |
Stokowsh has long ago established him
self as a mastery interpreter OF Tschai-
kowsky's music. and his reading of the
Russian masters fourth symphony has
now become a classic
Alma Gluck. the soloist at the second
pair OF concerts, was last heard In Phila-
delphia three seasons ago. She will sing
aria from Mozart's "n Serag-
lio." and three Russian songs by Rach-
maninofr and RimskyKorsakow.
David Dubinsky, violinist. announces a