New-York tribune., 1920-11-22
Bands Feature
Four of Seven
Musical Fetes
Symphony Orchestra Heard
in Aeolian Hall Under the
Direction of Rene PELHAM,
One of Damrosch's Aids
Concert at Metropolitan
Ten of Gatti's Foremost Sing
ers Take Part in First Sum
day Program of Season
By II. E. krchbiel

At four of the seven concerts which
!. were offered to the local public yester-
! day large orchestras took part-the
bands, namely, of the Philharmonic and
Symphony societies, National Sym
5phony Orchestra and Metropolitan
Opera Company 1t being an off day in
the Aeolian Hall Sunday series, the
orchestra OF the Symphony Society was
, transported to the Lexington Theater,
Were it gave a concert under the d-
rection of Rene Pollain, one of Mr..
Damrosch's assistants. which had for
its special attraction the B-1at piano.
forte concerto by Tschaikoffsky, with
the solo part played by Erwin Nyred-
,ghazi.
Before that work came Beethoven's
C-minor symphony, which is doomed to
be playeo SO oiten this season because
Of the 150th anniversary OF it's COM
poser's birth that its serious admirers
are likely to wish to have it laid away
for long space after the celebrations
are over. After the concerto came the
first of Blzet's two "L'Arlesienne"
suites. and the overture TO Lalo's LIE
Roi d'Ys"
Concert at the Metropolitan
The consensus of critical opinion ex-
the right of the youthful Hungarian to
place among virtuosos of the first
rank. There remained, however. some
curiosity to observe how he would COM
port himself in the presence of con-
certo and it was gratifed yesterday.
Of distinction there was scarcely a
modicum in his performance of Tschai-
kofskys work. The music lenGs itself
to external glitter more than to depth
n nol a.,
been rev planlsIs who have PLAYED it
within the last few years who did not
throw out bigger and brighter tonal
coruscatIon than this young man, from
whom, f6 Judge by whs. is told Of his
childhood, we were justified in expect
ing things far above the ordinary.
Can it be that his genius has with
ored in the bud? If so, he is one of a
company so numerous that it may be
said to have fixed the rule. Musical
genius has often disclosed itself like
"A love that took an early root
And had an early doom"
Wise are the parents VINO know how
10 nourish it. But it is much to be
hoped that this young man has not
reached the end of his tether. There is
sc large deposit cf acquisition and
achievement in him as to Justly ex-
pect alton of fine future.
lar Concerts a. the Metropolitan Opera
House was after the popular heart
The people who go to these concerts as
n rule (and there were occasions when
they we're multitudinCus), are Of the
class whose musical enjoyment is
summed up in listening to and looking
at opera singers. instrumental music
interests them very little. il at all.
Many Singers Appear
The larger the number of singers who
take part in concert, therefore, the
greater its attractiveness and their en-
joyment. Last night ten of Mr.. Gattis
singers, and they we're not the least
consequential in his roster, were booked
to appear, and in addition to airs enough
to furnish forth any ordinary affair
there were duets, tros and quartets.
The singers were Mabel Garrison
Jeanne Gordon, Rosa Ponselle, Marie
Sundelius Marie Tiffany. Rafaclo Diaz,
Orville Harold, Morgan Kingston, Giu
seppe de Luca and Jose Mardoncs. Al
the music wase from operas by Verdi
and Puccin, the older master contrib
uting the hons share
Quite naturally, the audience, which
crowded the gigantic room had what the
late Senator Conkling, in an argument
in local courtroom, called "halcyon
&nd VoclterouS time.
The only fly in the ointment was the
rule prohibiting repetitions or additions
to the program encorcs," as they are
called in the slang of the concert room
Had the bearers had their will, there
would have been half dozen if not
full dozen of these "agains."
There were only three purely orches-
trail numbers on the program-two
0vertures by Verdi, and the prelude
to the third act of Puccini's "Manon
Lescaut." One Of the overtures was
that to "The Scilian Vespers," the
other to "La Batagla di Legnano," an
opera of Nerdi's early period composed
in 1S49, two years before "Rigoletto") .
There is a suggestion of martial and
revoluntary music in the title, and the
story deals with incidents associated
with the battle in which the Lombard
League defeated the Emperor Freder-
ick Barbarossa in the struggle between
imperialism, papacy and republican,
ism, which filled much of Roman his
tory in the twelfth century.
Well, music of combat is in the over
ture, for it begins and ends with a
march melody. first in the brass and
finally in the entire band. In the mid
die Git is an overture of the potpourri
kind) there are gentle little tunes,
hard for the present generation to
recognize as characteristically Verdi
esque, played by the wood-winds, with
string pizzicati and such like tidbits
of orchestration.
Decidedly ingenious music, all of it
and, from martial point of view
music for tin soldiers. The Verdi of
l849 does not sound to US "like mu-
sician with helmet" az he did to
Rossini. His head covering Is papier-
mache at the best Mr.. Bamboschek
conducted the concert