CONCERTS OF THE SEASON.
The Philharmonic Society entered upon its forty-first season on Mon- day last ; and on Wednesday the New Philharmonic Society commenced its second. Each has opened its campaign with spirit and the prospect of success. The subscription to the Old Philharmonic even exceeds its amount for several years past, and on Monday the Hanover Square Room was crowded to the doors. Exeter Hall, too, was crowded on Wednes- day evening. We may therefore hope for good results from the honourable competition of these societies. We may believe that (unlike two such enormous rival establishments as the Italian Operahouses) there is room enough for both ; and that each may pursue its separate course and aim at its own special objects without clashing or mutual injury. We have no right to assume that the New Society was formed or is carried on in any spirit of hostility to the Old. It has purposes in view which the Old Society has never contemplated, and could not accomplish if it would. The mere locality of Exeter Hall, by admitting great audiences, affords the important advantages of greater cheapness, and of a wider range in the choice of music; and hence the New Society can with comparative safety make experiments in the introduction of novelties which would be hazardous and even ruinous if attempted by the Old.
Such being the case, we regret the spirit of partisanship which the establishment of the New Philharmonic Society has elicited. While we are disposed to give full weight to its claims, we do not see the necessity of supporting them by disparaging the Old, or (ungratefully, we must say) forgetting the immense services it has rendered to the art. Esta- blished in 1813 by a body of the most eminent musicians then resident in England, it almost immediately assumed the form which it has ever since preserved ; and its influence in promoting its especial object—the cultiva- tion of orchestral music—has bad from the very beginning of its existence a powerful effect on the state of the art all over Europe. When it was formed, the only great symphonists of established fame were Haydn and Mozart. Some of Beethoven's gigantic creations were already in being ; but they were little known in his own country, less in England, and not at all in France. The Philharmonic Society, from the outset, applied themselves to the symphonies of Beethoven; they first taught themselves, and then the public, to understand and enjoy them; and gradually the splendour of Beethoven's name began to shine, even at Vienna, with a light reflected from London. The French, at a greater distance, followed in our path. It was on the model of the Philharmonic that the concerts of the Conservatoire were formed; and if Beethoven has rapidly become known to the Parisian public, they owe this knowledge to the impulse given by the Philharmonic Society. It is customary to charge this body with faults of management, which, it is said, have brought into existence its rival. The Philharmonic Society "has not obeyed the exigencies of the times," "has persisted in its ancient prejudices," "has rested on its oars while the art continued to advance." These stereotyped complaints, urged at the beginning of every season, if not altogether groundless, (for what management is free from fault ?) are at least much exaggerated. Two of them are, that the Society is not active enough in the search for novelties, and that it does not sufficiently encourage and foster young and native artists. These accusations, akin to each other, are met by a simple answer, which, in substance, we have made before now. The purpose of the Philharmonic Society is, to present the greatest works of art in the most perfect pos- sible form. It never was a part of their plan to gratify the appetite for novelty, or to serve as a nursery for young musicians whether native or foreign. Intrinsic excellence, and that of the highest order, ought to be the sole principle of choice. If this condition is found in a work, then its being new, or by a young and rising artist, will of course enhance its in- terest. On a review of the Society's course for many years, we are sa- tisfied that this consideration has on the whole been kept in view. If the art has of late "continued to advance," it is certainly not in the great de- partment which has always formed the special object of the Philharmonic Society—orchestral composition. A grand symphony demands the rarest combination of powers, and musicians of the highest eminence have been unable to achieve it. Weber made two attempts ; and, conscious that (for him) they were failures, never made a third. The only acknowledged successors to the three great symphonists, Haydn, Mozart, and Beetho- ven, are Spohr and Mendelssohn ; and no one will say that their works, as they successively appeared, were neglected by the Philharmonic Society. Many new symphonies, by various composers of the day, have from time to time been produced; but it is notorious that the experiment
has very rarely been successful. It has been f t P, • f' such pieces, even when they possessed a cer n2471)40
elusion of works of the great masters, and the . ceived with coldness and discontent. The case • which are symphonies on a smaller scale : we
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d'ceuvre of this class, and any attempt to add to it th favour from the audience. That the attention of the Ph c So- ciety ought to be alive to the course of events, and that p tions of
real merit ought to be sought after both at home and abroad, is unques- tionable; but it is no less so that the immortal works of the great masters must continue to be, as they have always been, the standing repertoire of the Society. On its adherence to them the Society's reputation and prosperity mainly depend. At the Philharmonic concert on Monday, a symphony new to the pub- lic was introduced into the programme,—whether or not in consequence of the stimulus of competition, we shall not pretend to say. At all events, the experiment was successful ; the piece being well received. It is by Gade, a young Danish composer resident at Leipsic—a friend of Men- delssohn, by whom he was much esteemed. It is a good deal in the style of Mendelssohn, whom it is the fashion of the day to imitate, with evident traces of the study of Beethoven ; and, without evincing the highest order of genius, it is graceful and pleasing. Another niece which had the effect of novelty was an overture by Beethoven, written so long ago as 1822 for the opening of a new theatre in Vienna. It was produced by the Philharmouic Society many years since ; but, having probably been imperfectly executed and not well understood, it was allowed to drop into oblivion. Its revival on this occasion sur• prised everybody, and it was pronounced worthy to be compared even with the magnificent Leonora. A young English pianist, Mrs. Jewson, played Mendelssohn's concerto in G minor, in a manner which produced general delight, and has placed her among the most distinguished artists of the day. The other orchestral pieces were the stupendous Erolea of Beethoven, and Spohr's fine overture to the Berg-geist. The principal vocal pieces were, the grand scene in Oberon, "Ocean, thou mighty monster," sung in Italian by Madame Castellon; and a recitative and air from the Passione of .Tomelli, a fine specimen of the old Italian school, sung by Miss Dolby.
The organization and arrangements of the New Philharmonic Society differ in some respects from those of last year. Berlioz, who was then, jointly with Dr. Wylde, conductor of the orchestra, is so no longer. In his room Herr Lindpaintner is engaged for the first four concerts, and Dr. Spohr for the last two. Lindpaintner conducted the entire concert of Wednesday. He is a veteran musician, of considerable reputation in Germany, though very little known elsewhere. He is a kapellmeister of great experience ; and his manner of conducting showed that he under- stands the management of an orchestra. The instrumental strength is much increased since last year. The stringed instruments alone number eighty-six, and the total considerably exceeds a hundred. This rein- forcement has removed the defect of last season—the feebleness of effect caused by the inability of the body of sound to fill so large a apace. But it requires wary treatment ; for loud and complicated passages, rapidly performed, will sound confused even if executed with mathematical pre- cision. This was repeatedly felt, especially in Mendelssohn's A minor symphony ; some movements of which, moreover, were taken consider- ably faster than they used to be when played, under the composer's own direction, by the comparatively small band of the Old Philharmonic and in the confined space of the Hanover Square Rooms. Bating this, the symphony, and indeed the whole orchestral music, was admirably per- formed.
The great and successful features of the concert by no means lay in its novelties. The overture to Egmont, Mendelssohn's Symphony in A minor, Beethoven's glorious pianoforte concerto in C minor, Lindpaintner's overture to the Vampire, and Mendelssohn's march in _elthalie, were all well known to the public. Decidedly the strongest sensation was made by Mademoiselle Clause's exquisite performance of Beethoven's concerto : the delight of the audience was testified by repeated salvos of applause. The pieces that were new—that is, new in a concert-room—were not ju- diciously chosen. The prisoners' chorus in Fidelio absolutely demands the stage, and so does Gluck's chorus in Iphigenia in Tauris. Sung by people standing in an orchestra, such things are unmeaning, and destitute of effect. A forgotten cantata by Weber, half an hour long, fell dead on the ears of the audience. It is a mere piece de circonstance, written on the battle of Waterloo, and quite unworthy of Weber's genius ; being full of all the sound and fury, signifying nothing, which necessarily be- longs to music of this description. There was, too, a very long solo on the clarinet, into which the very clever playing of N. Wuille could not throw a spark of animation. All these things were shown by their cool reception to be palpable failures ; a circumstance which will doubtless serve as a lesson in the arrangement of future concerts.
This week there have been two of those serial concerts of classical music which are now so much in vogue—both on the same evening, Thursday. One was the last of Ella's "Musical Winter Evenings," at Willis's Rooms ; the other, one of Salaman's performances of pianoforte music, at the New Beethoven Rooms in Queen Anne Street. The notable feature of Mr. Ella's soirée was the production of a quintet for the piano- forte and stringed instruments by Robert Schumann,—a composer almost unknown in this couutry, but loudly extolled by German cri- tics, and exalted by the musical coteries of Lcipsic even above Men- delssohn, whom he has succeeded as musical director in that town. Some curiosity was consequently excited to hear what is said to be one of his favourite works : but this specimen of "Young Ger- many" produced nothing but disappointment; everybody seeming to agree that they had never heard anything more uncouth and rugged—more destitute of every quality which constitutes musical beauty ; and this was the case, though the principal part was played by Mademoiselle Clause, and the accompaniments by the first-rabe artists whom Mr. Ella is accustomed to employ. Mr. Salomon, who is an excellent pianist and a sound musician, gave, besides minor things, no fewer than four pianoforte pieces of magnitude ; Dussek's quintet in F minor, Beethoven's grand sonata in C minor, We- bees sonata in C major, and Hummel's quintet in the same key; in all of which he sustained the principal part, acquitting himself admirably. A few pretty vocal pieces were sung by Miss Messent and Miss Ransford. The audience was large and fashionable.
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