The Philharmonic concert of Monday last was of average quality,
and remarkable chiefly for the 'performance of Joachim, the young violinist whose first appearance, as a boy, some seven years sinoe, created a sensa- tion in our musical world. He is now, we believe, nearly one-and-twen- ty, and his precocious powers have ripened into finished excellence. On this occasion he played Mendelssohn's violin concerto ; a piece in which the composer, though not a violinist himself, has shown a thorough know- ledge of the genius of the instrument, and has accumulated almost all the difficulties of which it is capable. The same concerto was played by Sivori last week at the contort of the New Philharmonic, and those who heard both those fine performances found it interesting to compare them. They were very different, and yet the balance of excellence probably lay pretty even between them. Joachim showed more phy- sical power ; his tone is of surpassing volume; his accent and emphasis are stronger than Sivori's, and in pagssges of great force and energy he has the advantage. But in exquisite purity and vocal quality of tone, and in the Italian grace and roundness of his cantabile phrases, we would be inclined to give the palm to Sivori. In mastery of the instrument they may be said to be on a par ; both of them having carried executive skill as far as it has ever been carried by anybody, Paganini excepted. In
addition to Mendelasohn's concerto, Joachim played a fantasia of his own, founded on Scottish airs. He showed leas maturity as a composer than ii player. His fantasia was a string of enormous difficulties, which he overcame with triumphant power ; but the passages were somewhat rambling and incoherent, they did not flow naturally out of the themes, and they were sometimes rendered confused by over-crowded accompani- ments. Taking, however, his whole appearance at this concert, it was worthy of his already European reputation.
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