MUSICAL NOTES.

» ■ ■ ■ Miss Myrtle Meggy, the Sydney pianist, who recently toured New Zealand with Madame Albani, was to give a recital in the Bechstein Hall, London, on May 29. A new lift* of Mozart, translated from the French of Victor Wieder, is announced. It is in two volumes, and is written in a pleasant, chatty style ; but it cannot be said to add much to our knowledge of the musician, nor are the author's criticisms of any great originality or novelty. Violinists will be interested to note the prices paid for specimens of their instruments a,fe a recent sale in London by Glendining and Co. A fine Italian j violin by Andreas Guarnerius, in per- j feet condition, £115; another by Ferdinand Gagliano, £60; one by Ruggeri, of Cremona, £36 ; one by Carlo Ton oni, £64; and one by Jean Baptiste Vuillaume, dated 1864, £37. The Vienna City Council has decided, at last, to take the necessary steps for the removal of the remains of Josef Haydn from Eisenstadt. in Hungary, to Vienna, where they will be placed in a grave beside those of Beethoven and Schubert. Gaetano Braga, who composed " The Angel's Serenade," at one time beloved of every soprano, recently died in Milan without a cent, although his publisher made a fortune out of the song. The composer sold the song as one of a collection. Braga was an intimate friend of Rossini and lived for years in Paris. Offenbach's bright comic opera, "The Grand Duchess" was first produced in England at Covent Garden Theatre on November 18, 1867. A singer who is appearing under the stage name of " L'lncognita " at the London Alhambra, and is creating a furore by her rendering of soprano arias from the great operas, hails from Australia. "L'lncognita" wears a mask, and she .6 supposed to be a princess or some great cantatrice in disguise. The lady might be Blanche Arral, but that that cantatrice sang so recently in the Commonwealth. " Paderewski has a rare sense of humour," says "M.A.P.," "and can jest in English as well as in his own language. He was introduced to a well-known polo player,* and the person who introduced him remarked as ho did so : ' I hope you two will be good friends, for you are both leaders of your professions, though they are, of course, very different.' ' Oh, not so very different,' replied Paderewski, smiling. 'My dear friend here is a dear soul who plays polo, and I am a dear Pole who plays solo.' " Once more complaints are made in English newspapers « that the London public (unliko that of tho provinces) will support any kind of opera except opera in English. The Carl Rosa company began a brief season at Covent Garden recently with Goring Thomas's "Esmeralda," which attracted, a small audience. Tlie next opera was to be " Otello," but so little desire was manifested to hear it that the same composer's "Il Trovatore " was substituted. Mile. El Tour, a soprano from Russia, was to make her first appearance in London during May, and there are those who expect her to create as great a furore as did Mme. Tetrazzini. Mile. El Tour studied at the St Petersburg Conservatory, and made a sensational debut there three years ago. Since then she has appeared in all the big musical cities of Russia, »