MUSIC.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1649, 7 October 1903, Page 30

MUSIC.

NOTES BY G STRING

Mias Ada Crosslejr’s voice when sbe reached London nine years ago was already so well-known that a well-known yin sic agent offered her three years angagement at once at a high salary, but the Australian felt that she needed moie teaching, and went first to Santley for oratorio work and then to Marchesi, who disabused her of the conviction that voice was everything . and taught her the greater importance of interpretation. When she got back to London she found noted entrepreneurs anxious to give her engagements, and since then has had as many as she wanted. London smiled but coldly on her at first, and did not regard her as anything out of the ordinary. But the provinces, whose musical taste, where ballad and oratorio singing are concerned, is as cultured and critical as that of London, gave immediate recogr nition to the coming star, and. the Biiiningham and Glasgow papers in par'll cular were outspokenly enthusiastic, nondon followed suit when she returned from her provincial triumph, and Royal favour get the seal upon her fame.

The fate of the Music Copyright Bill in Britain is gloomy. In a letter on tne subject Lord George Hamilton writes to a correspondent : —“I will gladly give what assistance I can, but it is doubtful whether time can be found to pass the measure during the present session. The prospects of the Bill and of kindred domestic legislation are still more doubtful now, in view of the fiscal crisis which has arisen since this letter was written. Bronislaw Hubermann, the . young Polish violinist, has been playing in Milan and Ttmn with extraordinary success. His artistic triumphs induced the municipal authorities of Genoa to allow Mm the privilege of playing upon the historic violin bequeathed to them by Paganini. “ Tannhauser,” “Parsifal,-'* and “The Bing** are the works .chosen for the Bayreuth festival next year.

Miss Maude MacCarthy, the young Australian violinist, has received a letter from, the manager of the Boston Symphony Concerts engaging her a® soloist under Hen* Gericke’si baton during' nextDecember and January for Cambridge, Boston, Philadelphia, New York (January 11, 1904), and Hartford. This engagement, one of the most importantthat an artist can secure in America, was due to Missi MacCarthy*s marked success with the Boston Orchestra last year. The total number of performances of Wagner’s operas during the year ending June 30, 1902, wasi 1650 ; according to a recent compilation 1339 of these performances were in German. If Wagner were still alive,, and receiving the usual royalty on performances, his income for that year would have been 165,000 dollars/ with royalties of at least 35,000 dollars from his publishers. The celebrated musicipublisiring firm, Henry Litolff, lately celebrated its 75th anniversary. The annual productions of this firm during the past ten years was 60,000,000 pages of music ; they have sold neai’ly 250,000 copies of Beethoven’s sonatas. in volumes ; Mozart’s sonatas, 190000 copies ; Ctementi’s sonatinas, 183,000

copies ; Kuhler’si piano pedagogic works, nearly 700,000 copies. _ . . In an interesting article in ‘ Musical Opinion ” on the art of accompanying, Dr. Annie Patterson has the following apt observations :—“ What does reliability in the art of accompanying mean ? It implies the ability to read almost anything at first sight ; facility in transposing all sorts of vocal music at a moment’s notice ; and the knack, often only upon a bowing acquaintance 1 , of getting in touch with the idiosyncraeies of all kinds of singera No wonder that the ideal accompanist is rare. Add to this that his gifts are by no means appreciated or applauded ag they deserve to be (it is the violinist rather than the pianist who carries away all the honours in what is often misnamed a violin solo), that he is constantly required to do the most impossible feats in the way of supplying instrumental parts from tattei ed or badly manuscripted scores and that he is the best abused of mortals if aught does go wrong. Remembering thews things it is a matter for genuine sunprise that there are any good accompanists at all. The accompanist’s treatment. both by the public and his fellow musicians, is open to much protest. It is time that the muclr slighted one got some recognition for his work.”