• Prague Conservatory: participating institution, orch
• KITTL, Jan Bedřich: director of institute, conductor

Each of the Prague German daily newspapers, Bohemia, Prager Morgenpost, Prager Zeitung and Der Tagesbote on 29/2/1860 published an identical report that ‘The first Conservatory concert takes place on Saturday 3rd March at 12 noon in the Konvikt Hall. It is in dedicated to the memory of the immortal Old-master Louis Spohr, which the Conservatory numbered among its honorary members.’ The texts then listed the programme to the concert. A note of the event appeared in the Tageskalender of Bohemia 3/3/1860 relating its venue and time.

The Dalibor 1/3/1860 report was simply a translation into Czech of the text published by the various German newspapers on 29/2/1860. Indicative of the patriotically Czech outlook of this periodical, the translation extended too to the titles of works, so that, for example, Die letzten Dinge was rendered as Poslední věci. The only material difference from the German sources was the addition of a comment to the end of the text noting: ‘The concerts of the Conservatory stand out for their always excellently performed compositions and numerous attendance, and it is to be hoped that this year too we may look forward to large audiences.’

An extensive review of the event was published by Dalibor 10/3/1860. This reported that the concert ‘met with, as was easily predicted, general approval.’ The critic commented firstly upon Spohr himself and then upon the various performances, with particularly reference to the soloists. ‘The main thrust of Spohr’s character is a gracious and impassioned integrity. The nobility of his whole style is undeniable... bringing together the seriousness and dignity of Mozart. It is elegaic through and through and... [with] moments of a higher fire. Everything that Spohr wrote is cloaked in gentle affectation, a longing for something Divine. No previous composer wrote so many sharps and flats as Spohr. Yet one would be greatly misled to think that in this difficult writing Spohr is conceited [ješitnosť]. His modulations are substantiated by his style and originate deep in his soul.’ This stylistic feature was noted as being particularly evident in the Overture to the second part of Die letzten Dinge. The Symphony too was ‘not without the familiar features of his style,’ possessing the same high inspiration as his other symphonies. The Adagio and the Finale were considered to be the best movements ‘with their subtle working and execution.’ The review then focussed upon the performances of the soloists, all of whom were noted to be pupils of the Conservatory. Josef Mayer played the first movement of a clarinet concertino ‘very finely and with strong sonorous tone, showing an economy of breathing and gravity of performance. With equal success Vojtěch Hřímalý and Emanuel Wirth performed the first movement from the Double Concerto. Firm bowing, certain and clear articulation, as well as great technical ability and fine exectution are characteristics of these two pupils [trained by the effective professor Mildner]. The laurels of this concert lie with the opera [school] pupil Miss Alojsie Blažková, who sang the difficult aria from Faust with great success.’ Blažková was reported to possess a ‘powerful and sonorous voice ranging from g to high c. Although there is a sharpness to the top b and c with practise and perseverance these will be excellent. In recitative her diction was clear and distinct, about [the lack of] which we have previously cautioned Conservatory pupils; her schooling is accurate, intonation very clean and her performance expressive and in places ardent. It is possible to judge that with assiduous practise this talented artist will have a great future.’ She was noted too to have been a pupil of the local Žofín Academy, the critic recalling that her successful performance some years ago with Miss Hniličková (Teinzmannová) in F. Vogl’s duet U hrobu mé matky [At the grave of my mother] had already revealed her considerable talent. Finally, the Dalibor review remarked that Miss Blažková and the other soloists were each recalled [to the stage] and received with great approbation. The performance of the orchestral works under Kittl was ‘nuanced’ and praised for the unanimous ensemble playing.

Reviews of this concert were published by three of the German newspapers. Two of these texts, Prager Morgenpost 4/3/1860 and Bohemia 5/3/1860 included extended commentaries about Spohr, who had died the previous October (22/10/1859). Prager Morgenpost included a summary of his most important compositions. The Bohemia text was more analytical about the composer’s accomplishment, commenting in some detail upon his creative style.

Prager Zeitung 6/3/1860 concentrated less upon Spohr himself and devoted more of its coverage to describing the compositions themselves and the various performances. The correspondent reported: ‘In its concert on Saturday the Prague Conservatory presented a final honour, as it were, to the ghost of the immortalised past master. Deliberately, the programme consisted entirely of Spohr compositions. The many facets to the composer made the choice [of works] easier. Thus the orchestral items included, as well as the Overture to the second part of the oratorio Die letzten Dinge that is already familiar to us here [in Prague], one of the best - if not the best - of the symphonies, namely that in C minor. The heartfelt expression, always close to becoming elegiac, whose softness almost reminds one of the sweet melodies of Bellini, distinguishes itself under the musical thoughts of this German master with an insinuating charm, exhuding from everywhere and dominating, in particular, the wonderful Adagio in A flat. Even in the Scherzo the staunch old master could not refrain from an impulse of his: the D-flat [major] middle section, featuring the clarinets sunken in melancholy and low-spirited bassoons, while chirpy violins chatter pizzicato. The Finale would certainly be equal to the incontrovertibly best first movement if the parts written for each instrument were not so utterly meticulous and [the scoring] a little less disparate.

We made the acquaintance of a hopeful candidate for the opera in the young pupil Miss Aloiska Blažek [Blažková], who performed the great popular aria from Faust precisely and at times with verve. She was evidently hindered by nervousness from allowing her graceful voice, that reached with ease up to top B-flat, to open itself up fully, but on the other hand her pure intonation and the clarity of the difficult trills and of the sung words acted in her favour. Joseph Meyer, who played the virtuoso first movement from the Concertino for clarinet, astonished with his economy of breathing and substantial technique. Of the violinists, Adalb. Hřimali [Hřímalý] and Emanuel Wirth performed the Double Concerto in B minor. The[se] violinists, familiar to us, demonstrated encouragingly marked advances in their artistic development, in bowing technique and in self-confidence. The orchestral works were performed with fire and precision by the young orchestra under the direction of the Conservatory Director, Mr Kittl. The good-sized audience rewarded all of the pupils with multiple curtain-calls, especially Miss Blažek [Blažková] although it was no less generous towards the others.’

The concertante work for clarinet, described by all of the sources covering this event as a ‘Concertino’, cannot be positively identified. Although Spohr wrote four concerti for this instrument, his only known work bearing the title ‘concertino’ was composed for solo violin and orchestra.