• Prague Conservatory: participating institution, orch

Advance details of this event were published by Bohemia 13/3/1851. This report specified the date, venue and time of the concert and listed the programme. The concert, its date, time and venue was also listed in the Tagesanzeiger texts of Bohemia 14/3/1851 and 16/3/1851.

A review, signed ‘V.’, of this event was published over two issues of Bohemia on 18/3/1851 and 20/3/1851, commenting upon each of the works performed and the success of the performances. The first issue covered the solo performances of the Conservatory pupils. The Divertissement by Smita and the Concertante variations by Kalliwoda [Kalivoda] were identified as compositions designed to demonstrate the acquired virtuosity of the soloists in the most brilliant light, and as such both were successfully executed by the respective soloists. Of the former, written for the trombone, the critic observed in passing that ‘the modern improvement of this splendid instrument has to some extent altered its character’. Of Howorka’s [Hovorka] playing, his tone was ‘often pithy, and his extraordinary stamina hardly leaves anything to be desired.’ The two violinists proved ‘the well-founded renown of our musical high school that no-one will deny ranks in the first line of German Conservatoires.’ The two singers, Pauline Gmach [Gmachová] and Marie Klinger [Klingerová], pupils of the Opera School [the higher of the institute’s two singing classes], were noted to have been curtained-called for their performance of a duet from Rossini’s Aureliano in Palmira. This composition was thought to be ‘insubstantial’ and the critic hoped that he would ‘encounter these two art-novices at another more favourable opportunity’, yet both singers were praised, the one for her ‘flexible, sympathetic voice’, the other for commanding an ‘art-full, sonorous mezzo’.

The second part of the review focussed upon the two purely orchestral works in the programme, which were given a ‘masterly’ performance by the young orchestra. Both works were enthusiastically received. Veit’s Overture was held to ‘thoroughly refute the opinion of hard-nosed critics in North- as well as in South-Germany that ‘“musical talent in Bohemia is to be found only in the fingertips [das musikalische Talent sitze den Böhmen nur in den Fingerspitzen.” To us, Veit’s Overture seems to be a brilliant novelty of the first rank.’ Particularly impressive features of the work were the ‘gorgeous Andante’ in which attention was drawn to the effective climax built upon repetition of a melody in varying orchestration, and the ‘astonishing, genuine artistic flow of the Allegro section ... [which through] its splendid lyricism, rhythmic and harmonic interest and beautiful form [that] maintains our attention and enthusiasm up to the closing chords.’ The correspondent then remarked there had been rumours that members of the [Estates] Theatre Orchestra would this year give a concert in the manner of the previous season’s ‘Concerts spirituels’, and that if this took place then one of Veit’s newest quintets would be requested to be incorporated into the programme. The other orchestral work performed in the Conservatory concert, Kittl’s D minor Symphony, was heard by the critic for the first time. It was thought to be too great a work to be judged from one single performance, but was immediately identified as an ‘epic orchestral composition of the first rank’. The four movements were then given brief descriptive comment. The first was characterized by an ‘elegance in expressive content [and] faultless form’. This was followed by a scherzo described as ‘uplifting’ and ‘superbly orchestrated’, and an andante of equal calibre ‘the deep intimacy of which could certainly not be identified with sentimentailty in the modern sense of the word.’ The ‘ingenious ... dithyrambic flight of the Finale was of raputurous effect’. All four movements, and in particularly the last ‘again indentify Kittl as a composer and tone-poet of the first degree. The fiery and precise performance of the symphony caused a great sensation, and the composer was twice curtain-called by the enthusiastic audience.’