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JS TM Finally he appeared on the stage, which had been turned into an orchestra pit, and was received with thunderous applause. Strauss is without doubt an original, and a brilliant one at that. His waltzes, polkas, and galops may be condemned by classical musicians, or at least looked down on with contempt. But they are legitimate, and have their place in the great realm of music. Noble and beautiful in form and melody, artfully constructed, they are and remain works of art, no matter what one may say against them. They are not made for the strict connoisseur of art, who swears either by Beethoven or by Wagner. No, they have been written for the large masses, to which they provide pleasure and joy. But to be able to truly appreciate them, one should hear them conducted by the composer himself, under Strauss’s own direction. Only then their essence comes out, with life and fire; only he confers on them their true character, their true flavor. Strauss may be a capricious conductor, but there is a method to his capriciousness; as a conductor he pulls along not only the audience but also the musicians. When the small and energetic man with the curly black hair seizes his violin, he elicits from it the sweetest tone, with his marvellous bow handling and with a movement that grips his entire body. As he indicates the beat to the orchestra, with shaking head and feat or with sudden jumps, only then does one realize what a Strauss waltz means, how it should be played. The delighted, electrified audience did not give the little man in the black tails with the blue ribbon any rest last night after the waltzes Artist’s Life and By the Beautiful Blue Danube, the prettiest among all the pretty ones that he has written, and after the Circassian [Egyptian] March and the wonderfully charming Pizzicato Polka. Instead, time and again they compelled him to an encore, which after endless bows he would deliver. Tomorrow, in his second concert, Strauss will perform for the first time a new composition, the Manhattan Waltz, which he has dedicated to the men and women of New York. Compiled by the Johann Strauss Society of New York. All rights reserved. www.StraussUSA.org Page 8 of 14
JS TM Wednesday, July 10, 1872 From The Sun, July 11, 1872, p. 2, col. 7 Another Academy Jam Strauss’s Second Concert—The Blue Danube Madness—The New Manhattan Waltz Four thousand people crowded into the Academy last evening, and although the thermometer must have stood away above ninety, they seemed as if they would never let the orchestra cease playing the “Blue Danube Waltz” until every one melted. Strauss was as magnetic as ever, and excited his orchestra and audience even more than on his opening night. “The Manhattan Waltz,” which he will play for the first time to-morrow evening, is an arrangement of “The Old Folks at Home,” with characteristic variations. It will undoubtedly make as great a hit in its way as Nilsson did with another negro melody. Mr. Strauss is under engagement to open a season of thirty concerts at Baden Baden on the 25th of August, and was unable to accept Mr. Rullman’s tempting offer of $50,000 gold to lead at thirty concerts in our principal cities. He informs us that he does not expect to be able to revisit America for many years, but on his return to Vienna he will compose a waltz on American themes that he thinks our people will like better than the “Blue Danube.” From the New York Herald, July 11, 1872, p. 7, col. 4 The Second Strauss Concert The Academy of Music was literally packed last night, every seat in the house being occupied, and but little available standing room left. The desire to see the presiding genius of every civilized ballroom, the favorite son of Terpsichore, and the genuine, orchestral Puck, is universal, especially among the ladies. The orchestra with which Mr. Rullman has provided him is a picked body, from the Philharmonic Society, and most of the members played under the direction of Strauss at the Boston Jubilee. They respond well to every motion of the mercurial, little man, who conducts with fiddle, bow, head, arms and legs, and even his coat tail seems instinct with expression. Of course, after every piece which he conducted the audience resolved itself into an enthusiastic ratification meeting, and applauded vociferously. The works which he selected last night were “The Thousand and One Nights,” “Beautiful, Blue Danube” and “Morning Leaves” waltzes and two of his best polkas. Of these the “Blue Danube” is unmistakably the reigning favorite with the public. Carl Bergmann conducted a couple of overtures and an operatic finale, and Mr. J. H. Bonawitz, one of the most accomplished of our resident pianists, played some works by Schumann, Chopin, Liszt, notably the Chromatic Galop of the Abbé, in an artistic style. On Friday evening the waltz, “Manhattan” will be played for the first time, under the direction of the composer. Compiled by the Johann Strauss Society of New York. All rights reserved. www.StraussUSA.org Page 9 of 14
Page 1 and 2: JS TM In 1872, following his appear
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Page 5 and 6: JS TM the band. He has taught them
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Page 11 and 12: JS TM Friday, July 12, 1872 From Th
Page 13 and 14: JS TM America, and smarting under t

here - Johann Strauss Society of New York

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