HANS RICHTER'S CONDUCTING CAREER IN ENGLAND, 1877-1911 A thesis submitted to the faculty of San Francisco State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts in Music by Paul Cummings San Francisco, California May, 1992 Copyright by Paul Cummings 1992 CERTIFICATION OF APPROVAL I certify that I have read Hans Richter's Conducting Career in England, 1877-1911 by Paul Cummings, and that in my opinion this work meets the criteria for approving a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree: Master of Arts in Music at San Francisco State University. Dr. William Hopkins Professor of Music Dr. Henry Onderdonk Professor Music Dr. Dean Suzuki Asst. Professor of Music sic HANS RICHTER'S CONDUCTING CAREER IN ENGLAND, 1877-1911 Paul Cummings San Francisco State University 1992 The subject of this work is the life and career of Hans Richter (1843-1916), an eminent Austro-Hungarian conductor who specialized in interpretations of German Romantic music written during the second half of the nineteenth century. Primary focus will be on the first ten years (1877-86) of his thirty-five-year career as a conductor in England. The Richter Concerts, his series of London orchestral performances between 1879 and 1902, receive the most detailed coverage, while his activities as conductor of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (1875-98) are only covered where relevant. Among the areas discussed are the repertoire performed at his concerts, its reception by music critics and the public, and the similarities between Richter's London and Vienna repertoire. Richter's efforts on behalf of British music will also be considered, in terms of his direct support for native composers and his contribution to the elevation of performance standards at English concerts. His relationships with composers will be explored as they relate to performances of their music. I certify that the Abstract is a correct representation of the content of this thesis. Dr. William Hopkins Date Chair, Thesis Committee ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My thanks are due to the following institutions which provided correspondence, programs from concerts, articles, photographs, and/or other resources concerning the life and career of Hans Richter: Bayerische Staatsbibliothek Munchen; Bayerisches Hauptstaatsarchiv Munchen; The British Library; City of Birmingham Public Library; City of Manchester Central Library; Elgar's Birthplace; The Friends of Covent Garden; Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien; Hallé Concerts Society; Hereford and Worcester County Council, Record Offices; Internationales Opern Archiv; The London Symphony Orchestra; Magyar Tudomanyos Akademia; Museen der Stadt Wien; Orszagos Szechenyi Konyvtar; Österreichische Nationalbibliothek; Richard Wagner Museum; Royal College of Music; The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Archive Office; Städtische Bibliotheken Munchen; University of Birmingham; Wiener Philharmoniker; Wiener Stadt-und Landesbibliothek. In addition, the following individuals have been of great assistance in researching the topic: Nemeth Amade, Wulstan Atkins, P. M. Bellisario, Günter Fickenscher, Henry Louis de la Grange, Otto Hausa, Christopher Kent, Edward Kilenyi, Jack McKenzie, Jerrold Northrop Moore, Keith Rooke, Derek Watson, and Percy Young. Of immense help were Ms. Sylvia Loeb, granddaughter of Hans Richter, and Christopher Fifield, author of a forthcoming biography of the conductor. Finally, this paper benefited enormously from the support of my advisors on the faculty of this university. Dr. Mark Radice, former Lecturer in Music at San Francisco State University who is now teaching at Ithaca College in New York, suggested the topic and assisted in the early stages of research, and Dr. Bill Hopkins, Professor of Music at San Francisco State University, provided advice on both detailed points and broad, organizational aspects. TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES vii LIST OF PLATES viii LIST OF APPENDICES x CHAPTER ONE: EARLY INFLUENCES, 1843-76 1 CHAPTER TWO: THE LONDON WAGNER FESTIVAL, 1877 20 CHAPTER THREE: ORCHESTRAL FESTIVAL CONCERTS, 1879 . 54 CHAPTER FOUR: RICHTER CONCERTS, 1880 64 CHAPTER FIVE: RICHTER CONCERTS, 1881 79 CHAPTER SIX: SPRING-SUMMER RICHTER CONCERTS, 1882 95 CHAPTER SEVEN: GERMAN OPERA IN LONDON AND FALL RICHTER CONCERTS, 1882 109 CHAPTER EIGHT: RICHTER CONCERTS, 1883 141 CHAPTER NINE: RICHTER CONCERTS AND GERMAN OPERA AT COVENT GARDEN, 1884 157 CHAPTER TEN: RICHTER CONCERTS AND BIRMINGHAM TRIENNIAL FESTIVAL, 1885 178 CHAPTER ELEVEN: RICHTER CONCERTS, 1886 198 CHAPTER TWELVE: RICHTER'S REMAINING YEARS IN ENGLAND, 1887-1911 213 CHAPTER THIRTEEN: RICHTER'S LEGACY 265 APPENDICES 272 BIBLIOGRAPHY 289 vi LIST OF TABLES 1. Works Conducted by Hans Richter In Vienna And London, Nov. 16, 1879-June 10, 1880 72 2. Premiere Performances of Works by Charles Villiers Stanford, Conducted by Hans Richter (Partial List) 185 3. Works Conducted by Hans Richter in the Vienna Philharmonic's 1885-86 Season Which Had Already Been Conducted by Him in London.............................................................................................. 198 4. Hans Richter's Conducting Positions in England 217 vii LIST OF PLATES 1-5. Program of First Concert of London Wagner Festival: May 7, 1877 32-36 6-7. Program of Fourth Concert of Richter Concerts' Second Series: May 27, 1880 74-75 8. Program of Fifth Concert of Richter Concerts' Third Series: May 30, 1881 85 9-10. Program of First Concert of Richter Concerts' Fourth Series: October 24, 1881 88-89 11-12. Program of Second Concert of Richter Concerts' Fifth Series: May 8, 1882 99-100 13. Photograph of Hans Richter Probably Taken During His Tenure as Conductor of the Budapest National Opera, 1871-75 137 14. Photograph of Hans Richter on the Occasion of the Covent Garden Jubilee of 1908 138 15. Caricature of Hans Richter Drawn by Goedecker 139 16. Photograph of Hans Richter, ca. 1905 140 17. Program of Sixth Concert of Richter Concerts' Seventh Series: June 11, 1883 146 18. Program of Second Concert of the 1883/84 Season of the Vienna Philharmonic: December 2, 1883 155 19. Program of Fourth Concert of Richter Concerts' Ninth Series: May 12, 1884 160 20. Programs of Fifth and Sixth Concerts of Richter Concerts' Thirteenth Series: May 31 and June 7, 1886 207 viii 21. Program of Sixth Concert of Richter Concerts' Nineteenth Series: June 29, 1891 227 22. Program of Ninth Concert of Richter Concerts' Nineteenth Series: July 20, 1891 228 23. Program of Second Concert of Richter Concerts' Twenty-Fourth Series: May 27, 1895................................................ 230 ix LIST OF APPENDICES A. Desmond Ryan's Review of the "Orchestral Festival Concerts" of 1879 272 B. Hermann Klein's Review, May 3, 1882 Richter Concert at St. James's Hall 277 C. Review of Crystal Palace Concert, October 27, 1883 279 D. Excerpt from Eduard Hanslick's "Letter from London," 1886 281 E. Hermann Klein's Review of Monday May 3, 1886 Richter Concert at St. James's Hall 284 F. Important Premier Performances Conducted by Hans Richter in England: 1887-1908 286 x CHAPTER ONE RICHTER'S EARLY INFLUENCES, 1843-76 The study of music in the nineteenth century has traditionally been focused on the music itself, quite appropriately, with composers and the styles they represent receiving most of the attention. Within the past two decades, more attention has been paid to performance practice, referring to the media and methods used to convey the music of a given period to its audience. Within the purview of this relatively recent discipline lies the study of the orchestral conductor, whose role progressed gradually over the course of the first half of the nineteenth century from that of a seated orchestra member to a standing, separately-stationed leader of the ensemble. This thesis will describe the career of an extremely influential musician, whose activity as a musician in England spanned the period from 1877 until 1911. By the time of his arrival in England, conductors were already positioned in front of the orchestra; no longer was it common for an ensemble of over twenty players to be led by the first violinist or the keyboard player. Yet, the celebrity status which attaches to today's orchestral conductors did not exist in 1877. It was only after many years of pioneering leadership by outstanding conductors, such as the one under scrutiny here, that the phenomenon of a single-minded inspirational force on the podium came into being. Hans Richter (1843-1916) was one of the outstanding conductors of the late Romantic era, achieving international fame at the age of thirty-three and sustaining this recognition for over thirty years, through his retirement in 1912. It is the contention of this paper that one of his primary achievements was the prolific export of continental music of the late nineteenth century to England's concert halls and opera houses. He 1 2 served as a dynamic ambassador of German music especially, with Wagner and Beethoven being his specialties. His remarkable musicianship, particularly his knowledge of orchestral instruments, enabled him to significantly raise the standard of orchestral performance in three principal geographic areas: Budapest, where he served as conductor of the National Opera and Philharmonic Orchestra from 1871 until 1875; Vienna, where he served as conductor of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and assistant conductor of the Hofoper from 1875 until 1898; and England, where he was active in various conducting capacities for thirty-four years. His operatic conducting also inspired improved performance standards, most notably at Bayreuth, where his activity began in 1876 and lasted until 1912, and London, where his work at Covent Garden in 1884 and 1903-10 was responsible for an awakened appreciation of German opera. By detailing Richter's career in England, where he achieved great fame as an exponent of music of the Austro-German tradition, a true measure of his contribution as a conductor will be gained, because this insular nation was farther removed from the musical traditions of the continent than her physical distance suggested.