References

• Mr Buddee's Concert THE ATHENAEUM. MR. BUDDEE'S CONCERT. On Saturday night, at the Athenaeum, Mr. Buddee gave a musical entertainment of superior merit, and there was a tolerably numerous attendance. In the pianoforte selections Mr. Buddee was kindly assisted by Miss Ulbrick, Miss Craib, and another young lady whose name was not given in the programme, and by Mr. Hunter and Mr. Vogt. All of these were pupils of Mr. Buddee. There was also present the Melbourne Quartette Society, consisting of Mr. H. Curtis, violin; Mr. Montague, second violin; Mr. Jager, tenor; and Mr. S. Chapman, violoncello. The vocalists were Mrs. Cutter and Signor Luisetti. The instrumental selections occupied the chief part of the programme. Bach's concerto in C major for three pianos, with quartette accompaniment, was played by Messrs. Buddee, Hunter, and Vogt at the pianos, and on the stringed instruments by the quartette party abovenamed. The performance of this work was divided between the first and second parts of the programme. We believe that this was the first time it was ever produced in this part of the world, and we certainly hope it may not be long before it is heard again. It is a work which, on account of its construction, is more easily grasped by the mind of the general audience than either the massive combinations in the same composer's oratorios, or the intricacies of his fugal writing, and yet it shows completely the wonderful riches of the composer's mind. The reader can estimate for himself the number of parts going simultaneously when three pairs of hands were at work on the instruments of percussion, with an added quartette of strings, and each different part filled out to its most ample form. It is wonderful to think that such an amount of variety could be made to fit as one harmonious whole. It requires the cultivated ear to catch the beauties of a work such as this. To rivet the attention on any one part is to be filled with admiration at the vivacity, the rhythm and the tunefulness displayed in it, and this feeling multiplied and enhanced when the effect of eight or nine other parts, all different and all equally elaborate and tuneful, combine to charm the ear of the listener, and to rouse his mind into a moat worshipful respect for the genius of the composer. The performance of the work by Mr. Buddee and his two pupils at the pianos was spirited and correct, and that by the members of the quartette party showed that by constantly practising together, they are arriving at the point at which they aimed in starting, namely, that of being able to give a really good interpretation to works of the highest order. Mr. Buddee's solo performance was of the highest of executive ability. He selected for this display Henselt's concerto — the larghetto and allegro agitato movements (with pianoforte accompaniment played by Mr. Hunter). We do not know of any other concerto by this highly gifted composer than that in F minor, op. 10, which was written for accompaniment with orchestra. We presume that the piece under notice is an adaptation of that great work. We remember to have heard Mr. Buddee some years ago give a reading of this same subject which we admired very much at the time. If it could be said of an artist so experienced and so highly accomplished in the best school of pianoforte playing that he plays better now than he did then, we should be inclined to make that assertion emphatically. But it is most likely that the vivid impressions of last Saturday night assume a higher value than the recollections of six years ago, and that during that time Mr. Buddee has maintained the even level of his masterly style. It is quite certain, however, that he never played better than he did on this occasion. This performance, which was on the grand scale, and was perfect at all points in expression and finish, was encored by the audience with enthusiasm, and in reply to this demand he played "Home, Sweet Home" on a piano of novel construction, to which we devote further on a few lines of more particular description. Mendelssohn's trio for piano, violin, and violoncello was played by Mr. Buddee, Mr. Curtis, and Mr. S. Chapman The minor trio is always the favourite of the two which Mendelssohn wrote, op. 66, and the three movements were given by the gentlemen abovenamed in such truly artistic style as to call forth the most flattering marks of approval from the whole audience. There remains now only to speak amongst the instrumental selections of two quartettes for four pianos, arranged with admirable skill by Czerny, and played—the first by Miss Ulbrick, Miss Craib, Mr. Buddee, and Mr. Vogt; and the second by Miss Craib and another lady pupil, Mr. Buddee, and Mr. Hunter. We do not as a rule admire the multiplication of pianos, but there was such admirable precision about the playing of these ladies and gentlemen that the effect produced was of the very best. Tune after tune held in popular favour from such operas as "Il Pirata," "Masaniello," " Maritana," " Don Pasquale," "L'Etoiledu Nord," "Stradello," "Martha," "Roberto il Diavolo," "Le Prophète," and others, were given in charming variety and with fine execution. Both these pieces are very long, but they were not on this occasion too long for the audience, who were enthusiastic in their applause throughout the evening. Mrs. Cutter, who was in splendid voice, sang " The Tear," by Kucken, and "O Fair Dove, O Fond Dove," by Farebrother, and being encored for the last she gave in reply Meyerbeer's beautiful song, "The Fisher Maiden." signor Luisetti was quite successful with a fine song, "Lady Most Fair," from Pisauti's new opera, "The Merchant of Venice, "and with Donizetti's " L'Amor Funesto." The instrument to which we alluded above, and with which Mr. Buddee produced effects that were quite astonishing, is the latest improvement in pianos by the well-known house of Kirkman in London. It was recently purchased by Mr. Armitage, and was by him most kindly lent to Mr. Buddee as a novelty which might impart additional interest to his concert. It is of the same size and appearance as the ordinary grand pianoforte, and is strung in exactly the same manner, and has the same pianoforte action, but on the upper side of the strings is an additional set of small hammers governed by strings worked by a tremulous bar, to which motion is imparted by a shaft revolving rapidly with a fan turned by a stream of wind from bellows in the body of the instrument worked by pedals moved by the feet of the player. The fan being put in motion, and the keys of the piano gently pressed, the hammers in connexion with the trembling-bar begin to beat lightly, but very rapidly, on the strings underneath them, and a sustained sound from the wire is produced very much like but sweeter still than the sound of a cabinet organ. When the same keys are struck as in ordinary play, instead of only being gently pressed, the common action comes into play, and we get the well-known percussive action on the same wires which, under the quivering action of the smaller hammers, are already giving out a continuous sound. The player, with the greatest ease, thus gets the effect of two instruments either singly or combined, and as the sound is produced from the same set of strings, the two must always be exactly in tune. This is a most ingenious invention, and will redound greatly to the fame of the house of Kirkman.