Nabokov, Nicolas [Nikolay]

2. Concert life.

In the early 19th century concert life in New York centred on outdoor summer gardens, patterned on their London counterparts, and later on their attendant theatres. Popular establishments such as Castle Garden (1839–55) in the Battery and Niblo’s Garden (1849–95) at Broadway and Prince Street presented ballad singers and mixed programmes of instrumental music.

Economic opportunities in America and political uncertainties in Europe spurred the arrival of talented young musicians. A number of European singers, composers, conductors and impresarios arrived during the early and mid-19th century, as well as popular virtuosos such as the violinist Sivori (1846–50) and the pianists Leopold de Meyer (1845–6, 1867–8) and Henri Herz (1846–8). Jenny Lind was on the stage of Castle Garden before a cheering audience of 7000 on the evening of 11 September 1850 (see fig.1) for the first of about 20 concerts in New York, the last of which was on 24 May 1852. The significance of her tour, at first under the aegis of P.T. Barnum, lay less in her superb singing than in her impact on the box office, and the demonstration that a European artist of the first rank could find responsive audiences in America.

Virtuoso pianists such as Gottschalk, who gave 90 concerts in New York in seven seasons beginning in February 1853, and Thalberg, who played 56 concerts from November 1856 to April 1858, presented well-received programmes. Both artists, playing American Chickering pianos, concentrated almost exclusively on their own compositions, although Beethoven and Chopin were occasionally represented. Four resident pianists were active in the second half of the 19th century: Henry C. Timm (1835–92), Richard Hoffman (1847–97), Sebastian Bach Mills (1859–98) and William Mason (1855–1908). Each maintained a high standard of technical and interpretative excellence, and introduced to the American repertory works of a higher standard than the usual operatic potpourris, fantasies and variations.

The impresario and conductor Louis Jullien arrived in New York in August 1853 to give light concerts, including works by the Americans W.H. Fry and G.F. Bristow, in the Crystal Palace. Other popular performers included the violinists Ole Bull and Henry Vieuxtemps, both of whom visited for the first time in 1843, and the pianist Alfred Jaëll (1851–2). Typical programmes were mixed, usually including several arias and duets, one or two piano solos, a violin solo, an ensemble work and, if there was an orchestra, an overture. The solo recital was virtually unknown, even the most celebrated virtuosos appearing with other performers.

The quality of visiting artists steadily improved. The arrival of Anton Rubinstein and Wieniawski on 23 September 1872 brought a serious note to concert programmes of the day; a bold solo recital surprisingly brought in more money than a troupe. Bülow visited in 1875–6 and again in 1889–90. Most Europeans arrived with their reputations already established at home, but Americans made their own evaluations; for example, free tickets were given for Paderewski’s début on 17 November 1891, but it was four seasons before he became a popular success.

After 1900 New York concert life differed little from that of a large European city. With a population of about three and a half million, improved transport and an assured audience, the city’s musical life became more predictable. Solo recitals became distinct from chamber concerts and orchestral programmes, and European artists made repeated visits to the city. After 1914 both American and European musicians frequently established a New York base. By the middle of the century programmes had changed; there were fewer solo recitals and more group events, chamber music was more popular, choruses were numerous but smaller, and the concert repertory became both more varied and more specialized within individual programmes. A revitalization of the solo recital and further growth in chamber music activities took place from the 1960s, led by the city’s two largest performing arts centres, Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center (see §3 below). Concert activities continued during the summer months after the founding at Lincoln Center of the Mostly Mozart Festival (1966) and the more general Lincoln Center Festival (1996).

New York

3. Concert halls and other performance venues.

The centre of New York’s musical life has moved steadily uptown since it began in what is now the financial district. For many years the principal musical activities were in the midtown area bounded by the Metropolitan Opera House in West 39th Street and Carnegie Hall at 57th Street and 7th Avenue. Carnegie Hall has played host to virtually every significant American or visiting musician since its opening on 5 May 1891, at which Tchaikovsky was guest of honour (fig.2). The main hall, named in 1997 Isaac Stern Auditorium, seats 2804 and is celebrated for its superb acoustics. Until the opening of Lincoln Center it was the home of the New York PO. The adjacent Carnegie Recital Hall (cap. 268, renamed Weill Recital Hall in 1986) is used for many début recitals. Threatened with demolition when plans for Lincoln Center were announced in the mid-1950s, Carnegie Hall was saved through the efforts of a citizens’ committee organized by Isaac Stern in 1960. New York City purchased the hall and leased it to the newly formed Carnegie Hall Corporation, which became responsible for programming. The regular season includes classical, jazz and popular concerts, as well as educational programmes. In support of contemporary music, the corporation commissioned 21 new works between 1986 and 1999. A permanent exhibition on the history of Carnegie Hall is on display in the hall’s Rose Museum (opened 1991).

Town Hall (cap. 1498, built 1921) in West 43rd Street was particularly popular as a concert hall in the middle decades of the 20th century. The hall was acquired by New York University in 1958 and closed temporarily in 1978; it reopened in 1984 after restoration. Radio City Music Hall in Rockefeller Center opened in 1932. Until 1974 it had a resident ballet company, and it continues to maintain its own orchestra and the Rockettes, a troupe known since 1933 for its precision chorus-line dancing. The art déco music hall seats 5874 and houses a noted Wurlitzer theatre organ.

In the 1960s the axis of concert life moved further north with the establishment of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, a complex of buildings and organizations including almost a dozen theatres and concert and lecture halls (see fig.3). Philharmonic Hall opened on 23 September 1962 to a capacity audience of 2646; it was subsequently modified to improve its acoustics. In 1973 it was renamed Avery Fisher Hall and in 1976 was completely gutted and rebuilt to a new, successful acoustical design (cap. 2742 after renovation; fig.4). The openings of the New York State Theater (1964) and the new Metropolitan Opera House (1966) (see §4 below), which also flank the main plaza, were followed in 1969 by that of Alice Tully Hall (cap. 1096), an ideal setting for solo and chamber concerts. The Vivian Beaumont Theater, the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater and the Library and Museum of the Performing Arts of the New York Public Library occupy a corner position at 65th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, while the Juilliard School and Alice Tully Hall are across 65th Street on Broadway. Free outdoor concerts are given each summer in the plaza of Lincoln Center and in the Guggenheim Bandshell of Damrosch Park (adjacent to the opera house).

Elsewhere in the city many colleges, museums and other institutions include halls used for public concerts. Prominent among them are Merkin Concert Hall at Abraham Goodman House (opened 1978), Sylvia and Danny Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College, the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, the Kaufmann Auditorium at the East 92nd Street Young Men’s–Young Women’s Hebrew Association, Kathryn Bache Miller Theater at Columbia University, Aaron Davis Hall at City College, City Center for Music and Drama, Cooper Union, the Asia Society and the Alternative Museum. Symphony Space, at Broadway and 95th Street, offers a varied programme ranging from gospel and ethnic music to marathon concerts devoted to Bach, Ives, Cage and others. Besides PS 122, the Clocktower Gallery and Franklin Furnace, the Kitchen has since 1971 been the most important centre for ‘downtown’ experimental music, dance, performance art, video and film.

Outside Manhattan the most important concert centre is the Brooklyn Academy of Music, which opened in 1861 at a site in Montague Street; the present building in Lafayette Avenue opened in 1908. From the 19th century it was a cultural community and civic centre presenting opera, oratorios and plays. Since 1967 the academy has played a prominent role in sponsoring modern dance and theatre as well as music. Since its first season in 1955, the Brooklyn Philharmonia (now PO) has performed at the academy. The ‘Next Wave’ activities inaugurated in 1981 have expanded to include an annual festival and touring programme featuring both contemporary music and less familiar works from the past. Outdoor summer concerts were held at Lewisohn Stadium from 1918 to 1966. Concerts are now held in Central Park and in parks in the other boroughs. The New York PO first gave outdoor concerts in 1965, and the Metropolitan Opera has done so since 1967.

New York