The Rummel Concert Company

              1907

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The Rummel Concert Company

WM. MORSE-RUMMEL Violin Virtuoso
MISS MABEL KROG Soprano and Pianist
MISS EVA LENAHAN Reader

Chicago Mutual Lyceum Bureau, Orchestra Building, Chicago




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Wm. Morse-Rummel Violin Virtuoso

William Morse-Rummel
Nature has done much for William Morse-Rummel, if it be true, as Emerson says, that a man is a quotation from all his ancestors.  His grandfather was the illustrious Samuel F. B. Morse, the inventor of the telegraph, whose early life was given to art.  Many of his relatives in Germany have won distinction in musical circles, his great-grandfather, Christian Rummel, having been court conductor at Wiesbaden, besides being a composer as well as pianist and violinist of note.  He was a friend of Richard Wagner, who dedicated one of his compositions to him.  Young Rummel's father was the late Franz Rummel, the distinguished pianist of Berlin, whose achievements and reputation place him among the men of note in modern musical history.  One of his brothers is distinguishing himself as a composer of music, another as an artist in Paris.  Mr. Rummel has spent the greater part of his life in Europe, studying under such masters as Hermann, Hartmann and Ysaye.  In spite of all the pupils who throng to Godinne, Belgium, the summer home of Ysaye (the greatest of living exponents of the art of violin playing) Rummel succeeded in interesting the master to such an extent as to be accorded the unusual privilege of going every week for a lesson.  Young Rummel has played with tremendous success all over Europe, in recital as well as to the accompaniment of the big orchestras, receiving brilliant notices everywhere.  His playing is masterful, soulful and artistic.  No American artist, of his age, promises more in musical renown to his country than does William Morse-Rummel.


The Musical Courier, New York, Oct. 24, 1906.
Mr. Rummel is the proud owner of a beautiful Nicola Amati violin from the celebrated collection of D. J. Partello, the famous collector, of Berlin.  Mr. Partello rarely parts with an instrument, and the fact that he did so in young Rummel's case shows how great was his interest in him.  William Morse-Rummel possesses an excellent technic, a fine tone, comprehensive repertory, and he plays with a great deal of temperament.  His playing of the Lalo Spanish Symphony has been especially praised by Ysaye.  The youthful artist recently arrived in America, and he will make this country his home for some time to come, devoting himself to teaching and public playing.


The Post, Washington, D. C., November 11, 1906.
Mr. Rummel created something of a sensation.  He played with a tone, technic and temperament which placed him among the leading violinists before the public in America.





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Miss Mabel Krog
Miss Mabel Krog, soprano soloist and pianist, possesses unusual gifts, both in vocal and instrumental music.  Having from childhood an ambition to excel, she has cultivated her natural gifts with the best masters, both in this country and abroad.  When but two years of age she sang such songs as Annie Laurie, and at the age of nine she could sing and play the entire score of Pinafore.  Her musical education was acquired chiefly at the American Conservatory, Chicago, where she won the gold medal honors both in vocal and instrumental music, and as a recognition of her merit was accorded the privilege of playing Rubenstein's D Minor Concerto with the Theodore Thomas Orchestra.  In this country Miss Krog has played chiefly in the East and Chicago.  At the age of nineteen her first piano recital brought this criticism from the Chicago Musical Leader and Concert Goer:

Miss Mabel Krog, the young artist, played the long and difficult program, demonstrating remarkable skill.  Her interpretation of the Beethoven Sonata and of Wagner-Liszt Isoldes Liebestod showed an intuitional depth rare in one so young.  In the Chopin Ballad A♭ major, from its warm lyrical opening to the magnificent climax through all its entrancingly beautiful effects, Miss Krog brought out in a remarkable way the general mental and emotional effects.  The tonal effects were exquisite, the player handling the various themes with skill and ease.  In short the recital was one of high order in which intelligence and temperament were palpable.


Chicago Post, June 13, 1908.
Attractive qualities were displayed by Miss Mabel Krog in the Rubenstein concerto.


Miss Mabel Krog Soprano and Pianist



The Washington Post, Sunday, Nov. 25, 1906.
The real sensation of the week did not come, however, until Friday when William Morse-Rummel, a mere lad, gave an exhibition of violin proficiency which astonished the players of stringed instruments in this city, no less than the amateurs.  During his first two numbers Mr. Rummel won the sympathies of his audience through the purity of his tone, a fidelity of pitch, and his easy mastery of technical difficulties.  He gave his measures with temperament and an appreciation of the subtle shades of feeling.  But it was not until he played the Mozart minuet that his real triumph was scored.  The evenness and control with which he gave this number and the refinement and delicacy of the pianissimos left the audience in no further doubt of his ability, and the house rang with bravos and bravissimos.


Musical Leader, Berlin, March 29, 1906.
Mr. Rummel has a tremendous amount of breadth and temperament and that indefinable quality which enables him to hold his audiences.


Continental Times, Berlin, 1906.
A most interesting musical was given by Mrs. Franz Rummel on Tuesday last at which her two sons, Mr. Walter Morse-Rummel, pianist, and Mr. William Rummel, violinist, furnished music.  Their playing proved unmistakably that both have inherited the talent of their father, Franz Rummel, the celebrated pianist.  Among those present were Mrs. Consul-General Mason, Mrs. Mensing, Mr. and Mrs. Gwillym Miles, Mr. A. M. Abell, Mr. D. J. Partello, Mrs. and Miss Free and a number of Mrs. Rummel's German friends.


Dresdner, Nachrichten, April 11, 1908.
Mr. Rummel, the son of the renowned pianist, has finished his studies under Ysaye and was a favorite pupil of the master on account of his talent.  Mr. Rummel also won a very significant and well deserved success in the last symphony concert.





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Miss Eva Lenahan Reader

Miss Eva Lenahan
The art of interpreting the best literature is next to that of composing it.  Miss Lenahan is eminently qualified to perform this most difficult and important part.  She possesses a charming personality and her training and natural adaptability equip her most adequately for this work.  In addition to her thorough training at the Columbia College of Expression, from which she was graduated with honors, she has had successful experience as teacher and also as public reader and entertainer.


Rockford Republic, Rockford, Ill.
Miss Lenahan gives delightful and realistic interpretations in all her numbers.


The Republican, Joliet, Ill.
Miss Eva Lenahan, of the Columbia School of Oratory, Chicago, is a most charming reader.  She possesses much self control and is perfectly at ease before her audience.


Aurora News, Aurora, Ill.
The principal feature of the program was the readings given by Miss Lenahan, who has won a number of medals as elocutionist.  Miss Lenahan was at her best and charmed the audience.


The Musical Leader and Concert Goer, Berlin.
William Morse-Rummel, a young violinist who has made a most favorable impression in musical circles in Berlin, has left for Brussels, whence after spending three months with Ysaye he will go to America, to be heard there in concert next season.  Aside from great natural gifts, Mr. Rummel has strong hereditary influences in his favor.  He is the son of the late Franz Rummel and a grandson of Samuel B. Morse, for whom an undoubted career as an artist would have been opened had not his tastes in that direction been overshadowed and outweighed by the greater ones of scientific study.  Mr. Rummel has studied with Jan Hambourg, in London, and Arthur Hartmann, in Berlin, and he recently played for Fritz Kreisler, who paid him the high tribute of saying that his playing lacked only the breadth and poise which comes solely as the result of experience.  Just before leaving Berlin, Mr. Rummel, with his brother, Walter Rummel, a young pianist of undeniable gifts, gave an interesting program at the monthly soiree of the American Woman's Club.  In the Handel Sonata, with which the program opened, there was a delightful ensemble, the two players bringing to its reading perfect sympathy with the other's musical thought, as well as with that of the composer.  It was done with great grace and charm and not overdone, a thing for which one always feels distinctly grateful in any performance of the classics.  Both young players have a tremendous amount of breadth of temperament and that indefinable quality which enables them to hold their audiences.


Musical Courier, Leipsig, April 6, 1906.
Rummel is exceptionally gifted, and the program was considerably lengthened by recalls and encores.

Press of Hillison & Etten Co., Chicago