Going counter to the natural tendency to diss the new kid on the block, I am strongly invested in the history of classical music in the New World.
Coming from a continent where music organizations count candles in centuries (the Royal Danish Orchestra was born in 1448, the Weimar Hofkapelle in 1491, Kassel Hofkapelle in 1502, etc.), I was nevertheless fascinated by such stories as the San Francisco Symphony's (single) centennial, and even more, by Ho'okani hana keaka, the mid-19th century appearance of opera in the Sandwich Islands.
Whenever dealing with early appearances of European classical music in America, New Orleans always pops up, that great city having been in the forefront of imported culture (even before developing its own considerable claim to fame). Still, there has been nothing like a study just published, the 752-page Concert Life in Nineteenth-Century New Orleans by John H. Baron, Louise Rebecca Schawe and Williedell Schawe Memorial Professor of Music at Tulane University.
This "first and only comprehensive history of classical concerts in New Orleans from 1805 to 1897" makes a big claim — only qualified with "probably" — for the entire century what may be true only for the early years (see next column item).
During this period the musical scene in New Orleans was probably unrivaled by that in any other American city. There was was regular repertory opera in New Orleans when the major cities on the East Coast and in the Midwest had none.
There were professional and amateur orchestras, chamber music, and flourishing choral societies.
The Mascot, of New Orleans, cast a critical eye on opera in 1888
Louis Moreau Gottschalk — arguably the most important musician in 19th century America — was born and bred there, and so were Bazille Bares and Edmond Dédé, among other African American classical musicians.
Henri Vieuxtemps, Henri Herz, Anton Rubinstein, Sigismond Thalberg, Henrietta Sontag, and many other European superstars loved the music scene in New Orleans in the 19th century. No importanat American artist, from Adelina Patti and her sisters on down, could escape its charm.
It was a city unlike any other, in its architecture, its cuisine, its ethnically and socially diverse population, and its taste for classical music.
The book deals in great detail with concert venues in the city, symphonic music prior to and following the Civil War, and the rich final years of the century; important music societies and series, such as the Philharmonic, Collignon's, L'Orphéon Francais, Frohsinn, and others.
Music and race, music education, and the role of women in the musical life of New Orleans are examined, followed by essays about such key personalities as Paul Emile Johns ("tycoon, musicians, and friend of Chopin"), Ludovico Gabici, Eugène Prévost, Theodore von La Hache, Hubert Rolling, Jeanne Franko, Marguerite Elie, and others.
The second half of the book traces a chronological history of classical music in the city.
