Candle-Lit Symphony

In 1772 when Franz Joseph Haydn's Farewell symphony had its first performance before Hungarian Prince Nicholas Esterhazy, some one had the idea of keeping the audience in darkness, giving each musician a candle of his own to snuff at the concert's close. In Cincinnati Conductor Fritz Reiner often exhibits a penchant for the historical.* Last week he attempted to duplicate the first candlelit concert but modernized methods boggled the illusion. The candles were electric, behaved accordingly. 'Cellist Desire Danczowski's flame flickered, threatened to quit before the end; 'Cellist Walter Hermann's balked when it should have gone out. Some screwed their bulbs solemnly, filed quietly off stage. Others strove with lusty, puffing noises to produce more realistic effects. Conductor Reiner "snuffed" his candle last, started for the door in the dark and tripped over a cord which made a light blink foolishly for a finale.

* Recently he revived a symphony by Prussian King Frederick the Great, famed in his time as a flautist, patron, composer.

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