New York's Carnegie Hall has made records of the first 50 years
of its performance history freely available to the public for the
first time. The venue's website now includes a search
feature, giving access to details of more than 12,500 events,
spanning the years 1891 to 1941. Users can search by keyword,
composer, work, performer, date, or date range.
Among the information available so far in the database are complete
programme details for nearly a hundred performances by Jascha
Heifetz (pictured). On his US debut on 27 October 1917, for
example, he played works by Vitali, Wieniawski, Schubert, Mozart,
Chopin, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Paganini and Tartini. Users can
also find out what the eleven-year-old Yehudi Menuhin played at his
debut New York recital: Tartini's 'Devil's Trill' Sonata, the Bach
Chaconne and Chausson's Poème all featured on his programme.
More records from a total database of nearly 50,000 events are due
to be made available on a regular basis over the next year, as part
of Carnegie Hall's ongoing project to digitise its archives.
Photo: Library of Congress
No comments yet