Now Moscheles sat down at the piano and played a fantasy; at least that is what the program called it. I could not, however, see any trace of a fantasy in his clean and brilliant playing; for a short, insignificant Adagio introduction, followed by a few variations on a theme from the opera Fidelio, the entire finger­ exercise closing with the finale from Fidelio, cannot, after all, be considered a fantasy in the sense that the spontaneous inspi­ration of the composer creates it. The virtuoso enjoyed warm applause, particularly from female hands. ... At the end came the Klage bei Haydns Tod, a cantata by Cherubini. This alone had really prompted me to attend the concert; yet how cheated I felt when, aside from Cherubini's mannerisms, I could find in the work nothing of his spirit, which alone would have com­pensated me for the time and travel. The cantata began with an introduction; very mournfully performed, it was fully twice as long as the ensuing recitative with the well developed trio. That here too, as in all his works, there was no dearth of scat­tered instrumental trifles was indicated above in the word mannerism. The work not only made no effect, but wearied the audi­ence so much that, not even waiting for the end, they gradually stole away; I, however, left only after the last chord had sounded. << less