iS67:         THE   EIGHTH   AVENUE   OPERA  HOUSE         521

On April 23, 1890, Otto Hegner gave a piano recital (his last
in America). On April 26 the last concert ever given in this
hall occurred. Having of late years failed to pay, the Steinways
decided to devote the building to commercial purposes solely. A
lecture by H. E. Krehbie on May 2, 1890, on "The Precursors of
the Pianoforte," illustrated by a famous collection of old instru¬
ments, was the closing performance. The Steinway organists in¬
clude Geo. F. Bristow, Geo. W. Morgan, Samuel P. Warren, and
Dudley Buck; its pianists, Anton Rubenstein, Annette Eissipoff,
Rafael Joseffy, Theodore Ritter, Max Pinner, Teresa Carreno,
Moritz Rosenthal, Anton Strelezka, Adele Aus der Ghe, Alexan¬
der Lambert, Richard Hoffman, Julia Rive-King, Otto Hegner,
Eugene d'Albert, and the Chevalier de Kontski; its violinsts,
Dengremont, Wieniauwski, Vieuxtemps, Ole Bull, Wilhelmj,
Sarasate, Camilla Urso, Musin, Richard Arnold, Remenyi, the
Frankos, and Max Bendix; and its 'cellists, Gaetano Braga, Carl
Werner, Frederick Bergner, Victor Herbert, and Adolphe Fischer.

The gentlemen who had conducted there include, besides Theo¬
dore Thomas, Carl Bergman, Luigi Arditti, Leopold and Walter
Damrosch, Wilhelm Gericke, Anton Seidl, Max Spicker, F. Van
der Stucken, Max Maretzek, Franz Abt, Adolph Neuendorff, and
Arthur Nikisch.
 

CHASE'S  HALL

ON the southwest corner of Eighth Avenue and Thirty-fourth
Street now occupied as a storage warehouse, was Chase's
Hall. A large room on the second floor was fitted up with a small
stage, and opened in May, 1867, with a minstrel company, under
the management of H. A. Chase. It was not a success as such,
and Josh Hart and Frank Kerns took a lease of it for a few months.
They opened July 20, same year, with a first-class variety company.
The name of the hall was changed to "The Eighth Avenue
Opera House," and a good working company was secured, who did
specialty acts, and finished with a farce. William B. Cavanagh
was stage manager, and David Braham, leader of orchestra. In
the dramatic company were: D. Oakley, Josh Hart, W. B. Cav¬
anagh, Frank Kerns, Geo. Warren, Dick Ralph, Fred Boniface,
and Florence Wells. Among the specialty people were: J. W.
Clarke, the Broadway Boys, Laura Le Claire (then Mrs. Josh
Hart, now known as Mrs. Will Sands), Helene Smith (Mrs. Frank
Kerns), Prendergast, Gardner, and Harry Bloodgood, and at inter¬
vals, some of the best to be found in the profession. "444" Broad¬
way was in the height of its popularity at this time, and quite a
rivalry existed between Josh  Hart and Bob Butler (manager of