Die New York Tribune Nr. 23811 veröffentlicht auf S. 6 einen Leserbrief, in dem die Aufführung der 5. Symphonie [am 14./15.12.1911] eher ungünstig erwähnt wird:

"                    ORCHESTRAL MUSIC

Writer Views with Regret Neglect of Favorite Old Pieces.

To the Editor of The Tribune.

     Sir: Some weeks ago your very discriminating musical critic took occasion to note the lamentable dearth of French works at the only opera house in New York this season. [... gilt auch für Konzerte ...].

     The neglect of French composers by the Philharmonic Society is one of the deplorable negative features of the present musical season. The writer has cartefully preserved all the Philharmonic programmes, but he cannot discover upon them any orchestral French composition save Franck'*s D minor symphony. [... was sei mit Berlioz, Massenet, Saint-Saens? ... nicht schlechter als Liszt oder Tschaikowskys "1812" ...]. Even Saint-Saens symphonies may afford something worth while (the best of them must prove positively delightful after Bruckner's labored fifth and Weingartner's utterly uninspired third). And it is certainly very strange, in a season when Liszt has been so much expoiled, that Berlioz, the French founder of programme music, should have been absolutely ignored by the Philharmonic Society.

     It seems, indeed, that its new conductor is so much carried away by his zeal for novelty that he has forgotten some of the recognized masterpieces. [... Beispiele ... "craze for the unknown" ... Kritik an Stranskys Programmplanung ...].

                                     DAVID A. MODELL.

     New York, Jan. 23, 1912."

Stranskys Antwortbrief wurde am 27.1.1912 veröffentlicht.