Carreno played on tour in America three movements from the second suite, and in the following September she played at the Worcester Festival of that year the "Hexentanz" of op.17.On November 4, 1886, the "Ophelia" section of op.

22 was performed at the first of Mr.Van der Stucken's "Symphonic Concerts" at Chickering Hall, New York.

Mr.H.E.Krehbiel, reviewing the work in the _Tribune_, praised the orchestration as "brilliant" ("though the models studied are rather more obvious than we like"), the melodic invention as "beautiful" and as having a poetical mood and characteristic outline.
He considered that the music deserved repetition during the course of the season, and pronounced it "a finer work in every respect than the majority of the novelties which have come to us this season with French and English labels." Mr.Henry T.Finck, writing in the _Evening Post_, characterised the work as "an exquisitely conceived tone-poem, charmingly orchestrated and full of striking harmonic progressions." A year after the performance of the "Ophelia" in New York Mr.Van der Stucken produced its companion piece, "Hamlet." In April, 1888, at the first of a course of "pianoforte-concerto concerts" given by Mr.B.J.Lang at Chickering Hall, Boston, MacDowell's first concerto was played by Mr.B.L.

Whelpley.

"The effect upon all present," wrote Mr.W.F.Apthorp in the _Transcript_, "was simply electric." The concerto "was a surprise, if ever there was one.