, 1872-12-04
MUSIC AND THE DRAMA.


pnh;nstei,, the great Scl8vonian pianist, has
,,o1r e;ven two concerts in this city, and sufh-
cient onnortu,,itv has been afforded to judge OF
fis canabilities as a pianist, and establish the
7oeition he holds With reference to other VIZ
t,osi At his first concert, the audience was
not a large one. .ud it Tas composed almost
exclusively of muticians and musical connols-
senrs. 4 few Of these knew what Rublnste'n
was aDd settled themselves down in their seats
7,renared to enjoy rare musical feast. Others
knew RubinBtein only BY reputation, ano ca"e
to hear the testimony before they agreed upon
verdict Still another class knew nothing OF n1n'
ard there were not. few doubling Inomases'
n, like other artists, Ruhnstein commences MS
own programmes, and his first number "as the
Eo1n, ,ot overture Of Beethoven. The opening
chor6s fastened the attention OF the
andienc,. at once. As he progressed,
the inte rest increased, and at its close
the satjet seton Of the audience expressed itself
in A. snont aneous outburst OF enthusiasm, sucn
40 no 9TH er artist ever received IN chicago
77nbnstein had triunphed, and there was not
one in that audience, which WAS probably the
most critica audience ever assembled IN 1h's
citr. who did not acknowledge the brilliant gen.
ms and lofty art Of this master OF the piano.
Rubinstein ack- uowledged the tribute with 3 LOW
bow, without oi1c,s removing his eyes 1rom tne
instrument, and proceeded with the sonata,
which formed the aecond part OF his nrst NUM-
ber.
In personal appearance, .Rubfnsteln 1s so str1k-
ing thst he would attract attel,t1on anywhere.
The most marked feature is, that I've 2s nnnRe ELL
other nen He is Of medium height, and s1ne"y,
>ycll-kr;t frame His face is full OF 1ggeduess
and strong characteristics, his forehead e9nare!
his lips large, and his hair long ana
throw buck His eyes have an
:upxxd gaze In facing audience, he looks
.uyer,.,ther than at it. It is plain, stern, rug
;ged ft4e and in repoEe there is nothing in it
-nhichcan be called attractive, but in the inter-
pretat On Of music it grows majestic. The fan
.cied resemblance which some people trace be-
tween hin and the portraits Of Beethoven is
mainly imaginary. There are no points Of si1ni-
larity except in the sternness and immoblllty OF
features, and the manner Of wearing the hair
And YET. with all its plainness, it ia d striking
face and one which will long be remembered.
His manner is entirely unpretentous, even aWk-
ward and uncouth. In his entrance upon the
stage lie betrays air Of dihfdence and embar-
rassmcnt. He has no personal graces to exhlblt,
and no coquettish nonsense. He advances d.
rectIy to hlA piano has no gloves to remove, no
handkerchiefs to flourish, no wringing OF fin
gers, no attempt to Impress his personality
or his performance upon the audience. He
makes low, cold bow, and then seats himself
at The piano with the air of q man who has an
artistic duty to perform, and he performs that
duty as if no one were present but the artist and
composer He never smiles, never looks at the
audience, although he compels every one in the
eudience to look at him. He rivets attention at
the yery outset, and never let's it wander for an
instant, and that attention which at hrst Is con,
centrated upon the player gradually is fastened
nnou the music, and follows it through it's every
nhaae The ultimate effect Of his playing is to
bring the composer before you rather than the
player. o1o
,nent Of this cold serious, stern man is passion.
His art is all nat11re, and his nature ID impetu-
Gus, fiery and apparently irresistible and yet
that passion is regulated and defined by Keen
artistic instinct which never allows it to over
leap its proper limits. So perfect ia this balance
between passion and artistic discipline that he
will drop from q fortissinlo ot the most stormy
and apparently .Ra +n eha5aeeeT to t
-Telyet, and the keys seem to family respond be-
fore his fingers touch them. Out Of this passion
are born force and rapidity, and in these two re-
.srer been in this country. The only one who at
<x1u approaches him ia the7e respects is Bendel,
c,ho played at the Boston Jubilee, g. pupil Of
vIszts, and belonging t. the Rubinstein
5, :aool Such force and rapidly require no ordl-
pa eta, 4 eeeuls equal to any emergency. His
a, ets y,. snewy hands never weaken in their task,
91io en Vxer of endurance never seems to Tag, but
4a1ls rood to the end, 80 that the proper rhythm
noiue 4es rausic is neyerdisturbed. Hecan execute
oi nr-; nn urolved prestissin,o with Ightning-ike
s.1.;d+v siGI and then drop into an adagio without
faptals} al;g Test irreguarity, and with perfect
Lne eueu -, oyement which does not betray any
nov s1-asa " 20 or any sign Of exhaustion. In like
Nea1uI N.1,r~ Ia can execute measure after measure
T.; i.A 3ar1;ss;n1 o. evoking body OF tone from the
N t,saont ~ ike the crash of Thunderstorm,
nS anJ tben i, Instantly change to pianissimo
~ sno soft 1T, and delicate, and each note as
sSa.r s'4' and perfect as the patter OF
ca-a-ors clea- Srch performances must
T. r. reressity be exhausting. but the intensity Of
o. ras,,'a naturt and the thorough manner in
tFnicb be hss dis riplinea his FoHeEs, do not al