New-York tribune., 1876-01-08
MUSIC.
TIE CONCERTS OF Won BULow.

NewYork How near the pecuniary results nave oO'io
a. tho pectations Of the impresarlO we nave ho noo
a, knowing; but there can be no doubt 1the eneo'
-, he great pianist has produced among artists,
. .orpossours and cultivated persons gcnerHy @
.ht q all that need concern tho critic. Whatever uln
Doos of opnlon there may be to the Doctor i"'
rretation OF particular compositions there eau 70 ~
as 20 the marked and happy influence Whlch nc 70, " -
oising in this country in correcting mlSicnl ~ o,.
yeloping musical intelligence. Ills ",. w. 60
eerts in New-York have been equN ,t
a course OF instruction III lho ~ ,,od
his n, r;ano forte music. lie mas P"Sou
,bir, % inferior value trivia! character pu' is
inc over almost the whole field OF ART Ao h"s '0''
,oT,e NJ the pobest specimens OF the recosuI%cu N
,rou rocb Handel, Mozart, Haydn ana beetnoNon'
down 10 List. Raf, Brahms ana hup'hS'o' -
,,sted with almost equal beauty the formal elegance
- older classical composers, the poetic feeling oi
,hov>n the delicate grace of Mendelssohn' the TO-
naniicsIn OF schumann and Chopin, ana the Hee S'yo
n, the modern school. He has stepped asl'o 'iCi w
,lpsivo province his instrument ana SET ocioio
ma charming variety Of concerted pieces oelohsine
Iass of music which we seldom hear under proper CON
-, And finally he has combined bis selections Win
much taste and Judgment that every programme t"lIh
,t,s one cxception) has been synme etrcal ana CON
sis,ent and he has not allowed the impression o HIS
si In be dissipated by distractng the listener Ho
zion among incongIuOus and violently coDtrasted syeS
I, ~ the first impulse of great many amateurs 10
rQy
a., i,icis,n ppon this pianist get no further than an
orer IN tbe question, Which do you ike better Won
pillow or RuDnsteini" We have reIrahed Ihus ial
from drawing comparisons between these Two uis'ii
esbed men, believing that every artist Is ehu'eu W oo
inded for what he is not measured by the standard
Of another whom he does not seek TO initiate ana VINO Is
-, Tho canon OF artistic truth. But having described
rr von Riiow's playing far as seems necessary we
may now devote q few words 10 certain points vi ulol-
epce between him and his great friend ana Va not 10
sho wherein either greater than the other Dut oh!
70 Indicate wherein they are unlike The principal su-
peraeia characteristic of Rubinstein was MS extra
ordinary and passionate eloquence. 10 say that he
,aved with sentiment, expression, tenderness. force,
,naiestv was only weak and inadequate praise lie made
the piano sing every Imaginable voice. from that ol
the zeyr 10 that Of the tempest, ana III nearly every
variety Of EXPRESSION he was superior think, to all
other performers now living List perhaps excepted
He was unlike all others in the completeness with which
The Music took possession Of him, snatched INN away 80
sneak in sort OF aptus aud tine fire that burned IN his
soul communicated itself 81 to his audience 80 that
he was unquesOnably the most magnetic player ever
heard in this country But the strong individuality
which asserted itself in his playing made him an luper
feet Interpreter of other mems creations HIS intellectual
appreciation or perhaps should say his nuitlve ui-
derstandng, Of Beethoven and the other masters,
was doubtless true as Won BulOWs; put
the expression Of that understanding was 50
much more with him matter OF feehhs
than Of intellect that it governed very largely by
his own momentary mood. lie played according to his
temper In the performance Of Beethoven sonata We
have known his impeuosity carry him away until the
composition became unincligible, an imposing form
whose grandeur awed the Imagination, but whose out
lines could not dstin guished. At such times his play
ing was like Of the later landscapes OF Turner
blaze OF gorgeous color, without apparent form.
Won BulOw has moments OF inspired madness
1t is al singular fact that Willie lis temperament is
fiery and excitabe in his playing he is always sefpos
sessed He thought but 10 interpret what he finds
in the composition before him, and his compre-
hension of it is not regulated by his individual
taste. eolored in any degree by the Feelings
OF the moment. but ii is an intellectual process
the fruit Of long and careful study. In the
expression idea which he has thus conceived he
aims al nothing but the stern truth No dos ncrasies OF
the pianist obtrude themselves He has no manner
isms His style is simplicity itself; and when he plays
best forget him altogether Hence his interpretations
for that Is the only word which fits his renderings OF
Beethoyen-are wonderful above those Of all other men
for their ceaness 1t has repeatedly been said since lie
came t. York that there parts Of the Beethoven
sonstas which never seemed quite ineligible until lie
played them and the statement is little at all exagSer
ated To works especially he has dcyOeda life
time, and II he gives now and then an un-
accustomed reading, as, for instance, in the
Moonlight Sonata bound to admit that
tho variation is not affair OF merely individual
preference but the deliberate judgment OF one Of
the eminent of Beethoven students Because he Is
not swayed by impulse IT l. sometimes thought that he
Is nseHsble 10 emotion. That is great error His III
depreciation is always well balanced his intellectual
grasp Of the music firm and comprehensive; his feeling
and his fancy under strict control but he is never
mechanical never cold. He could not play Beethoven
II he were he certainly could not play the little group OF
Mendessohn's Songs without Words with which hc so
fascinated the audience "Wednesday night Neither
could cold mechanical playerput himself thoroughly
,.Is. nrt. Of
being "carried away by Won Bulow" however
may be entranced by Beethoven when Won BulOw
Is playing him; but there vas interesting
Illustration the other night Of the pianists power
to get close to the heart OF his listeners
During the first half hour the concert had been dull
There had been an indifferent duet followed by worse
than Indifferent singing commonplace Italian aria
with ratting commonplace accompaniment Tue audi
ence listened with bare ciyilty. When DR.. BuOw
came forward for his first solos the applause
usually hearty. He dashed of preluda harmOnies
with much than his customary vgor and emphasis
and at the idea seemed through the assem-
bage that he seeepnQ array the rubbish before he
began his work. The house began tO applaud; the
pianist bowed and smiled aud then, the atmosphere
being cleared the performance on in the midst Of
general good humor. In the quickness with which the
player and the audience understood each other was
something strangely magnetic
In beauty OF touchthat is 10 say the scnsuous
quality OF the tone evoked from ,le instrument a
quality which depends upon some indeserbabe manner
OF striking the Key and has reference whatever to the
sentiment OF the music-Von Biilow does not excel.
Here Rubnstein certainly surpassed him, for the great
Russians tone, whether in soft loud passages, was
perfection But If there Is something lacking to Won
Bow in this gift be has delicacy Of manipulation which
goes to make amends foI it, while in all technical
Accomplishments he stands without peer. His art is
complete that to be the easiest thing imaginable,
and only good pianist understand how enormous