Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-03-22
GREAT PIANO PLAYING.

Tho DAlbert Recital About as Fine n
Pittsburg Was Ever Treated To-A
Counterpart Appears to Won Buelow
and Rubinstein
It may well be doubted If Pittsburg has
ever before heard pianoforte playing more
worthy from all points Of view to be called
great, than that with which Eugen D Albert
opened his present series of recitals in
America, at Old City Hall last evening.
Are Rubinstein and Won Buelow, then, to
be forgotten? Not by any means But that
individuaiisy sIows through ali Ih he does and
irresistably carries the hearer with him; and
that other. greatest Of objective pianists. los
ing his own personality in that Of the COM
tive interpreter he thus becomes
each finds his very counterpart in
DAlbert, in whom the noblest qualities,
both Of heart and of head, meet and blend in
INCEST equilibrium. just such a true balance
between the emotional and the intellectual
is notably maintained in the playing of
Franz Rummel. who cannot be assigned to
either the subjective or the objective class.
Great From All Points of View.
1t is this joining together Of both hemis-
pheres of the art, each we'll nigh ample
enough for q Rubinstein or avon Buelow,
into one grand sphere, perfectly rounded
like the smaller one of Rummel, that makes
Eugen D'Albert so truly great from all
points OF view.
His programme was as follows:
fd) Prelude and Fugue in D major;
asero R Fsse
81 81 Vase, Sslssuts op. p o. .. Chopin
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES p'-'
g g Y.1:s T.fsa!sls' 1IlR.0@RRsa Rsassl. Ilszs
Having heard D'Albert play the "wald-
stein" sonata and the same smaller pieces
by Chopin at his former recital here two
seasons ago. many in the audience would
have preferred to hear other selections last
night. This point aside, the above pro-
grammc ts to be commended for represent
literature OF the instrument and for afford
ing excellent opportunity for tho display
OF the artists powers in al! their fullness.
to enter into detailed review of the man
ner in which these works were interpreted
last night. or M. D'Albert's technique it
need be said only that his consummate
been the wonder and admiration OF
respects subordinated to the artist;
the technical mastery is itself mastered and
artistic Interpretation. So that the hearer
not only forgets to think OF the players skill.
but comes to realize that passages which at
the hands of others sound like meaningless
scales and figures, are in truth, as D'Albert
shows. luminous commentaries upon the
main themes of the work.
Tho Novelties OF the Programme.
The novelties OF the programme were the
Bach number, in which D'AIbert, both as
transcrtber and a. performer, succeeded re-
markably in reproducing the massive
dignity Of the organs polyphony, and the
great Chopin sonata, which several well.in-
formed listeners united IN declaring they
had never before heard in public. The
titanic difficulty Of the work may
explain this, but it is well worth
while to surmount all obstacles in order to
grasp the content OF work that sounds the
depths and scales the heights Of the human
hearts experience. Through that sonata,
as D'Albert played it, the emotions of life
time seemed to surge. 1t was an experience
to be remembered a lifetime.
One might pile Pelions of poetic phrase
upon Ossas of subtle analysis, and yet all
short of the unutterable eloquence with
which D'Albert's playing spoke to heart and
mind. Suffice it to record further
that the large audience present 1itly
overwhelmed the player with their
plaudits, calling him back to the
stage no less than ten times ana moving him
to respond by playing Chopin,s Heroic"
polonaise and Rubinstein's 'Staccato Etrede
two extraordinary selections for encore pur-
poses, altogether appropriate to the extraor-
dfnary nature OF the performance through
out. c. S,