The courier. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1894-1903, 1896-12-19

three, and the greatest Of these Is -
I'LL the blank to suit your personal taste
my gentle enthusiast. / am not in the
controversial mood today. But I have
never heard more remarkable technical
effects from Rosenthal himself Those
glissando octave passages were most
wonderful. II Brahams be mathe-
NAUTICAL with the serene beauty of the
higher mathematics Schumann is moth
ing TX not metaphysical-and in the
great opus II Fantasia. three moods are
suggested: one of question, as of the
awakening soul, in the first movement:
one of certainty and poise in the Sec
ond when youth has merged into con-
fident manhood; one of resignation in
the third movement when doubt and
question and sef confidence have alike
been left humble in the presence of
mysteries too great to fathom.
When the fair editor Of this paper
reads the preceding paragraphs she will
be overcome with joy and will at once
send me a large cheque for a Christmas
remembrance.
The pianfst's Interpretation of this
poem of Schumann was to my mind al
most ideal. 1t had something of the
splendid rigor of an antique statute. it
did not gush and palpitate like a young
lady novelist or a critic of musical per-
formances to be sure. (there is one upon
myself but 1t was noble. pathetic. trag-
ic in its severe simplicity. Wot tell!
Because Mr.. Godowsky does not Always
give US cakes and ale shall We revile
him? There be many cakes and much
A., t1,a had hon
now.-but will yet contend that there
are better things, and to my mind the
Schumann Fantasia stamped the Rus
sian pianist a greater artist than / had
supposed him to be. The remainder of
the program was the usual Chopin and
Liszt affair delightfully."- varied by the
Schube-t-Liszt songs 20 good Godow-
sky how do you make them sing SOD
and by a not particularly effective ar
rangement of the great quartet from the
''Meistersingers."
Mr.. Godowsky's own arrangement Of a
Chopin Vase out heroded Herod in tech
uscal difficulty but was not otherwise
especially noteworthy.
To sum I'D. am well aware. that the
rest Of the world awaits Lincoln's crit
ical verdict Gas notably it did in the
case of Sieveking) and that I shall
for all the future make or unmake MI.
Godowsky's reputation as pianist in
this review of his recent recital
Testing aside, / wish TO record the i'm
preston that have rarely IL ever heard
a more finished performance. 1 was very
tired and not in the mood but the
pianist compelled attention by the finish
of his technique and stirred me by the
classic beauty of his Interpretation.
In technical matters would point out
the marve.ous use Of the pedal, not OF
course for strength, but in emphasizing
the harmonic basis underlying the melo-
dies No one save a pianist can fully
comprehend the skill which analysed
and made prominent the exact note or
chord which gave the key to the whole
harmonic situation. although the effec;
was apparent to everyone. Moreover In
passages requiring digital facility little
less than impossible, the pianist tram
gully threaded his way, not sweating al
the helm. not torn with a frenzy OF
physical exertion. individuaLzing melo-
dies. making different voices sing at his
own artistic will! Never once. save Tor
dramatic effect when the treble some
times shrfeked. did the pianoforte cease
to sing-But enough.
From the standpoint of emotion and
power / personally paint the pianist ao-
solutely satisfying. II he had had longer
hair and had lifted his arms higher In
the air with violent contortions OF the
hody no doubt he would have impressed
the groundlings more. but not as II
seems TO me with more real emotional
or artistic effect. A splendfdly sonorous
Knabe piano no doubt contributed 10
the quality of tone produced.