Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-03-10
AVERAGE MODERN PIANiSTS
They Are characterised as Poor, humanity
Creatures.
Fake Tricks of virtuos0s Are Ruin
ing Genuine Piano Playing-Some
Few Who Are All Right.
From the Saturday Review.

From the Saturday Review.
1t will not be denied that the average sue
cessful pianist is a poor, unmanly creature.
Liszt. Rubinstein, Bulow-these men were
Of course. real men; and there are few
pianists today who are as full Of manhood
as could be desired. Mr.. Lamond. for in
stance. is robust. physically and intellec-
tually: and though one cannot call Mr.. Blu
soni robust, yet no one can fail to recog-
nize, even when he is in his gentlest mood
and playing most delicately, that here is a
real man. These are the exceptions. / am
referring to the pianist type. Nowadays we
know him. with his whims, his affectations.
his long hair, his narrow brain. his ignor-
ance. his jealousies. his greed. his inge-
nuity in advertising himself, and Qor l am
charlatam his fine temperament and his
genuine ability. We know above all his
lack of manneSS and how he loves to be
made pet of. And while we recognize his
lack of manliness. we know that only the
most manly resolution and power of en-
durance would have enabled him to arrive
at his point of deXterity and agility on the
keyboard; and we marvel at the number Of
forcible, violent contradictions contained
in that one frail frame Others have Won
dered before us. 1t is now fully forty years
since the late Stephen Heller, himself a
considerable pianist, as we'll as small
though sincere musician wrote to a friend
of his on the subject, and made some re-
marks that differ from the remarks of the
ordinary musician in that they indicate
considerable intelligence. I quote from that
exce}lentiy edited and written journal, the
Boston Musical Record:
1 believe that the childish disposition of
the majority of great virtuosos (and List
Is not an eNception), is the result of long
and brutalizing work performed by their
hands. which. by the way, were never
created to execute the Salto mortale on the
tight-rope piano. Not with impunity does
man practice ten hours day for fifteen
Or twenty years at twisting his hands and
preparing them for gymnastics which are
contrary to nature. Some of these virtuosos
become childish, obstinate, caprtcious 9th
ers have a cracked intellect, as List, who
has intellect, but it Is Of an unwholesome,
unhealthy kind
The wouid-be virtuoso during his fifteen
or twenty years lit really never takes so
lcng) is not merely making his fingers do
things they were not intended to do, but is
also thinking all the time of his public. or
Goings in way that will fetch the pub
lie; and when he makes his appearance he
must go on thinking of his public harder
than ever. 1t is not enough to play the
piano well: If he wants to gain one of the
big prizes he must interest the public in his
personality, must exaggerate all the pecu-
liarities of that personality, must do every
thing in the world to isolate self in the gen.
eral mind from all other pianists. / need
not remind my readers of the lodges affect
ed by piansts of late with view of sepa-
rating themselves from the mass Of their
colleagues and rivals. Some adopt very
long hair: others behave at the piano so as
to make wish they could be put in a
monkey cage at the zoo and given dumb
piano to amuse the children with their
antics; others again have their astonishing
private histories made very, very public.
and so on. Seeing that these games as a
rule succeed, and that the successful artist
must submit to be petted by ladies, one cam
not wonder at the large proportion Of pian-
lists who are. as Heller said. cracked. and
who have also become mere toys or pets.
No player can devote himself to getting
the best out of his instrument: he must
spend years in learning how to put qualities
into it, or rather, in learning how to pre-
tend to be putting qualities into it. Half of
the modern technique is simply a mass of
fakes To initiate the trumpet by hammer
ing out harsh tone. to initiate the flute
by scaling about swiftly in the upper regis
ter with the soft pedal down, to initiate
string tremolos and rolls of the drum-these
things have connection with the tech
nique of genuine art: they are fakes.
lodges: they are on no higher artistic level
than the tricks of a conturer who brings
wriggling rabbits out of a country bump
kins ears. A life devoted to learning these
tricks is not life to keep men manly.
Also, a conjurer does not pretend to be more
than a conjurer, but thespiano virtuoso has
all the wiles to pretend to be an artist. He
may be an artist, it is true, glad to
say, that he often is an artist; but he earns
his livelihood by his tricks-by his tricks
at the piano and his appearance and per-
sonal peculiarities.
The piano having done its best to ruin
the v1rtuoso, the vtrtuoSo Is now doing his
best to ruin what genuine art Of piano play
ing there ever was. He is not content to
play in plausible manner music written
for other instruments; he is even playing
genuine piano music. such as Chopin's, in
what can only be called an orchestral way
Chopin, poor man, had no notion of how to
write for the orchestra, and certainly moth
ing was further than the orchestra from
his thoughts when he wrote his nocturnes
and ballades; yet within the last few Weeks
l have heard in both nocturnes and bal
ladies' flute effects, string effects and all the
rest attempted. And even that is not quite
the worst. Rosenthal Is now among us
drawing immense crowds by playing pieces
faster and louder than they have ever been
played before; and 1t is certain that within
a year of two some one will come and beat
Rosenthal at that game 1t almost looks as
though V1rtuosos had made up their minds
at last that the genuine art of playing
genuine piano music on the genuine plano
was either lost or not worth troubling
about, and had determined to become frank
athletes.
1t is useless to protest against this in
artistic business. 1t will go On as long as
society ladies love gentlemen with long
hair, or monkey tricks at the piano. or
mere displays of strength and agility,
Meantime 1t is a comfort to know that
there are rev men and women from whom
something better can be heard Mr. Leo
nard berwick, though he inclines too much
TO delicacy, Is always genuine and always
plays beautifully: hammond Is a giant:
Busont Is a splendid artist within his limit
and among women we have Carreno and
Niauaihe fiscner-Sobel j. F. r.
No Gentlemen In French Fiction.
George Mclean Harper in the Atlantic.