Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1901-12-21
LIST. THE WORLDSGREATEST PIANIST
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List had invited Mr., Mason and 9th
er youngsters to his house one even
ing,
Boys" he had said, there is young
man coming here tomorrow who says
he can play Beethovens Sonata In Is
fiat, opus 1906 want you all then to
be here
The hour came, and 50 did the man.
He proved to be a Hungarian, whose
name Mr.. Mason has meritoriously for
gotten.
He sat down and began to play In q
conveniently slow tempo the bold
chords with which the sonata opens, He
had not progressed more than half a
page when List stopped him. and,
seating himself at the plano, played IN
the correct tempo. which was much
faster, TO show him how the work
should be interpreted,
1T is nonsense for you to 60 through
the sonata In that fashion said List,
as he rose from the piano and left the
room,
When the young man left | went out
with him. partly because l felt sorry for
him, he had made such a fasco and
on him the Tact that List could play
the whole movement In the tempo In
which he began it. As | was walking
along with him, he said: I'm out OF
money; won't you lend me three louis
d'or2"
A day or two later Mr., Mason told
List by the merest chance that the
hero Of the opus lO6 fasco had tried to
borrow money Of him, "B-r-r! What?'
exclaimed Lis2t Then he Jumped up,
walked across the room seized long
pipe that hung from n nail on the wall,
and, brandishng Il as il It were stick,
stamped up and down the room in al
most childish Indignation, eXclalming:
'Drel louis dorl Drei louis d'orl"
The point u.s. however, that List re-
garded the man as an artistic lmpostor.
He had sent word 10 List that he could
play the great Beethoven sonata, not
an inconsidernble feat In those days.
lie had been received on that basis. He
had failed misorably. TO this artistic
imposition he had added the effrontery
Of andeavoring TO borrow money from
some one whom he had met under
Lis2ts roof
Not only was List scrupulously care
full In his dress, but he exacted simil-
ar care from his pupils. Mr. Mason, be-
ing nearsighted all his life used TO
wear eyeglasses, which he preferred to
spectacles. Eyeglasses were not In
vogue IN Germany at that time, and
were considered q form OF aifectatlon.
one day List said to his pupil'
Mason. / don't like to see you wear
Ing those glasses. | shall send my OPP
tlcian to NJ your eyes with spectacles."
Sure enough. about n week later there
came a knock az Mr. Mason's door ana
the optlcian presented himself, saying
he had come at the command OF Dr.
Llszt 10 examine his eyes and 1T pair
Of spectaoles TO them.
"As was evidently TO have no say In
the matter. / submitted, and few days
later / received two pairs, one In q
green ana one In red case. thought
them extremely unbec0ming, but ] was
very particular TO put them on whom
ever went TO see Liszt.'
Not long afterward List went to
Paris. and when his pupils called TO
see him after his return, and he was
talking about his experiences there, he
said casually
"By the way, Mason, | End that gem
tlemen in Paris are wearing eyeglasses
now--in fact, they are considered quite
CONNIE II faut-so l have no objection
to you wearing yours
Time and again at Welmar Mr., Ma
son heard List play. There Is abso-
lutely no doubt In his mind that he was
the greatest pianist Of the nineteenth
century. LiBzt was what the Germans
cali an Erseheinung--an epoch making
senius. TaussiE Is reported to have
saId OF him.--"Liszt dwells alone upon
a solitary mountain top, and none OF
us can approach him" Rubenstein
saId 10 Mr.. william steinway In the
year lS7s:-lput all the rest OF w. TO-