The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-11-16

after the appearance Of TIL, Magic Flute
a. star OF the first magnitude rose above
Niennas musical horizon. Beethoven
| came hither ard attracted general a,tei.-
ton as a pianist even then. We had al
| ready lost Mozart: all the more welcome,
therefore. was n new and admirable
artist on the same instrument. True. an
| important difference was apparent In the
style OF these two: the ro,induess, tranquil
lty, and LEGACY of Mozau's style wer'
ioreign TO the new virtuoso; on the other
haid his enhanced vigor and fiery cx-
preston affected every listener"
| Franz kullak in ethovens Piano Play
ing quotes dozen different expressions
OF opinion about the performances OF the
master, and sums them up in the verde,
that mis- style was admirable, his technic
fully abreast Of his time, and his touch
forchle. Ii was this forciblc touch which
disturbed the advocates Of the elegant style
OF Mozart and J. b. Cramcr. the latter la
itcthovan's own opinion the best pianist
he ever heard. Clement found Bnethoven's
style rough, but he, like some others. heard
becoming troublesome. and when it hai
begun TO inject occasional passages u in
distinc'ncss into his playing. But on the
whole Adolph Kulak's characterization
OF his art in The fsthetcs Of Pianoforte
Playing is sound one He says: Be- +
hoven did not play with tones, he depicted.
he decamed
Let US hope that reconoiliat ion between
modern piano technic and Beet hoven's
music will he effected. The trouble at the
present time seems 10 I've that piaris,s can
not escape from rgidity and deadly ac-
curacy without employing a too luscious
ton" and an over-acccntuated phrasing.
which emascuate Baethoven's style But
The cpsura, the rhet orical pause (which
Beethoven borrowed from Clementn and
even Judicious tempo yubdfo, meaning
freedom from rigid devotion to the mo-
tronomic beat IN every measure. may prop
erly be employed in Bccthoven's music
He employed these things himself and a.
he tried 10 make instrumental music dra-
m ,tic, 40 he used the eloquence Of the de-
clamatory style.
The musical entertainments of the week
which has lust come to an end were by no
means the least important of the current
season. To be sure, there were some Of
no great Significance, as in the case of the
unfortunate appearance Of Richard {. Kay,
the young American violinst His case has
already been disposed Of in these columns
II need not be reopened till he is prepared
to offer new evidence Of his ability.
In addition to the Beethoven recital Of
Mr.. Lamond there was the recital Of Mr.
Pugno, of which some account will be found
elsewhere in this issue. There were also
the first concerts Of the Phil harmonic
Society and the memorable song recital of
Nine Sembrich The latter entertainment
has had sufficient comment Such singing
a. the famous Polish woman's is of the rarest
kind. II cannot be heard too often and
yet II Is too precious To be poured out ex-
travagantly, Appreciation of such art is
largely dependent on the infrequency with
which II il met
just exactly how deep the public appre-
citation OF II reaches is hard to estimate
II was possible on Wednesday afternoon
To see many persons listening without
looking at the book containing the words
of the songs. Did all those persons under
stand the wordsp Did they all know
Italian, German. French and even Russian,
a well as English? Or did they disregard
the tex, and treat Nine. Sembrich's voice
simply as an instrument discoursing tones?
And If they did the latter, how much did
they realize of the excellence of her art?
II IL always pity TO see beautiful things
going to waste, and such singing a. that of
Wednesday afternoon was wasted so far
as it concerned those who did not know |
what il was about. A song, especially |
a great song, l. a musical Interpretation of |
poem, and il you do not understand the |
poem YOU cannot know whether the music
or the delivery Of the music is good
II j. this ignorance Of the subject matter |
of songs that leads to the indisCrimnate |
applause Of 50 much bad singing. People |
who are unable to pronounce judgment |
on tone production or enunciation often |
i'll the al with plaudits after performance |
which has lorna passion 10 tatters and left |
upon the stage the mangled corse of some |
gentle lyric creation of fancy If those |
same persons knew the text they would also !
know that the style Of delivery was not |
simply wrong. but actually wicked and that |
instead Of plaudits they ought to hurl |
anathemas az the singer.
But fortunately there are some who really |
know what good sing ing is, and they are |
always to be found in large numbers AZ the |
song recitals of Nine. Sembrich Long |
may she continue 10 give such delight to |
true lovers of the divine art as she gave |
on Wednesday afternoon.
". j. HENDERSON