The San Francisco call., 1904-12-18

You talk too much when you sing,
Arthur Farwen amusingly reoounts
u an Indian criticism OF the con-
venuonsl vocal art. The Indian further
explained that. with his people, song
was only used to express that Tor
which words were inadequate One
feels a little that way in talking about
Psderewsld. II would be so much
easier TO play him, say in a Chopin
sonata And Il would be Chopin. II
would be Chopin. not in his feminizeo
mood, not IN the oversweetness. the
gentle rnorbidity Of the schoolgirl
Chopin. but the epic Chopin singing
the passion and the sadness OF poet
people in proud and incomparaole
poetry. But as there is only pen
and not q piano at command, here's
az it.
The parrot helped things beautifully.
As is the fashion for artistic royalty
for the moment. Paderewsd was
housed at the St Francis. II is 10 be
confessed that il was with no Il Sltt
awe that went into ,n- sunny, green
velveted and mahoganied room that
held him. His handshake- appassicn-
ata con grazioso-set me well on the
way u content Then, as / murmured
my pleasure in the privilege, etc, 1
heard this in a shrill, jovial voice;
The dear girl, SO nice Of you; 1t is
not possiblei"
II you can imagine Paderewsh look
ing roguish-and you must imagine
him much that he was not six years
ago-inag;ne it now. He drew aside
the easy chair that he had just taken
10 show ne q large cage behind ii con-
tanning sn appallingly wise-looking old
parrot in pink and gray. Polly was
evidently used 10 company. She perked
up her head jauntiiy and asked most
touchingly about my health. her mas
ter laughing boyishly the while
IN revenge said: "Ah, 1 know why
YOU have the parrct-to teach you
English"
And in his delicate. careful. rather
hesitant English Paderewsd replied:
All. now I shall be afraid TO talk to
you."
We sat down then. Paderewski with
his red-gold halo burning against the
green OF the chair and reflected as a
smoky scarlet in the Steinway grand al
lis elbow Not the Paderewsh of siz
--ears ago. 7 thought, the PaderewslN
II the exotic pallor. of the orchid and
moonlight suggestion. melancholy
haunted and aloOf. Here, under Jhe
sun god halo. was q face as sunny
Il that delicate. tawny. benign pink
III once the delight and despair oi
artists The eyes. blue as bit OF
Iapis Iazuli-when they were not black
from the widened pupils-were bright
IS a childs. And 7 took time to note
the extraordinary strength under the
beauty OF the face, the balanced brow,
firm chin and large, finely nodded
Nose. The tiny imperial gives an al
most comiral note Of worldliness to 3
face otherwise sheerly poetic; and
there is q mustache to repeat the
honey-oolored locks above. The con-
ventional poetic effect was heightened
by the low collar ended by a soft white
satin tie. the suit-if you care tc
know-Of blue serge, setting hand
somely on the tall, weIl-built figure
But the dominant effect was Of health
radiant health, and Of a vital, essential
happiness-in spite Of the fact that one
interviewer had just left. was there
and there were more TO follow,
Perhaps the soft feminine Laughter
that murmured in from the next room
ccnnoted one constituent Of the Pad
erewskd content, for he smiled yer!
happily as he explained that Mrs. Pad
erewsh is here and that my friend, th'
parrot, was hers, and one Of a numer
Gus collection Of chatter birds the.
have brought with them from Aus
tralia. And then we began on '-Manru.
though il was Russia, her literature
her people, her arts and ethics gen
orally, on which the talk chiefly fell
I ike il very much" Paderewsk
said quaintly-this OF ''AIanru," his sin
gle opera. but there are bette
operas"
"Of yours?"
No" he laughed. then volunteered
Now I am busy with symphony
and it is growing so long, so long"
That is the modern tendency"
Yes. and I don't blame the com
posers." said this one. There is S,
much, so much 10 say. But you canno
get your public TO listen. In a dra
matte work. Of course, yoa have you
Intervals OF rest But in a symptom,
one has not even time TO talk. Thinl
Of the Mailer symphony. for example.
Gustav Mailer, autocrat Of tn
Eiennese opera2" I asked.
Yes. He has a symphony two hour
in length" Paderewsd said, lifting I
ceprecsting hand. though il is an in
teresting work"
That brought up the Tschaikowsk,
Pathetique" symphony, with the fol
lowing from the Polish composer; gen