The San Francisco call., 1905-04-23
Musical Events
for Next Month

With the, recitals of Ysaye next
month. the concerts of the Kneisel
Quartet, and the May Festival with
Inness and his band. the most remark
able musical season ever known here
will close. Ysaye. who has not been
here for seven years. will appear
on May 15 He will have local or
chestra in support. but will bring his
own conductor. Jules Debefre. who is
the director of the Philharmonic Or
chestra at Liege, Belgium. Mr..
Ysaye's current repertoire includes
the following works, large ma
jority of which will be heard here The
Bach E fat major (No. p Concerto: the
Vieuxtemps Concerto in ID minor (NO.
A.; the Brueh Concerto (No 2. ID n1i-
nor); Beethoven Concerto in major.
Op. 81; the Lalo Symphony Espagnole.
Mendelssohn Concerto; Bruch G minor
No. Concerto; Mozart Concerto:
Saint-Saens B minor Concerto: Scotch
Fantastic by Wieniawski: Rondo
Capriccioso. Saint -Saens; Parsifal Pa
raphrase by Wagner Wnhelmj; Ballade
ct Polonaise. vieuxtemps: Fantaisie
Appassionata, Vieuxtemps; Abendlied
by Schumann; Serenade Melancolioue.
Tschaikowski-
cannot resist quoting the following.
and commend it humbly to the aten-
tion of DR.. A. Wilhelmj and the "ha-
bitual admirers" OF Eugen d'Albert
1t Is from the pen OF no less a person
age than the critic OF the New York
Sun. and concerns recent recital OF
the discussed pianist at Car
negie Hall.
Eugen d'Albert. pianist. gave a re-
cftal last night at Carnegie Hall The
programme consisted entirely of COM
positions by Beethoven. They were
the thirty-two variations in c minor,
sonata in E fat, opus 81: No. 8. rondo.
opus oil; No. 2. ROndO a CapricciOsO.
opus 129; sonata in A fat. opus 10.
and sonata in c minor. opus Ill. 1t
had been actively disseminated that
/ Mr.. d'Abert was the greatest-if not
the only living-exponent of the piano
music of Beethoven. and naturally it
was regarded as a moral certainty that
the entrance to the hall would be
mobbed by excited throngs Of music
lovers, teachers and students, out to
acquire the true gospel.
But it was a poor night for mobs.
| The audience was of tolerable size and
of complacent temper. 1t failed to re-
| spond even TO the determined and al
most desperate efforts OF a few habit
| ual admirers OF Mr. d'Albert TO con-
/ ture up phantasm OF enthusiasm
| 1T may be true that Mr.. d Albert is
the greatest living exponent Of
Beethoven, but II he is then this is a
mighty poor era for Beethoven. That
this pianist is paved with good inten-
tions toward the music of the great
est sonata writer is apparent through
a thick fog of Obscuring mannerisms
in style
There are splendid moments in his
! interpretations. but they are the mo-
ments when it is impossible for him to
employ the loud pedal or to play at
I his top speed. For instance, his read
ing Of the recitative passage at the be-
/ ginning Of the last movement Of opus
! lilo was superb Again. his treatment
F.! OF the Introductory trills before the
I final variations IN the opus Ill was that
! Of a great master.
But there were too many passages
played in manner unworthy of an
artist of such reputation All rapid
: passages were pitilessly blurred and
ratified off at lightning gait. which
precluGed any possibility of clarity OF
/ rhythm or of color. They were simply
waves Of inchoate sounds.
Balance between right and left
| hands seems seldom to be in Mr. d'AI-
1 bert's mind. and his bass is usually
I hard and aggressive. In the treble. too.
he employs a great deal of unnecessary
finger power and frequently produces
a hard and forced tone. The plain
truth is that he does not play the
| piano affectionately. but with a sug-
gestion of suppressed hostility to the
j instrument.
1T may be that he loves Beethoven.
but whom he loveth he chasteneth.
/ Certainly there was no single number
/ IN his recital last night which was per-
formed in a manner fit TO serve as a
model for those pianists who are to
] come after him."