The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-11-17
The PHILHARMONIC CONCERT.
EASILY S4FONOFF A HIGH PRES
>URE CONDUCTOR.
ss.e, Lhe,inne. Pianist From Russia. Piays
. Russian Composers Concerto Bee
tro,en and Mozart q Ia Russc-Tschai.
LnNshS = Fifth symphony Wen Done,

frozen and Mozart q Ia Russc al.
hoNshSs Fifth symphony Wen o
Tic ar-t concert of the fifty-ffth season
II tn Philharmonic Society took place
,s.tcnlav afternoon In Carnegie Hall.
tbe trle public rehearsal, long ago out-
iIved ly tact, has been discarded and the
ate entertainments are now officially
spsl concerts, The music heard was
peefboyeu's "Coriolsn" overture, Mozart's
sEipe kleme Nachtmusik, Rubinstein's
niano concerto in u minor and Tschsi-
.~ows.y'. dtth symphony. The conductor
ora. tic Russian expert in b~sLonless treat
men. VASTLY ~SafonofI, no longer a guest
hut now the permanent presiding ofncer
At the assemblies Of tho august senate Of
nusio.
The domgs of yesterday afternoon were
r~rgartei with deepest interest by the dew
ote... of the Philharmonic, who were always
faithful. To those whose love for musical
Art Is stronger than their p~redilections
Cor conductors or particular orchestTas
there was much 10 admire and something
On deplors. There was much reason 10
lament tho enthusiastic approval by the
audience Of the ruthless onslaught ON Mo-
ysrt's inofensive little work for strings.
II vas performed with all the pressure Of
the contemporaneous method. which seeks
10 sIueeIe every piece Of fruit till every
drop If Juice is out OF 1t.
Daintiness. delicacy and neatness of
touch, transparency and smoothness OF
fone and above all mn nat feeling for the
symmetry of the melodic phrase should
characterize a performance Of the restful
and sunahiny music Of such a composition.
Much Of the tone which Mr.. Safonoff
caused the orchestra to produce in il yes
terday was rough and scratchy, simply
because every instrument was called upon
10 agonize its utterance as IL a modern
dramatic work were being put forward.
Beetboven's overture was subjected to
the same merciless probing as the serenade
and Of course with results more satisfying
10 the conductor. There was more to be
dug out Of it, and therefore he enjoyed
himself hugely. However, his climax OF
delight was the symphony. Here there is
more temptation. T~schaikowsky himself
was not averse to squeezing the orange
Of emotion. inc the conductor who re-
ioices in the contemporaneous dissecting
table style can revel in the anatomy of the
great Russian.
The performance of the symphony was
magnificent in some respects. The Phil
harmonic Society a seldom exhib tied
such a closely woven web Of opulent tone
The rough spots were the conductors
fault, not the players. This tearing OF
passions to tatters ID becoming somewhat
SatistinR. The artistic bearer wearies OF
having every bit of contrary motion in the
inner voices pulled to the surface, shaker
In his face n flung at his feet as il he
we're not capable of accepting in its normal
state a musical ef1ect which the composer
never desired to see pushed in front OF the
leading voices OF his score.
lhe srt.sto hearer. too, wearies OF tn
incessant bl Ifting of s~forsandi, followed by
exaggerated diminuendi, and of carica-
lures Of emphases, but modestly made in the
written text. Invited to be a guest at a
feast of reason and a flow of soul, one finds
himself plunged into a carnival OF fever and
into xication. Eager to worship at the
shrine of a chaste and lovely muse, he finds
himself at the feet OF a ~bacchante.
There il a happy medium between the
high pressure machinery of such conduo-
tors as Mr.. Safonof and the somnolescent
calm which at one time threatened TO END
the Philharmonic to the land where it is
always a~ftsrpoon.' II is fortunate that the
present conductor shows a profound at
lection for the barbsric n elemental
frankness of Tsohaikowsky's music. 1t is
hurly matter. his music. and It bears con-
Quoting of Mr.. Safonoff's kin with eminent
power; but when this conductor sets the
Russian wolf bowling along the olive slopes
Of Beethoven's o~vertures and the winds OF
the steppes shrieking through the moonlit
groves of Mozart, sadness Overcomes the
judicious mine
Joseph Lhevinne, the young Russian pian-
list, was the soloist of h concert. His per-
Torrance OF Rubinstein's ID minor concerto
was commendable in some respects. II was
best in the final movement, in which the player
put more spirit thar he exhibited in either
Of the other two. The truth is that the first
and second movements were singularly dull,
and in the beautiful slow part, one of the
most captivating bits in the literature OF
the pianoforte, Mr.. Lhevinne's tone had
neither nobility nor sufficient singing quail
ity. The accompaniment provided by Mr..
Safonof was a further exposition Of his no.
tons about "readings." This particular
reading consisted chiefly in failures to reach
perfect unanimity with the pianist and in the
exploitation OF some capricious ~exaggera-
tons Of the solo voices in the score.
IL may not be amiss to d that gyro-
soopic gestures are not as amazing as they
used TO be. There were some pronounced
evidences Of amusement among the audience
yesterday afternoon. IL is a pity hat instead
Of becoming absorbed in the music some
persons we're deeply occupied in trying to
trace the effect of Mr.. Safonoff's aerial
graphics on his musicians.