The sun., 1906-02-04
7 ISZT, A DUET u -
l. ABOUT THE "MEIS TER"
Recited Amid Smoke Clouds by
Herr Weingartner and Herr
Reisenauer.

the Ieutonic Hotel Belvedere. They were
also smoking and occasionally referring
to the jovinl stein, Above all, were they
reminscing. FOR their intimacy dates back
to the time when they were Of the sacred
L,-lt circle of pupils; and, Of course both
adore the memory Of the MeisteT.
"Ach he was Won derful.' cried the rotund
Reisenauer You may believe all the mo
/ things you have ever heard OF him ana
multiply them by IL thousand
Sympathetic mods from WeingartnerI
who, after a long pull at his meerschaumI
| vouchssfed the following
! IL shall never forget how lie appeared
! the first time / saw him in his studio. He
was like lion in human fo1n!" !
/ After which longer and a stronger pullI
! followed by complete effacement behind -
cloud Of smoke :.
ia. he was a king.-a gracious kingl'
supplemented Reisenauer, as he rose to
pace the floor. Il will always feel mys
self to he little boy again when ! remem.
| Der his face as he looked me over the day
my mother first took me to him. 'Himmeit
/ Another infant prodigy. What bore"
was what he was thinking! but when hs
spoke, ach, was he not kind
And whatever the Meister chose to exc
press was well expressed g." softly ruminated, !,
/ Weingartner emerging from his tempo.
rary obscurity 81
| -Ach du Hc6.r was il uOt!" cried Reis- J.!
! enauer He could be very sarcastic.
Helm; wish ] could put into English
| some Of the jokes and puns that lighted
/ on the heads Of blundeiing pupils. They
! lose all their sense in transation Often
! a funny criticism was begun in German.
/ carried on in French and brought up ae
| the finish as yoQ Americans suy-in Italian
! But the meaning WAS always there!"'
Silent mods, accompanied by smiles from
! the dreaming Weingartnel, .
"Once he made my face to grow pretty
hot" Reisenauer continued. He and
Won Bueow were talking with my mother.
! knew they were discussing me, and partly &,
! to cover my embarrassment and partly,
suppose, because ! was a small boy, 1
wen, to the piano and played softly, making
up the music as / went along. Soon the
( Melster came over To me, and there was
I something so subtle in his smile that l
felt queer
I'VE all know how speudidly you can
hnprovise, my dear boy he said in, ach!
such a gentle voice But do not force
. your mother to do an Evolutionary per-
formance to your running accompanl-
ment, please This is not melodramati9
/ exhibition. ...,a.
/ That wa- e-.and it Was quite enough
concluded the pianist shaking his pianistlo
name.
/ Don't get rhe impression that the Meister
was all -aroa4,n" said Weingartner, al
! most ON earth again, aroused by the fcdI
/ that his idol might be placed in an un-
favorable light Leaning forward WITH
elbows wide apart on the arms of his chair,
the wiry tscrliner laid his pipe on the table
and claspng his thin energetic hands did
WELD loving cudgels Of defence, his wild
ewes beatning IN Pickwickian geniaity
through nusicianiy spectacles.
lhn Meister could he gentleness ITSELF
h" -aid. "Of every social assembly in which
h~ figured hr was the centre of interest.
To women he Was utterly irresistible.
But there was only one whom he ever
loved" added the other disciple. "ln
spite of the Pope- refusal to grant the
Princess Wittgenstein a divorce, both the
Indy and her famous lover considered their
devotion in the purcst Of matrimonial lights.
|, was altogether an affair Of the heart
1T wa- a daru drama. nevertheless"
said Wsingartncr, and the shadow OF 10
never left the Mo..;cr. in spite Of his aeeIn-
. ing happiness and social instincts. How
ever, it was no' 50 hard to bear as was the
lack of appreciation given Ni- compositions.
, He VA ahead of he, day and the critics
didn't real2" the fact. Great pianist. but
no composer. they said, But when Wag-
b ner'> master works gained ~" same div
approval. Li-Et standing utterly alone in
his comrrehension of their 'eigniticance,
| and Wagner on his part, full Of admiration
Of tho prophecy in tine Meister's creative
work. then the latter understood They
were both in advance OF the age in which
they lived, -.r.
AT last the time came when List could
say lch karrn war,en' Il can waltz Hs
has waited Heaven grant he sees his
complete victory" concluded the faithful,
champion with great earnestness.
Ga wohl," shouted Resenauer-if q
mufied roar may properly be called a shout.
The portly pani-t's dignity never, TOR IN
instant. deserts him. "Ach, il was terrible
to one of tho Meistcr's fiery, impatient
nature
He laughed
81 can remember tho time when that
impatience came near giving me a lame
| neck" he said. On the evening Of my
frs, public performance. Iiszt played q
concerted work with me In response to
the applause the old man with white hair
and tine young hoy stood side by side, the
former bowng gracously while stood like
a wooden doll, We repeated the operation
and the Meister suddenly became aware
that was not bowling. y few his strong
hand to the back Of my neck, and over ]
went bent nearly double. ] assure you
there was some applause them" laughed
Reisenauer.
The Meister was always most gracious
to his audiences. ." murmured Weingartuer.