Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1916-12-15
PAUL REIMERS
PASSES Us BY
Needs Guardian Who Will
Gently Guide Him to
Right Place
LEGINSKA is WONDERFUL
Treats Piano Playing as an
Art, Not as a
Science
LEGINSKA IS WONDERFUL
BY John w. Phillips


The most distressed man in Har-
risburg last night was Fred C. Hand
The cause of his distress was Paul
Reiners, tenor, who had contract
ed to sing at the Chestnut Street
Audltorium, Mr.. Reimers needs a
guardian, who will gently guide him
to the right place at the right time.
lie merely went to Scranton instead
OF coming to our city.
His not to reason why,
His but to pass us by;
On, on to Scranton.
Mr.. Hand has prepared his pro-
grams with great care, giving English
translations; in fact, the words of all
songs, and otherwise fulfilling his
promises to the public. He was in
nowise responsible for the nonappear-
ance of the tenor, and he was in
dignant and hurt.
There are those who strive to make
or piano playing a science--a coldly
intellectual, precise, conventional,
oftimes Unconditional delivery of
music, which under this treatment
has become a kind of accepted musi-
cal religion, with limited language
and narrow creed, which fetters free
individual expression.
Science does not recognize senti-
ment, but art does; science lauds
technique, so does art; science frowns
on emotionalism, art encourages it,
and cannot exist without it, science is
matter of calculation, art is q mat
ter of Inspiration.
1t was really gratifying to hear
Ethel Leginsh treat piano playing as
an art-a fine art-breaking down
the firmly fixed conventional lines
usually adhered to and initiated. She
believes in the musical soul of Beeth-
oven, Chopin and Liszt. and knows
that none of them were tame, ordi-
nary, emotional musical creators. She
knows that all three were of heroic
mold, musically, and that they had
sentiment, emotion, poetry and power
far beyond the ordinary mortal. VIII
a merely technical performance, with
Il proper dose of sentiment thrown in,
represent these men truthfully? Hard
ly. Miss Leginski's playing awaken
ed in us a new and deeper reverence
for the musical creators of the past,
and showed us the strength and vi
tality-the beauty and poetry of
music, that was born of genius and
inspiration. She played Beethoven's
"Pathetique Sonata" with n magician's
touch. Lingering, beautiful phrases,
finely produced nuances, dynamics of
power, yet all done with a freedom
and clarity that gave us new ideas of
the possibilities of the pianist's art.
She secures an exquisite tone, and
if some would say her runs are not
always smooth and even scientifically
correcD, we would answer that she
does not want to be mistaken for a
mechanical instrument.
The Chopin numbers gave us more
Intimate knowledge of the master.
The Ballade in G minor was delivered
with poetic strength and lofty bold
ness never to be forgotten. The Etude
No. IL had a virility and swing-a
flashing of fire here and there that
most pianists miss. Miss Leginski re-
vealed to us the real Chopin, and
lifted him to a higher pinnacle of
fame.
The other Chopin numbers in
cluded Prelude in A fiat major, and
Etude No. II, the latter wonderfully
played. The listed numbers closed
with Liszt's Rhapsodie No. s, played
with a skill and varying power little
short of marvellous. She was recalled
dozen times and also added several
encores. Miss Leginski is an inter-
esting artist, with great ability, and