The Washington times., 1918-06-06
WHAT MUSICIANS
DO TOENJOY THEIR
LEISURE HOURS

ITO hold the mirror up to ma
/ ture," thus says Hamlet, in his re-
marks to the players II this be the
/ function OF the dramatic artist, II is
/ similarly that of the musician. There
is the difference, however, that the
musician generally mirrors the beau
tiful in nature. (Schoenberg, Stra-
whisky ct al.-kindly leave the roomD
! Whatever Of human nature is re-
Elected by the musicians art finds
Us mortals especially receptive, in
| selves as others see u.s." Yet We
sometimes wish that we. could turn
the mirror the other way.
What is Miss Farrar like when
she ceases being Carmen and be-
comes once more Geraldine Farrar?"
is a typical thought that runs
| through our minds. Or, perhaps:
sour great artists must have a hori-
ION that goes beyond musie-what
are their interests away from work
ing hours?" Our desire to peer
through the veil separating the ar
list and his public causes our AmeFi-
can newspapers to take a most i'm
pertinent interest, In the artists
private lives.
Music II MusieIRn'a Hobby.
II you should put the question,
| what is your hobby?" to each Of
a large gathering Of musicians, a
goodly number would probably an
swer: II have none-except music"
Again, II you made the query in q
meeting Of stock brokers, you would
no doubt get q similar number Of
replies TO the effect: 81 have none
except Wall Street" In other words,
the musician OF today is generally
quite as sane as the business man
He may have more hair. but as a
rule he Is just as well balanced. Thus
you will find some musicians whose
perspective doesn't allow them to see
anything outside Of music, others who
are devoted to some particular hob
by, and q few who are so broad in
their outside interests that this
breadth admits Of no one hobby.
Some non-musical pursuits OF fam
Gus artist were related to Maurice
Rosenfeld by Fannie Bloomfield Zeis-
Ter after her return from visits at
the European homes OF other master
musicianA
while my husband, my second son
and myself were stopping at Lau-
same in Switzerland said Nine.
Zeisler. Josef Holman sent US word
that hewas coming with his automobile
to take US to his home at Mt Pelsrin,
near Vevy. We were quite surprised /
to learn that the automobile in which
we rode and two others which we
saw on his place had been made en-
tiTely by the distinguished pianist.
who has rugged up a fine machine
shop and forge on his estate and
spend his spare time building auto
mobiles"
Holman told Nine zeisler that
his place had often been mistaken
for a garage, tourists seeing the ma
chine shop and the automobiles stand
ing about
AT Paderewskrs home that artist
showed us his wonderful collection OF
Chinese objects OF art, which con-
tains some pieces OF great antiquity
and which is noteworthy for its
magnitude.
Nine. PadsrrVTSkl Raises ChlekenA-
~While PaderewsEi takes great
pride in his inanimate collection Of
Chinese art, Nine. Paderewski has
taken great interest in the raising of
chickens, and has been very success
full in the creation Of various breeds
which are unique on her chicken
farm. In the large house, which Is
used exclusively for these fowls, the |
walls are covered with diplomas and |
prizes Of all kinds which she has been |
awarded for exceptional work in
that field While Paderewski can be |
called a plano-virtuoso, Nine. Pade- |
rewski may rightly be named a |
chicken-virtuoso."
An interesting study IN hobbies |
may be based upon the fact that vio- |
linists seem TO have a particular af- |
hnity for the game OF chess Per |
haps IL is because the methodical Tea- |
soning OF that pastime makes IL espe- |
cially grateful as a relaxation for the |
yiOlinist At any rate. chess has |
among its devotees Jan Kubelik, who /
often tried a match with his father
in-law on his Bohemian estate;
Mischa Elman, who plays chess fire.
guently with experts while in Amer
lea: Carl FlcsCh, and Frank Gittelson.
Before Mr.. Flesch's advent in /
America last season some strangers |
dropped into his managers office and |
inquired: when will Herr FIesch |
arrive?" Pleased at this interest, the |
managers asked, ''Ah! you want to |
hear one OF his violin recitals?"
NO" replied the strangers, I'VE don't |
care anything about his iddling-we
want to play chess with him"
ArrigO Scrato, the Italian violinist.
has a strong proclivity for collecting |
rare editions. FerrucciO Busoui Is an
other artist who has a penchant for 1
acquiring old books. and he Is fire. |
quently to be folund in secondhand |
book shops. Carl Friedberg, the pi- |
anist is an avid collector OF antique |
furniture