Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1919-04-04
MAUD POWELL
PLEASES AUDIENCE
BY Alfred II. Meyer

1
Tuesday evening
The program was on the whole an
interesting one and very well played
as might be expected of SO great an
artist. But when an artist essays to
play Mozart, he well-nigh takes his
life In his hands Madame Powell
lays great stress (and her managers
more SOY on the strength, the mascu-
line strtngth of her playing. She
gave, as might be expected, an inter-
probation of the Mozart Concerto, as
If strength were one of its chief char
acteristics. AS matter of fact,
grace and polish and reflnemtnt are
the salient qualities of Mozart's style.
Strength there must be In the playing
OF all the classicists, but in Mozart 1t
must give way to these other quail
ties. The first part of the cadenza
hardly justified itself either themGt-
ically or technically.
OF the Leku Sonata and Its per-
Torrance we can speak only in
superlatives. Lovely melodies (tven
though spun out a trifle too long in
the Lento), incision rhythms, celes-
tial harmonies, compelling climaxes
characterized 1t. From the rich, full
song of her G string to the big climax
at the end, Madam Powell was at her
best in this glowing and grateful
work of Cesar Franck's inspired
young pupil. And with her Axel
Skjerne rightly shared honors of
complete ensemble in performance.
It Is customary with artists, hav-
| ing given half a program of solid,
sometimes rather taxing numbers, to
finish the program with lighter num-
bers, entertaining rather than inspir-
ing. In the third group the Palm
gren transcription easily took first
place. There are many publishers In
America little persistence will un-
doubtedly find a willing one for this
charming mood-picture that all yio-
linists would like to own. The Sara
satt No. is frankly and blunty poor
stuff. OF the many Spanish dances
that this gifted yirtuoso has given
the world, we should have appreciat-
ed one of the finer ones-hackneye
though they may be. Again, the al
tempt at too great strength resulted
in a pinched tone and meaningless
phrases. The Rimski-Korsakoff we
confess we thoroughly enjoyed,
though it suffered slightly in tran
scription. Aside from its musical
value, it afforded the artist an OPP
portunity to use her pleasing flute
like harmonies. AS technical dis
play piece the Bazzini Dance of Imps
stands high in the list of violinistic
pyrotechnics. AS to the perform
ance, in its spiccato and ricochet bow
ings, its lefthand pizzicato, its rush
ing passage work, we judge it SUI
perbely done.
The substitutions Mr.. Skjerne
made in the program given us, as
over against the program first an
nounced in the papers, were on the
whole much for the better. The
great Beethoven, however, in the flu
tile and uninspired Eccossaise, suf-
fered unjustly in comparison with
RaVel and Rachmaninoff. Had the
pianist deliberately set out to dis
credit Beethoven, he could not pos
sibly have chosen better method.
On the other hand, we are grateful to
him for giving us an opportunity to
hear a work by Maurice Ravel, Mo-
Fart of the present day, and alto
gether one of the most promising of
contemporary musicians. But as
Madam Powell missed it a little in
! her Mozart, so we have grave doubts
whether Mr.. Skjerne is quite equal
to giving us the elusive, subtle, mel.
odic glow which is the making of a
Ravel piano piece. All this concern.
ing the first movement of the charm.
ing sonatina. The graceful minuet
was altogether lovely and in keeping
with the intent of the composer. In
the Rachmaninoff Punehinello the
pianist was playing a music more
suited to his temperament. And
strikingly we'll he played 1t. His
equipment for doing big things with
out becoming coarse, without doine
! violence to the piano in his most
laundering chords, can hardly pas.
without notice. Humor is hard II
show In music. But to those WIKI
had "ears to hear" Mr.. Skjerne sure
ly succeeded in showing 1t. And car
much higher praise be given?
Both artists responded to the de
served applause of an enthusiast,
audience. However, as to callin,
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