New-York tribune., 1919-11-12
Music
Ernest Hutcheson Plays Three
rianoforte Concertos by Bee
tIlOven at Acolian Hall
By H. f. krehbiel

by II. f. krehbiel
While it looked on the nroorom. ,;Lo
an ehort to create a sensation, there
was was nothing in the performance bv Mr..
Ernest Hutchinson Of three pianoforte
cohcertos by Beethoven at Aeolian Hail
yesterday afternoon to justify such an
sincerity, too obvious devotion to IN a
music, too little personal displav in
mr.; Hutcheson's playing to permit any
pody to think the pianist had planned
,he concert as an exhibition Of n tour
dc force. Moreover, he must have
known that the promise COR threatl Of
two hours of unrelieved music of one
Type was not ca lculated to challenge
the interest or pique the curiosity Of
tne pubic IN this day of musical small
,,hings, even though the music was
Beethoven's Least Of all because i, w"s
Beethoven's.
AGAIN ne did not ask his audience to
make an excursion into ~ ram,l;ar
flelds by bringing forward pieces with
winch the public is unacquainted. az he
might have done BY playing one Of the
ooncertos which have been relegatcd to
the limbo of forgotten things There
are three of these--one in Z fiat. com
posed when ne was boy; one in c..
composed in 1875, and one in b fiat,
composed in 1893 Instead he brourh,
forward the third (in G minor(. Tho
fourth Gin G major), and the NTH (in
+ fat, called "The Emperor" Two
generations of local concert-cocrs havl
been familiar with these works, and
many virtuosi have performed them
here since Gustav Satter plaved the
tifth for the first time at q Philhar-
monic concert in 1855. Who shall men
tlon all their names? The men and
women Of to-day will easily be re-
called, but among their predecessors
were Mary krebs, Dionys Pruckner,
Carl "olfsohn, Richard Hoffman, Carl
B1ermann, Franz Rummel and Rafael
JoseHy. 1t is with feeling aka to
that of present pleasure that we recall
performances of the fourth by Baer-
mann. Rummel (who was not always
attuned to it's mood) and Joseffy. who
gave to it n particular measure Of low
ing devotion.
Memories of tho past did not inter
fere with yesterdays enjoyment. for
like the best of his predecessors, Mr.
Hutcheson preached the pure gospel
OF Bcethovenian beauty. Before he
had finished the first number of the
triad he had made it plain that those
who we're come TO hear the music and
not merely to admire virtuoso might
confidently place their hands in his
and let him lead them through it's
groves and halls and temples His wa ,
not the playing Of the mere techni-
ctan, though there was much to admire
In the cons Istent clarity OF his finger
work and the justncss Of his pedallng,
nor the conscientious pedag que,
though he opened the books and read
them eloquently. 1t was not the
affected rhapsodizng Of the sentiment
alist who has no right to approach the
fine strong spirit of Beethoven nor
the dry reading Of the pedant.
Il WAS an exposition of Beethoven,
VINO used the pianoforte as medium
for uttering music. but did not write
music for the sake of exploiting the
planofortc. 1t was the playing of an
intellectually keen musician whose
heart as well as his mind was in his
work. The concertos might have been
sufused with more glowing warmth
and made to put forth flowers of more
brilliant hue without sacrificing their
strong beauty, but they could scarcely
have been played with more sincerity
or appreciation of their truest qualities.
The concert was crescendo in its
exposition OF the music as well as Mr..
Hutcheson's capacities. 1t illustrated
the development of the concerto idea
in Becthoven's mind from the time
that it was still under the influence of
Mozart. and the belief that concerto
must be q show piece for the instru-
ment up to the complete emancipation
Of his conviction that the instrument
was but d o-agent with the orchestra in
the publication of vast musical project
as lofty, aspiring and beautiful rs it
was vast. Arresting moments in that
growth were the slow movements of the
q maior and L fiat concertos at
matchless dialogue between the solo
instrument and orchestra in the
former, and that transfgured hymn in
the latter. In the treatment of the
murmuring accompaniment to the or
chestral song Of the emperor" adagio
we thought Mr.. Hutchegon made his
highest poetic flight.
Mr. Willeke conducted the orchestra
in the first two concertos and Mr..
Walter Damrosch in the last. Mr..
Wileke is still in his novitiate as a
conductor. but he held his forces we'll
together and was particularly efficient
in the rondo of the concerto in c
lninnr