The New York herald., 1921-01-09
Strives to Soften Lines Accord
ing to His Own Idea of
Beauty
BY w. j. HENDERSON.


TO study the character of an
audience OF a concert of the
Philadelphia Orchestra is in
teresting. but not astonishing. To be
astontshed one must note how care
fully the newspapers always have abb
stained from recording the constitu-
ton of one OF these audiences, which
are composed Of almost every noted
music lover IN New York But when
Mr.. Toscanini and his musicians came
from Italy exhaustive lists OF those
present at his first concert were to be-
found in almost every morning jour-
nal. Now the Philadelphia Orchestra
is not poor thing, but 1t is our own.
That is the trouble.
Mr.. Stokowskis readings OF stand
ard compositions are discussed by the
commentators, and not always with
appreciation. Mr.. Toscanini's readings
of Beethoven's symphonies also have
been discussed and the consensus has
been unfavorable. They We're not dis
cussed in this newspaper for several
reasons, chief of which was that the
reviewer thought that their character
might be taken for granted.
1t seemed to the writer that the
famous conductors interpretations of
Beethoven might be expected to be
those of an Italian mind and that there
need be no special stress laid on that
fact. If Mr.. Toscanini had been able
to dissociate his race, his intellectual
point of view. his artistic proclivities
and his training from his analyses Of
these symphonies, there would have
been matter for extended comment.
Sees Works Different From q
German.
But Mr.. Toscanini was an Italian and
he saw the works as a fine and sensitive
Italian artist must. He could not ap-
proach them from the German side. 1t
should be recalled that he was unable to
see Die Meistersinger" as a German
would. With Tristan und Isolde" he
had less difficulty, for the reason that
the subject matter of the drama is not
German, the moods are those of ele-
mental human nature. and the express
sion, while German in method, Is essen
TALLY lyrical, emotional. and hence con-
genial to an Italian mind.
BeetnOVen NIln symphony, winch MT.
Toscanini conducted at his first concert,
is probably as far removed from Italian
grasp as any work OF art possibly could
be. The conductors Interpretation of It
was not IDEAL to be sure, but it was
considerable achievement for a man Of
his race. The best interpretations of
Beethoven's orchestral works usually
have been made by Teutons or men
whose proclivities enabled them to i'm
merse themselves wholly in the spirit of
the works.
One naturally recalls the readings of
Nikisch, which sometimes raised ques-
tions. but which were undeniably elo-
quent, and those of Weingartner, which
possessed an authority more convincing
than any since Won Buelow's. What
would be the result of an essay by Mr..
Toscanini at reading of the first SYM
phony of Brahms? Would the distin-
guished Italian be likely TO succeed as
well with il as did the recent visitor
from England, Mr.. Coates?
~ on the other hand we should regard
the triumphant achievements of Mr..
Toscanini in his own field. 1t has been
asserted. and with a show of justice.
that he is a conductor of operas rather
than symphonies. This means that
dramatic methods of expression come
more easily within his grasp than those