The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-01-15
RUSSIAN .P|AN|ST'S 1ONCERT TUESDAY.
Sergei Rachmaninoff Will Be - Heard At Masonic
 Auditorium

zSll would rot have been difficult to locate the celebrated pian- It Sergei Rachmaninoff. had the in terviewer not seen him or heard him n concert, for his photographs are perfect reproductions of the man.
 It was in the lobby of the Tut wiler hotel. he and his manager had just arrived from Atlanta, where he had given one of his concerts. They had ordered dinner and judging from the size of the order 1t Is not neces- esry for pianist to diet like a prima donna or even a man vocalist.
 Is he handsome-no, not If ones ; standard of good looks is the Dixie Adonis of the last quarter of a cen- tury or Lous Telligan of the pres ent- Is he ugly? No. not if ones standard is man of commanding figure, fine. straightforward look ing eyes, straight fingers, wonderful hands, strong mouth and splendidly ..shaped head. One would think of him as statesman rather than a pfanist-that is if the idea of plan ist looks as the one promulgated until a few years back. He stood smiling, waiting for the introduction -then seating himself discussed the weather of the south. How nice Birmingham is to want me for a con cert, and, yes. I am giving what I consider one of my best programs this evening at the auditorium and Sd. glad that the acoustics are So good, etc, etc"
 Two Personalities.
 But chatting for the first time with the distinguished Russian, who is acknowledged to be one of the worlds most splendid pianists, one has the impression that here are two Rachmaninoffs embodied in the per sonality of one, the man and the mu- sician. Like all truly great, he is simple in manner and conversation. this man who has achieved so much in his chosen field of art, this vir- tuoso who makes of his piano an in- strument that whispers like an Aeolian harp or thunders like a tenn pest. This composer of music, which is sometimes light and brilliant, then profoundly meditative and melan- mantle like his early tone-poem: or profoundly meditative and melan- ehoIy like his. The Isle of the Dead" he has the bearing and looks of a well-bred American citizen or the well-poised gentleman of the old world
 While most interesting upon gen eral topics, one could not resist the temptation to talk shop which to him is music. for just a bit. Re- calling his C sharp minor prelude in which one might see the march of prisoners bound for Siberia across the steppes-or his "Ci minor" with its tread of innumerable armies and Clangor and challenge of var would 1t not be interesting to know jusr how the great composer would feel if listening to someone else inter rret his work. whether he might like the interpretation put upon his Pre- Jude" by some other master
 Other PianistS.
 Have I any special feeling as to how other pianists play my compo- sition?' he asked in answer to the direct question. "To be quite < honest, no. You see. when it comes to the average pianist: I am per fectly willing to let him play my pieces just as he chooSes-espectally if I am not there to hear him, I know that the composer is often sup posed to have definite feeling as to just how one or another of his compositions should be played.
 T know how I would play them myself, but il is all one to me how someone else chooses to interpret them. For any master pianist. any really fine pianist. is justified in .[finding his own interpretation. ano putting his own personality into the rendering of a composition.
 ..I indicate my own feeling about ,stempo, phrasing and dynamic shad- . us III tiN AhfN'hs @A'.N SA-''- the outline of my conception. But F some great pianist may play my pieces with many differences of de- sstail, with ruances ana shadings l < might not use myself, ana yet his ssonception of the piece as whole ? will never be wrong. because his own good taste and musical instinct would guard against it. And it is rather interesting, at times. to see how some other pianist will give a s piece you have written yourself an entirely different musical color, or present it from quite another angle Ia of interpretation than your own.
 MT. RachmaninoffS appearance Tuesday evening will be under the auspices of the All-Star Concerts, and takes place at the Masonic au-