The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1926-04-02
LENT IN
RARE RECITAL
~ JESSE MacBRTDE

~ . A1y5 OELSOAE NA8GDk&kDE
Another Maud Powell was the
exclamation made by violinists at
the sylvia Lent violin recital. yes.
terday afternoon at the National
Theater, the first given iii her home
city by this remarkably gifted little
artist.
still in her teens, this fairy
like child is the Rerfect flower thar
needs only the larger emotional
element Of life to give IL the color
of the greatest In art. Yet the
exquisite beauty OF her music and
of her playing. her technical facility
that becomes alnnOstsea fantasy In
itself, so swift, so SHAVE. yet wishai
so instinct with the substance OF
her music 1t is. becomes all part
OF her claim to fame.
Depth Of Tone
Beyond this. Is a personal element
that Is to distinguish her. be.
lieve. This is certain patho3. II
comes masculine In It's potency, that
brings out the opposite pole Of ex-
preston from those fleeing, flaw
less runs which are like spun gold
in their loneliness.
Sylvia Lent plays q melody with
a feeling that brings tears to the
eyes. There is almost that uyl-
awareness in her playing that
first characterized Heifetz. It - as
though the music played through
her, not alone by her own volition
and that we call genius.
A force, too, in Interpretation. Is
the dramatic element Of contrast in
tone color. In phase each one. Of
which holds its individual meaning.
She possesses the finish OF the
true Auer pupil She possesses
further a marvellous almost un-
canny purity in her harmonics
that vary not one shade In intOna-
ton, and in her cascades Of trills
a clarity of articulation that is a
delight.
Variety In Her Mastery
Her program was both beautiful!
and interesting, with novelty in
many Of her selections. The major
work was the Saint-Saens concerto
which she has played with the De.
trOit Symphony under Gabrilowitsch.
She opened 1t with the full-toned
Of q man. then she spun
melodies, real, violin arias Of true
Saint-Saens' ,caliber, in exquisite
tone resolving 1t in dramatic
virtuosity. Then by contrast she
made the andahte q berceuse IN
which birds carolIed In her top
register OF nawless harnonics,
while a bravura movement led to
again, that lofty unwordliness in
which her tone sounded forth like
the Grail OF Wagner. sad withal,
personal in spiritual quality.
She had opened with Cofelli's La
FOlia," large developed. She gave
a new Rachmaninoff 'sVocalise" OF
such heart appeal. 50 much the
wall and Of fatality, that one won
dered. But youth came through
with the firef1ies Of Cecil Burleigh' s
Perpetual Notion" that leaped in
its Heetness. Then Mozart Min
net" was folk music In essence,
while MacDowell's Long Ago was
a Scotch song with sadness OF
awe In It,
t4s.ss..s ReacIlDs Heights
That same folk spirit OF fantasy
and soul. she played into the
Glazounow Grand Adagio" that II.
its beauty was so much older than
LIllS SO1uSAsAidIESu Cu1ku. VAluO04IJ
returned with the Sarasate 'Hab-
anera" Of type and abandon, and
reached its climax in the final
Wieniawsky "Polonaise'' in A, in
which refinement OF execution,
elegance, combined with a gypsy
spirit in tone, Of again that strange
depth that was vir1Ie and that rose
to a stirring climax.
Encores were the exquisitels'
given Chopin "Nocturne' e fiat,
the Chaminade "Serenade, new
and rare Fairy Sailing. Of Cecil
Burleigh that was like nightin-
gale, and the Kreisler la Gitana'
where again she reached the
heights, as lofty as the Hymn ca
the SUM- in the opening beauty nj
it's passages.
Where does one find a girl OF
nineteen who gives so much in
Interpretation. added to il rarely
perfect facility of expression? Truly
Sylvia Lent has come home. t. an
fop- NJ lIa with a