The Washington times., 1926-03-10
ny. ORCHESTRA
CHARMS HERE
BY jessie MacBRIDE


Wilhelm FurtwaengIer, dynamic
conductor. OF Germany, led the
great New York philharmonic Or
chestra, as ..guest" conductor. In
4 stirring concert yesterday after
noon, at the National Theater, In
the seasons .'fareweil'' Of this rare
organization.
what q group OF rare .tonaIittes
they are! And Mr.. Furtwaengler,
as walt whitman says. sounded
the instruments, each In It's turn
It seemed, with the uncanny power
Of q seer.
He is. too, startling In his biting
accents, in his climax building.
From the orchestra he brings out
a web of tone that Is alive, yet In
both control and allegiance, giving
the themes of his music q bed Of
beauty wherein to lie.
Brahms he played, the fourth
symphony, strauss toy-shop drama
Of grotesque tragedy and gIeeful
capering, in I'm Eulenspiegefs
Merry Franks. and lastly the
wagner ''Mastersinger'' prelude.
From the first strains OF the
Brahms one dIscerned a detailist,
30 diverse In his, orchestral voice
that the first cadence took on
enhanced variety and charm.
Supreme Melody Of Brahms
That is to play Brahms, Furt-
Waengler makes Of his Brahms, too,
the supreme melodist. He gave the
fourth symphony military
bravado: 1t was martial, it was
gorgeous in tone.
OR he brought it 10 q; whisper.
It Is interesting to watch him
pick up whole chords, as Il were,
stress certain Italian romance
sadness IN the Andante, or find b
freshness IN the graceful allegro
that was in fine dramatic contrast
70 the '.passionato'' OF the finale.
Chords, chords! How they varied.
Here they were dark. Death strove
with melody. The strings were
acrid in their bitterness The
brasses were clarion clear, till
beauty and Brahms came through
again with restoring Of soul In
this vivid drama.
would say that Mr.. Furt-
waenglers was fine sculptor.
doubt him AZ q perfect lover In
music. He Is too commanding.
His ferceful march through to
climax seems not to walt for
romance.
But the program gave little
thought to romance. The Strauss
was 4 playful thing as Grant as q
Polichine1le, and here we find the
Richard Strauss, the anarchist OF
few years hack, using dissonance
that almost Jazzes bits Of his
music!
Masfery of Orcheatrstion
Dignity, too, Is big element
IN this great conductor He sound
ed out. the old German hymn In
the -Eulenspiegel nobly. Supreme
as dramatist, one found the ogre,
or dancing nymph as light and
graceful as q Pavlewas with again
the melody exquislte1y brought out,
again the sounding Of AL the In
struments in that marvel OF q
canvas that fndiyiduallzes Wilhelm
Furtwaengler.
To the MastersingerS he again
brought gorgeous chords. AL the
inner voices of his orchestra speak
their SEPARATE parts. Again we
say. what q gorgeous instrument
the philharmonic Is"
And true to the first thought,
his Waiter was no emOtionaIist, but
he was fresh and valiant. The
final development of the two
themes was mastery IN thought
and execution. The gay appren-
f1ce joiIity of these happy labOrers
was in mood with the Merry
Franks Of the half fairy-tale, hall
folk-fale that Mr.. FurtWaengier
brought ms in 4 stirring, stunning
musical experiences
Three concerts for next season
already have been ANNOUNCED for
the Philharmonic, by T. Arthur
Smith, the local manager. They
stand high in the music history
Of the National Capital.