Evening star., 1936-08-08
Miss Meyer
Wins Praise
OF Reviewer
Sevitsky's Conducting
Skill Found Clouded
by Mannerisms.
BY ALICE EVERSMAN.

TINE stormy weather which pre-
vented the giving of the mid
week concert at the Water
= Gate either Wednesday or
Thursday night cleared up completely
for last evenings concert and al
lowea a good sized audience to attend
In the intermission announcement
was made that the Wednesday pro-
gram would be giveu this evening,
conducted by Sylvan Levin, with
Edwina Eustis, contralto, as soloist.
The program yesterday was under
the direction of Fabian Sevitzky and
gave the local public another oppor-
tunity to hear Sylvia Meyer. harpist
of the present orchestra and of the
National Symphony, in solo appear
ance. Miss Meyer, who has won many
admirers with her excellent work in
the orchestra and who manages to
make even small passages in the en-
semble of outstanding artistry,
played Ravel's Introduction and
Allegro" with the orchestral ac-
compartment. Her splendid musician
ship, which is distinguished by beau
tifully developed nuances, warm tonal
quality and precision in phrasing, is
still further enhanced by her poised
execution.
The Ravel number allows a variety
of effects which brings to the fore
the exclusive and individual qualities
belonging to the harp. Miss Meyers
Interpretation was accomplished with
crystalline clarity. suavity and deep
feeling for the character of the COM
position. A real ovation was oc-
corded her at the finish, and many
1oral tributes testified to her popu-
larity and the appreciation which her
artistic playing has aroused in her
listeners.
Mr.. Sevitzky. who would be termed
a dynamic conductor, brought a num-
ber of maCnerisms to his directing
which proved decidedly disturbing
until one got accustomed to them.
He exceeds, by far, the ordinary need
of indicating his wished-for effects
even to the point of dramatically
pointing to the floor when the follow
ing uote to be played happened to
be low one. The Interpretation of
the first movement of the Brahms
Symphony No. l" was overloaded
by the distraction of his method of
conducting, but by closing ones eyes,
for the succeeding movements one was
able to appreciate his fine and sympa-
thetic understanding of Brahms, the
minuteness of his dynamic planning
end the descriptive power of the
orchestral color he evoked.
In this first essay of Brahms at
symphonic writing, the master gave
of his best. revealing in each move
ment another facet of his own ma
ture which the world has grown to
esteem for its wonderful interplay of
the human, the poetic and the spiri-
tual. All these angles were brought
out with rare skill by Mr.. Sevitzky,
the tender mood of the adagio. the
gayety of the 1ntermezzo or the mag
nif1cent glory of the finale. Very gen.
uulC dPPAduoC iCCdllCu several
times, the orchestra members also
showing their appreciation by refus-
ing to share the ovation with him.
The same careful delineatioa char
acterized his reading of Berlioz' "Ro-
man Carnival" with its melange of
colorful excerpts from the Inflated
opera "Benvenuto Cellini," and also
the excerpts from Bizet's "L'Arle-
sienne" suite which followed.
The concluding number, Sibelius'
"Finlandia," was so we'll received by
the audience that Mr.. Sevitzky re-
peated the "Farandole" from Lar
lesienne" as encore.
The Sunday evening concert will
again be under Mr. Sevitzky's direc-
ton when the program will be Weber,s
Overture, "Oberon," Brahms Hun.
garian Dances. Nos. and g." Rimsky-
Korsakoff's "Capriccio Espagnole" and
TSchaikoWSky'S Fifth Symphonv"