The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-01-17
RARE CONCERT ISI
 MUCH ENJOYED
Abram Chasins and Curtis String Quartet Pre-.
 sent Program

sent Program
 The concert given last night at the Waterbury women's club by Abran Chasins, pianist, and the Curtis String Quartet was a major musical event in this city and will long be remembered by a wholly de- lighted audience. This was the third in the series of very fine musical events in the Fine Arts Series spon- Sored by the Mattatuck Musical Art society. Not only were the heraldec instruments of the quartet ensemble rare and priceless but so too were the musicians, each one finished artist. The pianist, MT. Chasins, has skill and virtuosity that leaves nothing to be desired. The evening of musical fare had something of the flavor of @ type of entertain ment appreciated in the years gone by, chamber music offered by famed quartetS the world over.
 Last night the Curtis String Quartet gave first the quartet in E Minor (From my Life), and lastly the Quintet in F Minor, opus 34, by Brahms, with La Oracion del Tor ero (The Invocation of the Bull- fighter) by Turina, descriptive piece of considerable beauty, offered as @ direct contrast to the classical influence of the Brahms master piece. Tn the quintet Abram Chas- ins was at the piano and the five instruments negotiated masterly ef- fleets in all four parts, the allegro non troppo, andante, scherzo and finale. The smoothness of the in- struments (the strings) and the perfect blending of the piano made music at It's finest and best, this accomplished through the musician ship of the ensemble and the quality of their old instruments. However, one could well know that the dup. licate string instruments that the Quartet brings with them and which are also beautifully toned and skill fully made would also be adequate for Q performance by these artists,
 Classical Influence
 Brahms quintet which completed the program and presented, as we said, by the five musicians, shows the classical influence of the early masters, meticulouS as to form, the color effects more or less subord- mate to the development of the theme. In this work the composers musical ideas are very definitely expressed, and the quintet arrange ment has been skillfully conceived, It is fairly long, but not tedious and does not confound the musical nst- ener. The intricacies of the Scherzo and the manner in which the Quin. tet played through that movement, as well as the allegro, the andante, and the finale, left the audience wholly satisfied last night that this was real music adeptly interpreted.
 Music of another quality was typ. flied in the Quartet'S presentat ton of Smetana's quartet, which has a more personal character and char. acterized by the composer as 0 part of his life (aus menem lehen). This was deeply inspiring from the first movement, allegro vivo appassion- ato, through the lively second In the style of polka, the third, largo sostenuto, bringing out Q definite melody lightly syncopNted, and the final and quite eXpertly given, VI. Vace. As Q program piece and as dc. veloped last night by the Quartet the Smetana number was colorfnl and stimulating, c treat for the fortunate listeners. The Turina composition which describes the bullfighters invocation was likewise presented expertly. While the en- semblc played as one, each membr, the two violiniStS, Jascha Brodsky and Charles Jaffe with their Strad. ivarlu8 Instruments. Max Aranoff with his oppressive Amati, and Or- lando Cole with his lovely toned Montagnana cello, was outstanding but not overshadowing, each an artist.
 With oil this inspiring music for the strings there was e very gener. ous contribution by one of the lead- ing pianists and composers of today, Abram Chasins, which might lead one to think with 50 much musical fare in one evening-all this and piano tool MT. Chaslns gave bril-. liant performance and following five piano pieces that must have satisfied many individual tastes he went into the Quintet with sort of joy in getting back to his instru. ment. MT. Chasins gave us first his own arrangement of dluck's "Orfeo'', with the melody of "Or- pheus and his Lute" predominant ing. Brahms Rhapsody in c Minor was his next number, then Chopin's s Waltz Brilllante in A flat, next Rahcmaninoff's Prelude ia B Minor. and lastly his own brilliant Fantasy, which Is an arrangement on two themes from the opera "schwanda." !" This piece is e masterpiece of com- position and gives the artist every opportunity to distinguish himself, which MT. Chasins did. He played in addition to these five on the pro- gram his Godowsky's arrangement of Saint-Saens "The Swan" and his own Push Hour in Hongkong," .k-R. AA-L Q A--- A