Evening star., 1942-01-04
Orchestra
ViOlinist
National Symphony
Offers Szigeti as
Premiere SOloist

Joseph Szigeti will make his sec
ond appearance in as many years
with the National Symphony Or
chestra, at o'clock this after
noon when that organization. under
Hans Kinder, resumes its Consti-
tuition Hall concerts following a two
weeks Christmas holiday. Mr..
Szigeti will be heard with the Or
chestra in the Washington premiere
of the Busoni Violin Concerto Gin
honor Of the seventv-fifth anniver-
sary of the composers BIRTH and
Corellis La Folia." the orchestral
accompaniment to which has never
been heard here. A third work new
to Washington also TO be played on
this program is the William Byrd
Suite. selected from the "FitzWil-
liam Virginia. Book" and freely tran
scribed for orchestra by Gordon
Jacob. The program will be COM
pleted by the Richard Strauss tone
poem. Don Juan" and excerpts
from Berioz' "Damnation Of Faust"
On Wednesday evening the Ma
tional Symphony's concert will be
marked by the first Washington per-
formance Of Prokof1efi's musical
fairy tale. Peter and the Wolf"
Narrator for the work will be Rich
ard Hale, the actor and singer who
served in the same capacity when
1t was introduced to this country
both in concert and on records bv
the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
The Chausson Symphony in B Flat
Major" will be the second major Of
fering Of the evening.
Born in Budapest. Szigetti first
studied under his father and uncle,
going later for further instruction to
Jeno Hubay and Joseph Joachim
who declared him. at the age of
II, ready for public performances.
A year later Szigeti made his de-
but and followed up with concerts
in Berlin and Dresden before going
to England where ne remained Ave
years.
1t was in London that Szigeti met
the composer pianist, Ferrucio Bu-
soni. He appeared frequently in
joint recital with Busoni and became
his devoted friend. 1t is fitting,
then, that not only should he play
Busoni's Violin Concerto this after
noon but also that he should have
participated with Egon Petri and
Dmitri Mitropoulos-two former
students of the master-in the Bu-
soni Memorial Concert in Carnegie
Hall last Sunday.
Peter and the Wolf" is a fairy
tale told both in music and in words.
To supply the words for the WASH
ington premiere of the work. DR..
Kinder chose a native Washing
tonian. For Richard Hale began
his combined career of actor singer
here. singing soprano in St. Johns
Church and acting in the produc-
tions at Central High School. From
Washington Mr.. Hale went to New
York for further study. subsequently
appearing in recital in New York,
London and Berlin. AS a singer he,
has appeared with the principal
orchestras In this country and with
the Conservatoire orchestra in
I al 10, lie Was the IlISu man 10 sing
Gluck's Orpheus In this country and
the first baritone in its entire his
tory; he sang the king in The
Kings Henchman" when the Tay-
lor-Millay Opera went on tour: and
Webster in The Devil and Daniel
Webster" in the American Lyric
Theater in New York.
In the field of defamation with
orchestra, Mr.. Hale has been the
Narrator in Honegger's King
David" with the New York Phil
harmonic under Rodzinski: in
Goethes "Egmont" with the Phila-
delphia Orchestra under Ormandy
and with the Boston Symphony un-
der Koussevitsky. Peter and the
Wolf" was introduced in Boston in
1888 by Mr.. Hale under the direction
OF Prokofieff himself, and on Vic
tor records by the Boston Orchestra
under DR.. Koussevitsky.
Also scheduled to be heard on
that night are Mozarts "Lucio
Silla' Overture and Borodin's Polo
vetsian Dances"