Evening star., 1946-03-11
By Alice Eversmon

| Yesterdays concert by the Ma
Itional symphony Orchestra served
to introduce to a larger audience
the comparatively new piano team
LOT Celius Dougherty and Vincenz
Rudcka. Thestalented artists played
some years ago In the Library Of
ICongress, making fine impression
with the smoothness and refinement
of their performance. The greater
demands as soloists with an orches-
ira were met in the same artistic
spirit and the assurance of q COM
pletely sympathetic ensemble.
The range Of their ability could
be estimated In the Mozart "Con-
certo In e Flat" and Milhaud,s
Concerto for Two Pianos," which
was given its first local performance.
The uniformity of their tone is Of
the utmost scnsitiveness and the
dialogue between the instruments in
the Mozart work flowed undistin-
gushably between them. Their
Mozart style was suave and elegant
and this graceful lightness ap-
propriately expressed the predomi-
nant happy mood Of the concerto.
It could have had also greater
Ibrilliancy In climaxes and in effects
but the broader freedom of delivery
Is not. as yet, a strong point OF the
players.
The Milhaud concerto more
nearly reached the end but its
compactness and the manner in
which the piano parts are imbedded
N the orchestra counteracted it.
The virtuosity Of the two artists
shone In this work and their playing
was clean-cut and finely balanced
IN the intricate passages. The con-
certo's design in the first and last
movements has q jazzy basis which
is interrupted by strangely somber
middle movement marked Pune
bre." 1t is utterly desolate and
barren although less crowded with
orchestration than the rest of the
work. But the dash and vigor of the
opening and closing sections, con-
tlnuously kept at high peak and
making unabating demands on the
solotsts, had its effect on the audi
ence, which overwhelmed the pian-
lists with applause for their splendid
performance.
DR.. Kinder gave another hearing
70 Beethovens Overture to Eide
lio" at the beginning of the program
and for novelty presented Cowell's
ancient Desert Drone," which is
new to the symphony's repertoire
and. In measure, to the local.
public since. It was played herel
only once before, when Leopold
Stokowsky brought the All-Amer-|
lean Youth Orchestra to Constitu-I
ton Hall on May IA, 1941.
1t is a striking work from thel
more conservative Of the composers
musical moods, with a haunting
quality at sharp variance to the
dramatic ending. Its definite de-
scriptiveness was well stressed inI
the reading and with all the at
tention to detail given the "Fidelio"
Overture. For the programs finale,
excerpts from Gershwin's "Porgyl
and Bess" were played.
Music Festival Concert.
In the National Gallery of Art,
the regular Sunday audience heard
a full program, for the first time
OF Louis Gesensway's compositions
In color harmony" This revolu-
tionary idea has aroused widespread
interest In musical circles through
out the country 50 that Washing.
tons participation in its exploita-
tion, was something Of an event.
This was the second concert OF the
American Music Festival.
Mr.. Gesensway describes his sys-
tenn as "a reorganization Of the
present existing accidentals for the
purpose Of bringing out a rSw har-I
mony for instruments, its outstand-
ing feature being the 40-tone scale.