Evening star., 1948-06-21
By Alice Eyersmon

Piano recitals were the order OF
the day in the two galleries yester-
day and at the Water Gate, the
Chicago Opera Company was IA
vored finally by the weather so that
its performance of Carmen" could
be given. AS it happened, this all
summed up to a good musical fare
for the in-between season. In the
Phillips Gallery, Carol Finch played
a conservative program with fine
spirit in the afternoon, and at night
Vivian Harvey confirmed the i'm
preston she made last year in a
second appearance in the National
Gallery OF Art.
Miss Harvey, for all her youth, has
rare musical maturity. She has
reached the stage already where a
composition has a personal meaning
for her and in this manner she pre-
sents her entire program. Beetho-
ven's Sonata in A fat major, op.
no" was given an exceptional read
ing not only from a thorough mas
terry of its technical difficulties but
by a keenly sympathetic grasp OF Its
emotional content. It Is playing OF
this kind, where the mechanics OF
it's exposition are secondary to q
voicing of deeper things that Is
something OF a rarity today.
Tonal coloring, balance, and ex-
pert phrasing were employed with
an aim in view and that Miss Har-
vey has sought this path so soon IN
her public career is noteworthy
There was the same reflection In
Bach's "Partita in D major" each
section well defined in its particular
idea. Here again, the subordinatlon
of q technique that could be used
for dashing effects alone achieved
expressive ends. Miss Harvey, who
introduced Arthur Shepherds Son.
alta No. 2" on her program last year
gave q first local performance to hi'
"Gigue Fantasque" as companion te
David Diamonds "Sonatine" also
heard here for the first time. Hel
playing received the warm apprect-
alton from the audience that it de-
served.
Miss Finch had comparable sue
cess in the Phillips Gallery for heI
brilliant performance Of works ny
Beethoven, Chopin, Rachmaninon
Rayel and Critics. Bringing both
an excellent schooling and exper-
ience in public performance to mel
playing, she showed technique Sc
cure and of virtuoso sparkle and
musicianly approach in interpreta
ton. These qualities. however, were
too uniformly applied to each WORK
without the difference in infection
necessary to distinguish the styles
Of the composers.
The most notable Of her numbers
in completeness Of presentation wa
the Beethoven "Thirty-two Var1a'
tons" In each of these short bits
the theme was always clear ever
in the more complicated diversions
She found more than ingenuity OF
creation in them and was able te
infuse them with beauty and senti'
ment. Liquid runs, clean-cut STAG.
catos, varying degrees OF power ano
sharply defined dynamics embel'
lished her reading of this work.
Because she has so fine COM
mand of technical requirements, she
allowed it to dominate her delivery
of Chopin's "Ballade in G minor
and "Scherzo in G fiat minor" and
also in Critics The Night Winds
and 1.-THE Lake at Evening with
out coloring it to conform to dif-
ferences in style. She has both
power and brilliance and while
these are directed with musical feel
ing, the pattern Of her playing IL
much the same. She came closer
to a divergence from 1t in Rach-
maninof's "Preludes In E nat ma
jor and G minor" Her listeners rec
ognized the polish and elan OF hel