Evening star., 1951-04-09
By Alice Eyersmon

/
ton should be reviewed in reverse,
beginning with the encores. This
is in no way an aspersion on his
performance Of the serious part
of his program but what other
artist OF his dignity can send his
audience into gales of laughter
and give them the relaxation good
fun can bring. Mr.. Templeton
lis unique in this respect but never
flor a moment is the fact of his
great and unusual talent forgotten.
While holding some of the alb
surdities to be found in musical
performance up to ridicule, he
lis, at the same time, performing
miracles of Improvisation at the
piano.
The climax Of yesterday after
moons recital in Constitution Hall
was his Through the Ring In
Five Minutes" In that space of
time he gave a representation of
la Wagnerian opera performance,
with all the characters, that was
side splitting. It followed his in
imitable description of modern
song cycle, and an imitation of
Ia French crooner in contrast to
an American of the same ilk. No
doubt other artists poke the same
fun at music now and then in
private but no other serious artist
shares it in public with his audi
Ience. We, who. for the most part,
are asked to dwell on the heights
the entire season, are grateful for
the chance to laugh.
There are more reasons to be
grateful to Mr.. Templeton. His
beautiful and sensitive playing of
Chopin, for example, or the lovely
delicacy Of Couperin's "Soeur
Monique." or Mozart's Fantasia
in D Minor, K. 397." are moments
to be remembered. The intimate
communion Of this artist with his
instrument produces q quality of
poesy not matched by any other
pianist. He takes his public into
the secret spaces of q work and
shows 1t a new gem of feeling or
color. Although sending his listen
Iers home with laughter on their
lips. he has put goodness and
beauty into their hearts.
The groups Of the serious part
OF the program ended with his
own works. The first was an I'm
provisation on the Name Bach, !"
where the letters of the immortal
name were translated into the
notes OF the theme. The character
of the development was in keep
ing with the Bach style so nobly
set forth in the opening number
OF the program, the Rummel ar
rangement of Bach's chorale prel-
ude, Jesus Christ, the Son of
God" The second was a fantasy
on selected bits from Strauss Der
Rosenkavalier." with all the imag-
NATIVE treatment for which Tenn
pleton is famous.
Among the informal numbers
of the programs second half was
"Scarlatti Stoops to Conga" which.
Templeton explained. was the
Scarlatti sonata form adjusted
to the zone, two, three-kicks
rhythm. Conversation Between
Two Vans" turned out to be a
meeting of Ludwig van Bee
thoven's "Minuet in G" with Eg-
bert Van Alstyne's I'm the Shade
of the Old Apple Tree" The origi-
nality Of his improvisation on
Gershwin's Summertime" was the
most notable among the new COM
positions which included further
|"Old World Charm" "Berceuse in
Blue" and Hawaiian Suite" COM
posed in Honolulu.
Five notes, warning harmoni-
cally, were woven with Temple
toms amazing skill into remark
able works in the styles of Mozart,
Chopin, Grieg and Beethoven,
while the fun started with the
blending of, Beethoven's Moon
light Sonata" Wagner's "Rienzi
Overture" ."The Thing" and eff"
in an improvisation of matchless
ingenuity. His own TRANSCRIPTION
of Rachmaninoff's "Vocalise" was
an encore in serious vein.
Miss Field Heard.
The American Music Festival in
the National Gallery of Art con-
tinued with a program last night
by Joan Field, violinist. with Leo
pold Mittman at the piano. Pre-
sented for a first Washington
performance were Ives Sonata