Evening star., 1951-01-24
By Alice Eversmon

Paul Paray. the eminent French
conductor who made his Washing
ton debut as guest conductor OF
the Philadelphia Orchestra last
night in Constitution Hall, had
the further distinction Of being
the first conductor to direct an
orchestra here with a broken
wrist. Mr.. Paray slipped on the
ice in Philadelphia about 10 days
ago and fractured his wrist in two
places. Giving little heed to his
injury. he found a doctor to take
care Of it and appeared as usual
for rehearsal. Nor would he
listen to any plea that he post
pone his assignments. insisting
that a left hand was all he needed
to lead such a skilled group as
the Philadelphians.
Appearing without a sling last
night, he not only proved the
efficiency of his left hand but also
that a break need not impair the
efficiency Of the right. He achieved
remarkable effects. The orchestra
seating was changed to that with
which he was probably more fa-
miliar-the second violins on his
right. as is used in the National
Symphony. This produced new
quality of tone in the group where
Leopold Stokowski introduced his
innovations in placement years
ago, and how we'll the quality
suited what Mr.. Paray sought to
divulge was more and more ap-
parent as the program progressed.
Mr.. Paray gave the impression
not so much of drawing out his
effects from the orchestra as of
molding them in such a way that
the effects were produced as q
matter of logic. Although ami
mated vastly by temperament, he
is not a conductor who acts out
what the orchestra is doing. His
stance. and the power that en-
anates from him. is like that of a
magician. Holding his hands with
a conjurer's grace, mysterious
passes bring forth some interpre-
tative splendor as a complete
thing. Only by watching closely
could the active fingers. keeping
rhythm and tempo exact. be seen.
The result is that the music he
fashions embodies all the other
arts as well. Beethoven's PAS
toral" Symphony was a painting
and a description of poetic caliber
as its music took on these quail
tiles while preserving its natural
intent. Not in years has the SIM
pie. bucolic character of the work
been permitted to speak for itself
so clearly. No exaggerations or
attempts at extracting a surplus
Of beauty were present. 1t was
the charming, tender and idyllic
music the composer must surely
have intended 1t to be.
Not q phrase. not a note, was
treated lightly. The mosaic pat
tern was set forth with excep-
tional clarity and with just the
proper tonal hue to give the color
display Of the whole design. Still
more remarkable was the preser-
vation of It's German character
the German country side. the
German holiday making and
the German sentiment. Since
every nationality has taken the
Pastoral" for its own. under
standing it from their own view
point, it is something Of an event
to have 1t restored to the environ
ment Of its composer.
Naturally, Mr.. Paray's powers
expanded still more when he di-
rected the French numbers.
Ravers la Valse." and the
orchestral suite from the Incl
dental music to Faure's "Pelleas
ct Melisande. In the former, be-
side the .all-inclusive idea that
Ravel had in mind. Mr.. Paray
visualized the actual dance from
a modernistic point Of view. such
as Ida Rubinstein must have done
when she danced it. He fairly
I>s