PAUL SCHRAMM'S RECITAL

Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 152, 29 June 1945, Page 3

PAUL SCHRAMM'S RECITAL

STIMULATING PERFORMANCES

For over two hours last evening a large audience of music-lovers in the Lewis Eady Hall sat enthralled and stimulated by the pianistic art of Mr. Paul Schramm in an interesting programme of compositions both grave and gay.

Mr. Schramm's playing is always scholarly, clear, forthright and poetic. His marvellous technique enables him to overcome the most difficult of passages with deceptive ease. This faculty was amply demonstrated in his opening performance, that of Busoni's monumental arrangement of Bach's great "Organ Toccata in C Major." Here, under his wonderful hands, the heavy chords of the Preludio became appropriately organlike in their sonority, contrasting well with the placidity of the Intermezzo and the complex runs of the Fuga. With tremendous power in the left hand, applied always with extreme accuracy, his dynamic performance of the extremely difficult and rarely heard Brahms -'Sonata in F Minor" was a veritable "tour ue force," which must have been a revelation to his listeners. Under his facile fingers the piano seemed to sing in slow movements and lighter works, such as three waltzes by Debussy, Godowsky and Levit3ky were played gracefully with feathery touch; scale passages rippled off the keyhoard evenly with liquid tone in tne ! florid compositions of Liszt, represented by "Ricordanza," delightfully played, and the descriptive "St. Francis Walking on the Waves," in which his left liana depicted most realistically the turbulence of the waves, whilst, in contrast, his right conveyed with singing tone the serenity I of the saint.

Entitled "Visions," a suite of five impressionistic and well-contrasted morceaux, "Gaiety," "Defeat," "Hilarity, "Solitude," and an. aptly-named Savage Marche" given a first performance, revealed the pianist as a clever composer with a modernistic trend and a decided gift for descriptive writing. All the performances were greeted with enthusiastic applause, which was acknowledged by the playing of several, additional items, among these being "Serenade," by R. Strauss, and a Hungarian Dance by Brahms.