AMUSEMENTS.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20333, 4 September 1931, Page 17

AMUSEMENTS.

ZLATKO BALOKOVIC. -—♦— —• AN OUTSTANDING MUSICIAN. CIVIC THEATRE, TUESDAY. Tli* Northern Light, on which Zlatko Balokovio is touring; the world, is expeoteq at Lyttelton on Sunday nest. Balokovio will open a, season ot three conoerts in the Civio Theatre on Tuesday next and no musical attraction this year has caused so much interest as the coming ot this great violinist. Wellington and Auckland absolutely raved about him ana bx& concerts there were a series of triumphs. The following appeared in the "Dominion' after fcia opening concert in that "Prior to the • announcement that M. Zlatko Balokovio, the Croatian violinist, was coming across the Pacific in his own ya*at to give rioitala in Australia and New Zealand, few people here had heard of the visitor, who, curiously enough, it a guished pupil of Sevcik, the mentor « the -*t violinist of note to visit New Zealand, Jkfe Kubelik. The recital at the Town Hall on Saturday evening rivealed the stranger as one of tU& moet einoere, culturod, ftnd refined artist# who have visited the Dominion for some time past. "Balokovio is absolutely legitimate in lila art—be his no tricks, and never, 'stoops to conquer* by the adoption of any meretricious aids to popularity; nor does he unfold at once his pack of tonal and technical treasures. He made his impression as much by the variety of his conceptions and the flawless sudvity of hi? fingering, as he did by the warm, glamorous tone of his treasured Gtiarnfcriua Violin. Sincerity is his keynote, Musio to mm is something fraught with a beauty that is not to 'be taken lightly. Perhaps that is what makes him such an admirable exponent of Bach. Though he played Handel, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Sarasate, and others, it was as an interpreter of the mighty Bach that he made bis deepest impression. "Probably one of the most exacting tests for a virtuoso of the violin is to play the unaocompsnied musio Bach has written for this instrument, the 'Siilo Sonata in G niiiipr" and the 'Chaconfle' being notable Examples. It is musioian's music, demanding concentration and the moat complete technique, and yet within its manifold complexities there lies an architectural bfeauty in music impressive to the ear. Balokovio made his mftrk on Saturday when he played the adagio and fugue from the 'Solo Sonata in G minor,' bringing out the grave loveliness of the adagio, and dazzling with the ease an<3 grace with which he played the variations of the highly complex fuffuc. It was a. triumph of violin playing at its best. To complete his triumph he played as an encore the 'Air for G_ string,' by Bach, exerting an exquisitely rieh tone, vibrant with the finest feeling. Not since Mischfc Elman was here have we beard this nvmber so effectively played. Baron Fleetwood's accompaniments were artistically unobtrusive, and hi a sonata work was sound." The boy plans are at The Bristol.