IN GAY BERLIN

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 45, 17 November 1920, Page 10

IN GAY BERLIN

STILL THE HOME OF MUSIC IMPRESSIONS OF WEISS AND D'ALBERT

"Berlin is the gayest city in Europe I" ?o said Mr. Gordon Shortt, a gifted Adoaide pianist, who as Into as April last jave a recital there beforo a crowded iiidicnce. Mr. Shortt was in Berlin wlieu war broke, out, and was interned at KuhlsDcn Camp for the full term of tlio colllict. "After the first four months," ho laid, "we were treated very well indeed, md were quite happy, but for tlio I'act ;hat our freedom was restricted. Parcels •nine regularly- from friends in England md Australia. I received two hundred and fifty. None went usiray as iar as t un aware. We were warned after tie leave no trace' order tnat tood nnslit ihort but the parcels continued tu como lion" all right. The oauip food; was not 100 good or plentiful, but on tlio wnolo ,ve were quite all right. As to the treatment of our prisoners m other campa trom all I could gather it was a matter jf luck. Some struck camps under brutal officers, otiters fared better in olhnr samps. Of course, wo wero civil prison>rs and were treated decently. Artwticilly we liad a fine time. U e had au orihestra of 70 players at Buhleben. and I lave neyer seen plays better mounted in London than we had in camp. You see, ■'lib civil internees 'were mostly newborn if professions and 'artists—who threw themselves into the tufik of milking life is pleasant as possible 'with great arlour. Teaching lessons were carried on. As soon as the war was over, All. Shortt determined to get as .much out jf -Germany as i>ossible, fi<» stayed on, renewing many friendships in the musi■al world and making new ones. Having Ken a pupil yid for a time a travelling jompamon of Teresa Carreno, the great?st lady pianist that ever lived (who died two vcars ago in New York), Mr. Shortt had tlio entree into tho best musical set. lio became a pupil of Joseph Weiss, vliom Mr. Shortt considors the greatest sianist of tlio day. "I say that advis»dly, and having heard Carreno and D'Albert almost daily for months, I should be able to form Jin opinion. Weiss—no, you wouldn't know mm. The world does not know, liim—but Berlin knows iiim! Ho only lias to anlounco a concert, and the hall is booked ip at onco. He is a marvel— amystery -for ho will not practice, yet lie will suddenly decide that he wants some noney, 'and ho announces the most proiisious programme, and plays it without practising. He loathes iplaying-lie oatlies tho pianoforte. Hie most tremendous difficulties are so easy to him that he has a contempt for the instrunent, and rarely plays. He is more interested in ideas than practice—lie will start up anywhere at any time to jot iowii an idea—some now complexity m a six-part fugue. " His is a giant brain, ind. of course, he is an eccentric—wildly ?cceptric. Ho was engaged once to tour America. Ho gave two recitals, then something annoyed liini, and lie cancelled the rest of tho tour and went back : o Berlin. He does not figure' in musical biographies. I doubt if he ds in Grove. Porhaps lie figures in some German looks, 'but that does not count. He is tho greatest of them all—a inan with a jinnt technique, a magic memory -and extraordinary tQmperanient. All Hungarians lmve temperamental qualities which wo English have to Acquire .or force, aiid Joseph Weiss is an Hungarian -only 5G years of age." Mr. Shortt was alto brought into contact with D'Albert, another pianist, adnittcd by al ltlie critics to be one ot the elect' at the keyboard. D'Albert, who is 5G years of age, is another to whom tli© pianoforte is anathema, but lie only ins to announce a recital to pack any )ne of the great concert halls in Berlin. "Berlin is still the home of music—the ionic of the concert and the opera,' said Mr Shortt. "Thero is no city in the vorld where so many great artists have ;heir hoine-Carr<yiq (now- gone) , DAlicrt, Busoni, 'Weiss .kreislor, Ca.rl ilescli, and dozens ol others-not all Geinnns. D'Albert neglects the pianoforte o write operas, except when - his wile vanta a few <lrt>«ses—then lie gives a ro■ital. Opera vibsesscs lum. He lias ivritten many-not great works, but jopular. 'Teiiiand' has had.qnite a rogue. I'll tell you a D'Albert story. Elb had Teliearsed one of his own opei as, •nd in the course of 't oneottheU'sulmg shouted a passage instead 01 'ully vocalising lt-and D Albert had in ado no objection. At te performance n the evening lie treated tho passage n thß same way. D'Albert-was furious, ind at onco left the theatre and sent a ettor to the critics saying that ho declined to have anything further to do 'vitlii people who were murdering Ins mora The singers and orchestra, took jbiection to 'D'AKJfcrfd aild in •etaliation /loclined to play for him. Nothing daunted,.D'Albert announced a •coital with' the Philharmonic Orchestra and gave it before a packed audiat one day's notice. . A few days ifterwards he was back again at the >! It will news to many that Mr. ;i"rtt mav give a recital in Wellington before he leaves for Ins home m Adelaide. Whether he will return tc Europe, no to America (wliero he was nn le tempting offers), or. settle in Ne* Zealand, Mr. Shortt has yet to decide.