MISCHA LEVITZKI

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 225, 19 June 1931, Page 10

MISCHA LEVITZKI

Another Choice Programme

AUDIENCE FASCINATED When someone wrote that Mischa Levitzki was 'bom to the purple of the pianoforte it was no more than a literal truth. At his second concert. in the Town Hall last evening, bad as the weather was, he fascinated a large audience by his sheer brilliance, and the glamour of a personality that, coloured every number on a programme rich in tne choicest gems in pianoforte literature. Levitzki is a pianist to whom physical force is abhorrent; his is a gentle poetical lure, based on tonal beauty, an acute sense of rhythm, which lends vmd interest to everything he plays. . His playing of Bach is an instance of that intuitive grace and beauty of mind which sparkles and glories m his work. If pianoforte students ' would carefully note Levitzki’s delicacy of touch, his resolute adherence to strict tempo, when the spirit of the passage calls for nothing else, and the wonderful use he makes of the pedals, they must benefit Bach was represented last evening by the interetsing “Organ Prelude and Fugue in A Minor” (arranged by Liszt), a master study in contrapuntal music which calls for special attributes to elucidate it entertainingly. Levitzki certainly did this and more. In contrast he played with delightful simplicity and charm that gem of lavender and old lace” music, the gavotte from Gluck’s “Alceste,” arranged by Brahms, who preserves all its delicate loveliness. The major pianoforte work of the evening was the “Symphonic Studies of Schumann, those amazing variations on a simple theme which, as almost every form and mood is expressed in turn, forms a towering structure in pianoforte music that tests the fibre of any virtuoso. Having shown what he could do to the I lullistines of his time, Schumann concluded by advancing on them with his Davidsbundler” march, the triumphant movement with which the studies, concluded. The work was played by the visitor in an unforgettable manner, and earned a hearty ovation. As usual, Chopin monopolised the second bracket, and the joy of hearing this brilliant composer expressed by Levitzki was a soaring one. The Nocturne m U minor, the noblest of them all, calls for exceptional emotional force as well as technical skill. Following came two charming studies in A major (Opus 25, No. 1) and D flat Major” (opus. 25, No 10), the alluring “Mazurka in A Flat Major,” and the popular “Polonaise in A I’lat ( 'The Heroic”), the dynamic demands of which found in the recitalist a brilliant exponent. This performance aroused great enthusiasm, the effect of which was expressed in the rippling iridiscent charm of the “Waltz in G Flat” and the dancing “Black Keys” study. Debussy was represented in the final bracket by his “Arabesque.” the grotesque “Golliwog’s Cake-walk, and La Fille aux Cheveux Lin (the Girl with the Flaxen Hair), the pianist, throwing new lights and shadows on the delicate art of the famous French impressionist. The final number was the Shulz-Evler elaboration of Strauss s “Bine Danube” waltz, a setting which Levitzki lias largely helped to popularise the world over. It was played with ’delicious abandon and impeccable rhythm, creating enormous enthusiasm. Always generous in the matter of encores, Levitzki was lavish last evening, adding to an exhausting programme Ravel’s “Jeux d’Eau,” the recitalists, own wait?, the sixth “Rhapsody” of Liszt (a perfect performance), and even after that another Chopin “Nocturne, and. the “Butterfly” etude. Mention should also be made of the notable playing of the National Anthem as a prelude to each concert. The next recital will be given to-mor-row evening, and an extra one has been arranged for Monday evening.