PADEREWSKI

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 136, 13 June 1927, Page 5

PADEREWSKI

POPULAR SECOND RECITAL

The material of Pmlcvewski's second vecilul at the Town Hall on Saturduy night probably was not all that the musically erudite would liavc chosen, for there were only two or three items i:n the generous programme that have not withstood the test of time to the point of haying been heard with almost dangerous frequency. But then it was essentially a popular programme, and the frequent demonstrations of approval left no room for doubt that the great majority of those who filled the hull approved of the selection of classic works that the master pianist gave for their enjoyment. Paderewski's name lms become a household word, and he makes concessions to those who lay claim to no musical knowledge, as well as to the more experienced; there could have been few present on Saturday who had not some acquaintance with the popular pieces that made up the greater part of the programme. Everything, from the Bach Fantasia and Fugue and the Beethoven Sonata early in the evening, to the pianist's popular Minuet, which elicited a profound sigh of' satisfaction when it was given as the final encore, bore the Paderewski stamp. Liszt's transcription of the Bach Fantasia and Fugue in G Minor was a memorable piece o£ Bach reading, invested with the personality of the player as well as that of the great composer. In the same way the vitality and imconventionality which constitute the chief elements in Paderewsjki's art gave to the so-called "Moonlight" Sonata of Beethoven fresh interest and new fascination. From Beethoven the pianist passed to Schubert— the two impromptus of Opus 142. Liszts transcriptions of "Hark, Hark, the Lark." and "The Erl King." Schumann s "Bird as Prophet" was given as an encore number. Then followed a charming group of Chopin moreeaux, the G Minor Ballade Nocturne in D Flat Major (Op. 27), Two Etudes (Op. 10), Nos. 10 anS 5, and the Valse in A Flat (Op. 34). The latter etude and the Valse were repeated as encores. Paderewski's own "Chant dv Voyageur" and "Nocturne c Eagu.se" (Schilling) were the most modern compositions on the programme. Paderewski concluded with Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2, played with- exhilarating, freedom and abandon and with percussive power which at times brought out from the piano the strength and grandeur of full orchestra. The master pianist responded graciously to insistent recalls, first with a Chopin bracket—the Noeturner in F Sharp, and the Waltz, Op. 64, No. 2—and finally with hia famous