LEVITZKI'S ART

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 143, 19 June 1931, Page 3

LEVITZKI'S ART

SECOND GREAT CONCERT

The moment that Mischa Levitzki stepped'on to the platform at the Town Hall last night, the large audience seemed to have the feeling that a great concert was toward. It 'was not disappointed. Lovitzki believes in giving the public what he thinks it wants. He seldom strays from beaten paths, but his playing is always significant. His main works last night have been presented by visiting pianists over and over again, but it was his achievement to make them sound fresh from'the forge. It is difficult to define the essence of his individuality. He has grandeur of style, but he disdains the grandiose. He plays almost without bodily motion. His wrists and fingers make the music; the fingers are marvellously expressive in their hoverings, their masterful sweepings, and attacks. He does not look upwards, seeing his visions coming out of heaven, in the good old theatrical way. His eyes are nearly always on the piano, pin-points of concentration. He expresses his power, like an artist, within the range of his instrument. Levitzki's big work last night was Schumann's "Etudes Symphoniques," Op. 13, which are as infinite in their variety of poetic thought as any similar composition. In most of the variations there is a warm flow of romanticism and frequently nobility of expression. Levitzki's playing vitalised Schumann with an instantaneous touch, a rhythm as plastic as poetry, and, where fascination of touch was not the main need, the utmost grandeur of harmony. His approach to the Liszt transcription of Bach's "Organ Prelude and Fugue in A Minor" was marked by unforced sonority. His songfulness, of which he was sparing, was never too yielding in line, and he always seemed proud o£ the ; piano's essential keenness of tone. Throughout the work he displayed an instinct for what was important structurally, and appeared to see the end in the beginning, and to lay out his proportions accordingly. A charming arrangement by Brahms of a "Gavotte in A Major," from Gluck's almost forgotten opera "Alceste," was delivered with all its beauties uppermost. ■_ Levitzki's Chopin bracket contained a wide range of thought and mood, but he was ever responsive. The intensity of his climax in the "Polonaise in A. Flat" ("Heroic") was thrilling. He conveyed graphically the drama of the middle portion of the "Nocturne in C Minor," and the quieter passages were lusciously, yet not sentimentally, ornamented. The "Mazurka in A Flat Major" was alive with pointed and graphic accent and movement. Three works by Debussy, "Arabesque," "Golliwog's Cake Walk," and "La Fille aux Cheveux de Lin," gave an opportunity for some wonderful gradations of tone. The playing of the Schulz-Evler Arabesques on Johann Strauss's "Blue Danube Waltz" -was a tour de force of an amazing character. The listener might almost have imagined at times that the performer was playing duets with himself. Liszt's "Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6" had the same brilliancy. The attack and pace of the octaves were demonic. The pianist was again generous with his encores. These for the most part were pieces played at his opening concert, and included Chopin's "Butterfly" and "Black Keys" Etudes, a Chopin, waltz, Ravel's "Jeux d'Eau," and his own "Waltz in A Major.