JASCHA SPIVAKOVSKY

Evening Star, Issue 18030, 26 July 1922, Page 7

JASCHA SPIVAKOVSKY

Spivakovsky will- open hie Dunedin season on Thursday, August 3, in His Majesty’s Theatre, under the direction of J. C. Williamson, Ltd., and will also appear again on Saturday, August 5. His first programme is identical with his opening recital in Australia, of which the Melbourne ‘Argus’ said: “Jascha Spivakovsky achieved a great and well-deserved triumph at the Town Hall. He possesses a happy combination of intellect and temperament, of scholarship and executive brilliance.- Strong of wrist and finger, masterful of style, and pulsating with rhythm, he has a technical grip which makes-the most formidable passage sound as child’s play in his Lands; but ho possesses the intuition to employ this magnificent technique as the means not the end, which is for him, as for every true artist, music. When he began hia recital with the Bach-Liszt organ fantasia and fugue, hia mood was one of scholarship and reserve, almost meticulous in niceties of phrasing and punctuation. He was recalled several times. It was in the Chopin group, however, that- enthusiasm rose to its height. Freshness and vitality wore the outstanding characteristics of Spivakovsky’s Chopin playing. The Berceuse he treated in caressing mood, and after the Butterfly study, which had, of course, to be repeated with tremendous passion, finally Spivakovsky came to Liszt, giving the adorable ‘ Gnomenreigen ’ with such bewildering delicacy and deftness that the audience insisted on having Hie. experience over again. At the conclusion of the final number, ‘La Campan*ella,’ the enthusiasm was so great that he had to play no less than five extras." The outstanding feature of the programme is ‘Brahms’ Sonata in F Minor,' Op. 5’ (allegro, maestoso, andante, scherzo, intermezzo, and finale). This latter offering, which is being played here for the first time by a world-famed pianist, is said 'to reveal this artist’s wonderful depth of soul. lie' box plants for both concerts open on Monday at The Bristol. Special concessions to students are announced.