JOSEPH SZIGETI

Evening Star, Issue 21232, 13 October 1932, Page 9

JOSEPH SZIGETI

BRILLIANT RECITAL BY MASTER VIOLINIST AUDIENCE COMPLETELY CAPTIVATED To have heard Josef Szigeti is one of those experiences that inestimably enrich our musical memories. Szigeti is one of the great ones of music, a master violinist who must surely be pro-eminent oven in the most distinguished company of exponents of that instrument. A few months ago Australia and New Zealand knew practically nothing of him—now they are uniting in paying homage to a man of genius. His first performance before a Dunedin audience in the Town Hall Con-

cert Chamber last evening was something of a musical sensation. Szigeti swept that whole audience into most enthusiastic fervour with the phenomenal brilliancy of his playing. It was one of the most arresting performances ever given in this city, and created a profound impression among the musiclovers privileged to hear it. Szigeti’s attainments are truly exceptional. His complete mastery of his instrument is exemplified in his superb technique, but it is as one of the greatest tonalists of the violin that he will bo remembered. His facilities of bowing and fingering must command tremendous respect and awe, but that wonderful tone is his dominating attribute. Luscious would be one description for it, if that word did not suggest something over-rich. It has a rare singing quality, , a line of pure melody and of singular aesthetic charm. Szigeti is a player of unusual vitality, extremely forceful in his bowing, but never even slightly forcing in his tone. His music at this recital was at all times distinguished by its passionate warmth and vivid beauty, clearly and beautifully analysed for the delectation of every fastidious ear. For his introductory offering last evening there was the ‘ Corelli La _ Follia ’ air and variations. At once illustrating the brilliance of the recitalist, it was but an earnest of what was to come. As a technical exposition it was flawless; in conception music of lyric beauty. The Bach ‘ Sonata in G Minor,’ for violin only, followed—a monumental work and a monumental performance! The tremendous power and scope of this sonata held the audience spellbound, such was its immensity and strength. It was perhaps the most striking interpretation of Bach Dunedin has ever heard. Concluding the first group was the Mozart ‘Concerto in D Major,’ with the three Joachim cadenzas. The allegro was a spontaneous burst of sheer melody, the andante cantabile a limpid, smooth-flowing stream of beauty, and the _ rondo an air of flashing brilliance. Encored, Szigeti played with much grace a charming old minuet by Edaudet. The second portion of his programme opened with a modern work, ‘ The Nigun,’ one of the three “ pictures ” from the ‘ Baal Shem ’ of Ernest Bloch. It was a curiously interesting study, at one moment impressing one with its great power and at the next catching the imagination with its haunting beauty and mysticism. Then came the Francoeur-Kreisler ‘ Siciliqnne and Rigaudon,’ two lovely dances that offset each othre admirably. The bold rhythms and exotic colouring of a Spanish dance by De Falla (also a Kreisler arrangement) took the audience by storm. The five encores that Szigeti generously played were all distinctive studies. His first was a Debussy waltz, then the Paganini ‘ Caprice,’ a work in which he demonstrated all the weapons in the violinist’s armoury with tireless energy—bursts of little pizzicato explosions, extraordinarily brilliant double-stopping (always an outstanding feature of his music) , and double harmonics of a quality never ever heard before in this city. The other encores were the Dvorak ‘ Slavonic Dance ’ the Tartini ‘ Variations,’ and ‘ The Flight of the Bumble Bee ’ by Rimsky-Korsa-koff. The bee could never make such entrancing music of its flight as this. Szigeti has associated with him as accompanist Prince Nikita Magaloff, a highly distinguished young artist, who must share in the laurels of the evening. It would bo a pleasure, we are sure, to hear this player in solo music. He lias the touch and the skill of an exceptional pianist. TO- NIGHT’S PROGRAMME. Szigeti will give a second concert tonight. His set programme will include ‘ Devil’s Trill Sonata ’ (Tartini); ‘ Concerto, with Joachim’s Cadenzas (Beethoven) ; ‘ Air ’ from ‘ Violin Concerto ’ (Goldmark) : ‘ Stempenyu Suite ’ (Joseph Achrou); ‘Fontaine d’Arethuso ’ (Szymanowsky); ‘ Hungarian Fantasy’ (Hubay). FINAL CONCERT IN BIG TOWN HALL. The packing of the Concert Chamber last night and the full booking for tonight have induced Mr Larsen to consent to an overwhelming number of requests for a further concert by Szigeti, and this will be given in the big Town Hall on Saturday night. The crescendo of interest since the violinist’s debut indicates that the smaller hall would be quite inadequate for the occasion.