BRILLIANT MOISEIWITSCH

Evening Star, Issue 22720, 6 August 1937, Page 13

BRILLIANT MOISEIWITSCH

ENTRANCING FINAL RECITAL CHARMING PIANISTIG ART It is not extravagant praise' to class Benno Moiseiwitsch as a genius. He soars to the Parnassus of the pianist’s art and .displays the gifts _of sheer musicianship with which he is so lavishly endowed with the inborn skill and grace that only the truly great possess. And the truly great pianists who have visited Dunedin ■ can be counted on the fingers of the hand. Moiseiwitsch is one of them. He led the big audience that heard him in the Concert Chamber last night to the innermost gallery of his musical storehouse,' and the experience was a wonderfully exciting one. The only criticism of his season here is that it has been altogether too short, this being his second, and last, recital. If anything, it was even more brilliant than the first, if that were possible, and at the end, after ho had spent to the full his emotional forces, the more critical section of his audience was almost as emotionally exhausted as he. It was a performance that will for long linger in the memory. Moiseiwitsch literally numbed flic senses with his version o,f the immense Bach masterpiece, the ‘ Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue,’ in which he ran the gamut of technical perfection. The fugal form of the work ho introduced so grandly and with such rare confidence that it took on a new significance to even the keenest students of Bach. Then came Schumann’s melodious ‘Carnival’ (opus 9). Here the inventive greatness of the composer was exploited to the fullest, the everchanging mood, sometimes vibrant with healthy movement and l again lonely and weary, being etched with imaginative charm. Moiseiwitsch is a startling interpreter of the poetry of Chopin. Ho introduced the composer in two impromptus—the ‘ F .Sharp Major ’ and the ‘ A Flat Major ’ —before proceeding to the big work of the evening, the ‘ Sonata in B Flat Minor ’ (opus 35). Here was virtuosity in its fullest sense. This work has been played in Dunedin by visiting artists before, but never before has it been played so deliciously. The forlorn Marche Funebre was the highlight of the evening. It was a masterpiece of power. The final group was well chosen. It consisted of Schumann’s tinkling ‘ Spring Night,’ the immortal ‘ Hark! Hark; the Lark ’ (Schubert). Wagner’s magnificent ‘ Liebestod,’ and tho immensely difficult ‘ Tannhauser ’ overture, by the same composer. This capped a most strenuous and exacting concert for this genius of the piano, and during its rendition he _ attained remarkable heights of brilliancy. After a thunderous reception, sincere to the core, Moiseiwitsch played several extra items, including the Gliopin Waltz in C Sharp Minor and ‘ The Musical Box.’