VINOGRADOFF’S RETURN

Hawera Star, Volume LII, 3 September 1932, Page 2

VINOGRADOFF’S RETURN

FAMOUS RUSSION PIANIST. CONCERT NEXT FRIDAY. Reserve booking for the farewell concert at Hawera by Paul Vinogradoff opens at Miss Blake’s Opera House confectionery on Monday._ Vinogradoff has nearly completed his first- NewZealand tour, under the direction of the new K. Pallo organisation, and he returns to Taranaki fresh from a triumphal Auckland season. Concerning the new- programme to be presented at Haw-era on Friday next, the “'■New Zealand Herald” w-rote as follows: “ The opening, number, the Bach-Busoni chromatic Fantasia and Fugue, was handled brilliantly, and served to illustrate M. Vinogradoff’s superb technique. This w-as followed by Beethoven’s Sonata in A flat, a work infrequently heard in comparison w r ith several of Beethoven’s other Sonatas, hut interesting in view of the contrasting styles in each of the movements. Three of Chopin’s . greatest works, the Fantasia in F minor, the Nocturne in F sharp, and -the Sonata, in B flat minor follow-ed, and with these M. Vinogradoff scored perhaps his greatest success of the evening. The sonata, ty-pieal of 'Chopin’s eccentric, but magnificent style, w-as superb, the player rising to great heights with the majestic solemnity of the funeral march. An entirely different note was struck in the concluding items, which included five studies by Scriabin, the Poem in F sharp by the same composer, and Liszt’s Mephisto Waltz. These were outstanding.” Concerning the same performance, the follow-ing terms were used by the “Auckland Star” to describe Vinogradoff’s triumph: “It would be difficult to find three more satisfying Chopin numbers than the three w T hich followed, the Fantasia in F minor, the Nocturne in F sharp, and the Sonata in B flat minor. In all of these M. Vinogradoff revealed himself as a Chopin exponent par excellence, his interpretations coming as a revelation to tne audience. The famous funeral march in the sonata w-as played in a most expressive and appealing manner. The concluding group included five studies by- Scriabin, and the same composer’s Poem in F sharp,. In these unusual, but charming, compositions the pianist proved himself to be as great an interpreter of Scriabin as he is of •Chopin. The brilliant playing of the seldom-heard ‘Mephisto’ Waltz of Liszt, which demands very perfect technique for its adequate rendition, brought the programme to a triumphal close, the audience recalling the artist again and again.”