THE POET OF THE PIANO

Manawatu Times, Volume LIII, Issue 6630, 8 June 1928, Page 8

THE POET OF THE PIANO

A NOTED MUSICAL EVENT. Benno Moisiewitseh has not beers called the poet of the piano without cause. It is in those creations of the great composers which seek to interpret through sound harmonies the romantic aspects of life and nature that he finds the best vehicle for the expression of his art. Thus Chopin and his school predominate on his programmes, and because the emotional appeal of that master of romance in music is moie inclusive in its scope than almost any other great composer—because of this Moiseiwitsch, his most perfect interpreter, has all the world at his feet. No other pianist in living memory has caught that spirit of romance which is Chopin in quite the same manner as Moiseiwitsch. On last night’s programme given before a crowded Opera House there was a groupe of three of these gems—the exquisite Nocturne in F Sharp Major, Valso in G Flat and Ballade in A Flat. Another Nocturne of Seriabine, who came strongly under Chopin's influence, was added to this group, and with this quartette the pianist cast a magic spell over his audience, drawing from his lovely instrument such exquisite perfection of technique that after each the listeners woke as from a dream. Similar in spirit and execution also were the beautiful Schubert “Impromptu in A Flat’’ and a Palmgren lullaby, while “La Cathedralc Engloutic’’'of Debussy and a brilliant and diflicult work of one of the moderns, Stravinsky, showed Moiseiwitsch in quite a different humour. The triumph of the evening however, was the presentation of Beethoven’s “Sonata Appassiouata. ’’ One of the- most wonderful creations of the greatest of all composers—that searcher of the souls of men—this majestic work was followed through all its heights and depths with a profound understanding of its beauties and profundities. For just on half an hour the audience was held in thrall by a master’s interpretation of a master’s creation, and the roar of applause which greeted the last crashing chords was eloquent tribute to a superb achievement. Hardly less remarkable was the really dazzling presentation of Lizst ’s florid transcription of the overture to Wagner’s “Tannhauser,” a work in which tremendous technical diflieultios alternate with passages of rare beauty, mounting to an overpowering climax which the pianist rendered with consummate skill and great emotional power. Notwithstanding the strain entailed in the presentation of such a programme Moiseiwitsch generously responded to requests for more, and in each new number gave further evidence of his genius.