SHURA CHERKASSKY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 20081, 19 October 1928, Page 18

SHURA CHERKASSKY.

THE OPENING RECITAL. j:.-'* s • v GREAT -ENTHUSIASM SHOWN. The waning musical season was given fresh intorest afc the Town Hall last evening when the Kussian boy pianist, Shura Cherkassky, mado his initial bow to Auckland music-lovers in a programme -which tested to the full his qualifications as art exponent of the greatest pianoforte works. The large "first-night" attendance showed that the fame of Cherkassky had preceded him, although few present were prepared for the manifestation of musical genius which awaited them. Enthusiasm waxed to fever heat as the evening wore on, and at the close, after the pianist's sensational performance of Schultz-Elver's brilliant paraphrase on Straus' " Blue Danube" waltz, throe additional solos had to be given before the audience would disperse.

The astonishing playing of Shura Cherkassky demands the fullest recognition from tho highest artistic standpoint, irrespective of his youth. His technical mastery is such that it has a self-sufficient beauty of ita own, and in certain pieces most dazzling effects are produced. Heartbreaking difficulties are demolished as if they never existed, and his touch is so finely controlled that tho most tender nuances are poetically expressed. Much character was shown in the playing of the National Anthem at the commencement of the recital. Then came the opening Bach-Liszt "Fantasy and Fugue in G Minor." This found Cherkassky fully able to grapple with the heavy technical side of this great work. The tone changes were adroitly managed in the first movement, which also afforded scope for clarity in passage playing. The playful subject of the Fugue itself was clearly expounded, while tho structural design of tho whole of this movement was admirably displayed. There was hardly a page of' the monumental' "Appassionata" Sonata (Beethoven) which did not reflect the pianist's understanding of the composer's message, and the audienco was quickly made to feel the spell of the music. Here was no mere pedant, and each phrase reflected something of the recitalist's originality. The beautiful variation movement contained many arresting features, while for celerity tho finale could hardly be matched.

Much beauty of tone colour and felicity of expression were shown in the Chopin group. Consummate skill was evidenced in the exquisite "Barcarolle,"' with its involved deta ; ls, while many dazzling effects were secured in the middle section of the E Major study. A new Chopin was presented in the difficult study, Opus 25, No. 12, and the surging of Uie great billows of sound up and down the keyboard was achieved realistically. This work produced a maximum of impression, and was followed by tho complex "Scherzo," in B Minor, Opus 20, and here again Chcrkassky's remarkable qualifications were called into play. A thunderous recall at this stage gave the audience an opportunity of hearing an impeccable performance of the famous "Black Keys" study. The final group of pieces included Josef Hofmann's wonderful "Kaleidoscope," with its bewildering array of changing harmonies. Rachmaninoff's "Military," "Prelude in G- Minor," which received an unexampled rendering, Debussy's elusive "Reverie," Liszt's popular "Liobf straum," No. 3, and the "Blue Danube" Waltz paraphrase, which was the culminating triumph of an eventful evening. The enticing additional solos added by Cherkassky at the close of the recital included Liadoff's quaint "I Danced with a Mosquito" and "Music Box." The second concert will be given tomorrow evening