"HATS OFF—A GENIUS"

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22142, 22 June 1935, Page 12 (Supplement)

"HATS OFF—A GENIUS"

TRIBUTES TO MENUHIN " Hats off gentlemen—a genius " was the way in which, quoting Schumann's appreciation of an earlier star in the musical firmament, a Melbourne critic headed his comments after the first Yehudi Menuhin concert in tliafc city. Gratitude for a supreme artistic experience was tho emotion which dominated the great audience, he said As a demonstration of genius, youthful gallant and experimental, this performance was unique in the musical history of Melbourne.

Yehudi is a prodigy, but he is also n great artist; ho is a virtuoso, but he is also a child, the article added. His executive capacity is as varied as it is phenonemal. He delights in hazardous enterprise, and the driest pyrotechnics are enlivened by his ardent enthusiasm. His tone is of enchanting quality, pure, rounded and caressing, and his infinite control of nuanco reveals not only his super-sensitive tonal perception, but also tho abnormal responsiveness of his musical imagination Rhythmically, this amazingly gifted boy exhibits similar resourcefulness. As represented in the programme the languor of tho Sarasate " Romanza Andaluza," tho swaying lilt of Debussy, the keen thrust and the dazzling precarious acrobatics of Paganini exercised his versatility without disturbing his interpretative balance. With the elasticity and vitality of youth he exchanged sad moods for merry ones; leapt from lassitude to vigorous endeavour; was pensive, headlong, devotional, or fantastic as dictated by tho whims of tho composers. Mero enumeration of tho exterior virtues apparent in Menuhin's playing does however, inadequate justice to the underlying strength and stability of his talent. His maturity and his promise are moro impressively indicated by the breadth and composure of his mental outlook, by his stern concentration upon permanent artistic values, by his slow development of climax, and by the unfaltering sense o{ architectural proportion which forbids fussy elaboration of detail or displays of extraneous cleverness.