WOMEN PIANISTS

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3189, 13 September 1917, Page 2

WOMEN PIANISTS

A writer in tlio London "Kcfcrco" made tho death of tho brilliant pinnisto ' Madam Teresa Carrcno the occasion of an article on women pianists in general. In a country where pretty well every girl is (aught tho piano art, part of her. ordinary education, his remarks will bo found interesting. "Of all instrument,"," he says, "tlio pianoforto has been tho most favoured I>y women. The reasons are pretty obvious. .A woman can play lho piano without losing .feminine grace, though lho eyo is of len pained by the sight of bent backs aud lowered heads suggestive 'of hunliug for pins amongst the notes. Many' ladies screw tkcmsolvos up or down on tho music slant with pictorial effects quito undreamt of by themselves. But a. woman can preserve her femininity at tho piano boiler than at any other instrument. A violin contorts tho body. A. "'cello necessitates an, ungraceful familiarity of embrace; and wind instruments trespass' on tlio privileges of husbands and lovers. No earl lily angel can blow a trumpet and look fascinating. "It is commonly thought that women havo more delicacy and tenderness than men, but this is contradicted by tlio pianoforte. Carreno never equalled tho ethereal lightness of her master, Kubinstein, iu pianissimo filigree passages, and it is rarely that women.players succeed in conveying the comprehonsivo tenderness lho great moil players iniuso into passages of deep sentiment. Therownuld seem also to be a cousidcrablounability in women pianists to ukango their mental attitude quickly. "Many of tho failings of female pianists aro" duo to luck of physical strength. It is only tho strong, sleety muscle that can command the greatest lightness of touch; also that brilliancy of tone which arises from lightning-like nervo action. A woman's shoulders aro more sloping than those of a man. Her muscles are less tenso and less capable of sustained effort. It is when faligu.o sets in that the touch becomes heavy instead of springy. Modern muscular development goes far to minimiso tho natural' failings of tho 'weaker vessel,' but unless a woman has exceptional muscular development, it is wiser for her to give full expression to her femininity than to imitate a man's strength. "There is music that is distinctly masculine. Thero is music that is distinctly feminine. If a woman attacks tho former, let her give a womanly reading, not an imitation of a man's. The womanly always interests; the imitation never. Woman at the pianoforto is a fascmatin" study; sho reveals so muich thereat. If "recitals be listened to from this standpoint, as an expression if tho players mind and opinions, interest will be found to increase.vastly, that is it the players havo opinions and aro merely mutators and echoes of others.