MISCHA LEVITZKI

Dominion, Volume 15, Issue 1, 26 September 1921, Page 7

MISCHA LEVITZKI

VIRTUOSO OF THE PIANOFORTE Mischa. Levitzki cnxne and played and conquered at the Town Hall on Saturday evening. Cold judgment characterised the attitude of the audience for the flirt half-hour—they were apparently taking nothing for granted—but this youngest and most promising aspirant to the world pianisiie supremacy gradually but surely won his way into the hearts and heads of those present until applause, free and unrestrained. • signified enthusiastic approval. Levitzki wins by the finest art. Ho is before all the lyrist at the piano. As fivie from any mannerism or any taint of affectation as Harold Bauer or Leonard Berwick, his exquisite work at the keyboard is a fine blend! of the strength of the one and the innate poetry of the other, illumined with a steady temperamental glow that spells individuality, personality, magnetism. It is this steady flame, allied to amazing delicacy of touch, superb tone, prodigious speed, and a very complete technique under the easiest command which compel admiration. These, it may be said, are the virtues that any great pianist possesses, but in the case of the present visitor, they are associated with wonderful depths and fine perspectives in interpretation which hold one enthralled by their unexpected grace and beauty. To so many players the piano seems to be the wall that divides thorn from real music. They play the notes correctly, but there they stop, and' wonder why their friends are not particularly interested. It is simply because they are merely presenting the dead framework of the music. Only a complete understanding of the emotional meaning of the music and the capacity to interpret it, can provide it with a soul. Levitzki. In style, is restrained and repressive; he eschews anything in the way of showlness dr theatricality in attitude or touch, having served his apprenticeship in that sound school led l by .Dohnanyi, Josef Weiss, ITAlbert, and others rather than in the more—but often just as effective —florid school of Leschetitzky.

’ The weaving of the spell commenced on Saturday evening with a Tausfg arranJjoTnent for the pianoforte of the Bn eh “Toccata and Fugue in D Minor,” which organists have familiarised us with. This is a noble piece of music, with a majesty,in itsc dominating pre? ludo nnd a dazzling mosaic in the fugual passage, which has been elaborated most wonderfully for the’ pianoforte. t Tha dignity and brilliance in Jin teip relive construction in this, number at once reveal ecf lhe complete artist. Perhaps no pianist has ever demonstrated so effectually the value of the pause. Levitzki used it with profound effect in the Bach number, the Beothoyon Sonata, and the Liszt Rhapsody., lie Is also a master, of nuance. With a clear sense of dm'matio climax, he appreciates to the full that its value Is’sustained; by beautifying that which immediately follows. In other words, there is an afterglow to each climax, which makes for a clearer silhouette. The Sonata in F Minor of Beethoven, which the world knows as the “Appassionato,” was a revelation in emotional glamour. ' The old folk-song motive of -the allegro assai movement,’ constantly recurring in a now framework, u-as» delightfully exploited, but it was in tho fioool floxving andante that the artist’s powers of. wooing were best expressed. .His pianissimo touch was a thing of beauty, whilst tho fiery presto wan dynamically effective. There was an airiness and grace in hfs approach to Chopin music that was a sheer delight. With what feathery fleotness did he flutter througlx the “Butterfly” Etude and the famous one for tho black keys, so' often tho despair of the struggler. Tho Nocturne In F Sharp came fresh and cool from his facile fingers, nnd in tho Scherzo in ,C Sharp Minor the pianist showed his electrical force in brilliant flashes. His speed and delicacy in Chopin amazed and delighted. Encored, another Chopin waltz was added to th,e bracket. Of pieces characteristic none was more popular than “Troika en Tratneaux," a merry jingling sleigh ride, happily pictured by Tschnikoveky, and Moskerwski’s “La Jongleuse” (the lady juggler), which had to bo repeated; Levitzlfi gave a masterly reading of tho familiar Rhapsody No. C of Liszt. Its richness of invention, its Hungarian firo and sudden contrasts xvero inimitably presented. The enthusiasm lept like a fire at tho conclusion of the programme, no fewer than three encores being insisted on, and given, wit without a good deal of clamourous persuasion. These were Chopin’s brilliant study in A Flat, the “Campanella” of Liszt (in which the pianist waa particularly brilliant at the top of the piano), and a charming waltz; of the player's own composition. The second concert is to be given tomorrow evening.