MISCHA LEVITZKI

Dominion, Volume 15, Issue 3, 28 September 1921, Page 7

MISCHA LEVITZKI

GREAT ENTHUSIASM AT THE TOWN HALL In tho case of the transcendent art of Mischa Levitzki, pianist par excellence, the appetite grows on what it feeds on. On Saturday evening this brilliant young pianist had to play himself into, favour. Last evening the large audience was given a programme of rare enchantment, aiid.J.ho, result was a scene ot entrfusiasm Seldom paralleled in the history of Wellington. When all elso has been stated and restated of tho many excellencies of Levitzki’s playing, what will always be remembered is this famous pianist’s extraordinarily sensitive touch and allpervading sense of rjiythm. . Evett" in tho Liszt arrangement of Bach's organ Prelude and Fugue in A Minor, cultured music of the highest order, it was the even flow of interlaced melodies, individual to both hands, that, knitted together, made a harmonious whole. It is not' so long since the “Etudes Symphoniques” of Schumann have been heard in Wellington, but such ah inters pretation as that given last evening of' this very difficult series of studies will not readily be effaced from the memory. They were written about the same time as the “Carnival” sketches, when Schumann was struggling for recognition aS a leader of new thought in pianoforte music, and at tho dawn of that period in the composer’s life that ushered in a flood of splendid music of which tho world has never tired. Tho variations aro fanciful and “moody,” and whilst never descending te mere tinkling prettiness pitted with exquisite melodies, and symphonic beauties that foretell tho coming greatness. The triumphant defiance of tho finale is ' a high-spirited challenge, and was played with magnificient force by the visitor. For quiet simple charm thd Gluck-Brahms Gavotte was a gem that shone serene in the programme. What need to go into detail over the Chopin bracket? We have heard Carreno and Bauer and Berwick, but. Levitzki, in tho delicacy and fleotness df his touch, seems to be the twin soul of the composer. The bracket included tho Impromptu in ;F Sharp Major, tho Etudes in A Flat and C Mtfjor, tho Mazurka in A Flat, and tho showy but over-entrancing Waltz in A Flat, all of which wero played with intuitive charm. Levitzki revels in the fine lacework of Chopin, his superb facility and gossamer touch enhancing every .passage. In response to a storm of applause, punctuated by cheers, t'ho Chopin study for the black keys was played, and a further demand elicited' the “Butterfly Etude." In 'the third part of the pro r gramme the audience was! introduced to the music of Dohnanyi (Levitzki’s sponsor, and himself a great pianist). His “Music of the Spheres" is attractive in a fantastic sense, consisting for a considerable part of •interwoven, lustrous cadences at the top of the piano, with an insistent dominant note coming throng'll the maze of celestial harmony. Tho “Boisterous Party," by tho same composer, is also 'strongly characteristic. . ''■,■ Not only is Levitzki a master nt the keyboard,‘but he has potential greatness as a composer. His Waltz in A Major is a gem of rhymical loveliness, -with alternating light and shade representing the gaiety and romance of the dance. In strong contrast is his Waltz in G Sharp Minor, a movement of such strength and pulsating swing that (when dynamically played finally as an encore), it inevitably swept the tAidience off'their feet. The final programme Inumber was a prettily titivated elaboration by’ ShulzEvler of Strauss’s "Blue Danube” waltz, played with exquisite delicacy and abandon. The encores were a Chflpin waltz, “La Jongleuse” (Moskowskv), end the wonderful Levitzki waltz The enthusiasm whicli'niarkcd jthe eloso of the concert will bo memorable to all present. It is good to note that Levitzki opens his programme with the National Anthem, which he plays most spiritedly. The final concert of the; season will be given to-morrow evening, when he will phav the “Waldstein" Sonata and the "Andante Favori" of Beethoven and the Scarlatti “Sonata in A Major' ns well as Chopin and Schumann brackets.