THOUGHTS ABOUT MUSIC

Evening Star, Issue 22456, 29 September 1936, Page 13

THOUGHTS ABOUT MUSIC

[By L.D.A.] • “ Music gives tone to tho universe: wings to the mind: flight to the imagination: a charm to sadness; gaiety and life to everything.”—Plato. One by one the really great musical artists of the world are finding their way over to tho Southern Hemisphere. Next year it will bo the turn of Vladimir Horowitz, who, as I have several times indicated, is one of the four leading male pianists now before the public. He is scheduled for an Australian broadcasting tour, which will probably be extended to New Zealand, and will include several public recitals. No doubt we shall be told per advertisement that Horowitz is tho “ world's greatest ” —tho same was said of Backhaus, Levitzski, Paderewski, Friedmann, and Moseiwitsch when they toured this country. "Horowitz is unquestionably on a far higher plane than any of these, and is the best of the famous male virtuosi to visit these shores so far. But even he is surpassed by three other performers—viz., Egon Petri, Simon Barer, and Rachmaninoff.

I have given it as my opinion often that the gramophone is not a reliable criterion of an executant’s status in tho scale of virtuosity; the mechanical reproduction seems to flatter some artists, while it fails to do complete justice to others. 1 found the former to be the case when I heard Horowitz in the flesh after being familiar with his gramophone records. Perhaps I expected too much; anyhow, as I wrote at the time, i was vaguely disappointed by his performance on the concert platform, though undoubtedly his records are superb. Until recently the gramophone has hardly revealed the mammoth genius of Egon Petri, but hjs latest records show very conclusively that he and Simon Barer at the present time_ easily outdistance tho rest of the pianistic fraternity. 1 mentioned, not long ago, Barer’s marvellous recording of the ‘ Study for Left Hand Alone,’ by Blumenfeld, which, with Glazounov’s ‘Etude in C Major’ on the reverse side, has caused a sensation lately in gramophone history. Barer’s records are a faithful reproduction of his actual playing, and make the listener long to hear him in person, as I have done. **■ * * Petri’s new records, although a vast | improvement on his earlier ones, still do not quite convey the fact that of all living pianists he is the supreme ace. There may be little to choose between him and Barer as regards miraculous technique, but Petri has more intellect and profundity, more musicianship, if I am allowed to differentiate where such colossal artists are concerned. Readers may recall that during my visit to England last year I mentioned, my efforts to bring about a tour of this country by Egon Petri. All sorts of difficulties stood in the_ way, however, not the least of them being .his list of engagements already booked for a long time ahead. My interest in this matter has been suddenly revived by a letter just received from the great virtuoso. Writing from his estate at Zakopane, PoHaving returned to Poland after a long and strenuous season abroad, I have time at last to answer all my accumulated arrears of correspondence, so I you will forgive the delay in replying to your letter. . there are several reasons which stand at ,i way of my touring Australia and u ea l al 'd T n the near future. One or the most important arises out of the enormous success of my last Russian tour. On the principle that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush—meaning in this particular case the Australian bush—you cannot blame me for making the most of opportunities within rny grasp, and so I have decided to accept what is pressingly offered in the shape of further Russian engagements.” * * * * u t* continues Mr Petri, was engaged to give 10 recitals in the soviet Union, but owing to my extraordinary success, I was obliged ultimately to add another 16, making -6 concerts altogether in the space of six weeks. During this period of 42 days 1_ travelled thousands of miles, e l e ?i ® oln S as f ar as the Caucasus. Some of the concert halls held nearly 3,000 persons, and every hall was hooked out completely several weeks iu advance. Consequently, you cannot bo surprised that I was induced to sign another contract to give 20 recitals in Russia during April and May of next year. I have also been asked to hold a series : °* i c in Moscow, Leningrad, and hs Ie *r. It is excellent business for 1 an artist, the only drawback being that < * or kiclden to take any money out < or the country. (But that matters little, ] because accommodation in Russia is : niagmneent, and wonderful holidays 1 may bo spent in the Caucasus, whero 1 i there are beautiful modern hotels.”. ;

Mr Egon Petri concludes his letter with a list of his forthcoming engagements, which includes, besides the Russian tour above mentioned, busy seasons in Poland, Germany, Switzerland, England, and America. It will be seen, therefore, how strenuous is tho life of the concert virtuoso, and bow necessary it is for the travelling artist to be equipped with perfect health and unlimited (powers of physical endurance, the lack of which is a fatal barrier to success, no matter how bright the flame of natural genius, * * * * Both Egou Petri and Simon Barer are giants iu physique and stamina; the harder they work, the better they play, and the more they seem to enjoy themselves. At the recitals given by both artists while 1 was in London the encores demanded by insatiable audiences, and generously conceded, outnumbered the actual items on the printed programmes. In other words, the concerts were practically doubled, the volume of encores constituting a second recital, which, in each case, was terminated only by the lateness of the hour and the compulsory extinguishing of the hall lights before the audiences would disperse. But the point I wish mainly to emphasise is that, notwithstanding the arduous nature of these three-hour programmes, the performers appeared to gain strength as they proceeded, Petri, in particular, seeming as fresh ’ at the end as when he began—still fresher, in fact, for his final encore number was the tremendous ‘ Don Juan Fantaisie,’ by Liszt.

So it amounts, after all, to this very obvious conclusion, that the attainment of one’s, ambition in music, so far as it includes public performance, is entirely a matter of physical fitness. Some performers . have the gift of nervous energy which tor a time may serve their purpose, but in the long run it is tho bodily condition that counts. With tho front-rank executants this is supplemented by a power of mental concentration that reduces to a minimum the number of_ hours spent in actual keyboard practice. Petri told me ho rarely practised more than three hours a day, and even this allowance must be considerably lessened in the course of a busy tour, when the greater part of each day is . occupied in travelling, Anyone meeting Egon Petri for the first time would take him to be a professional golfer, or perhaps a farmer —at any rate, a man who spends much time in the open air. _ Nothing more remote from the ansemic musician of the average novelist’s fancy can be imagined than this splendid, sturdy specimen of healthy manhood, and his playing reflects his appearance.

I am still _ hoping that we in this far-away region will _bo favoured by visits from Egon Petri or Simon Barer, perhaps both, within the next two years. Until this happens we shall not have he.ard the “ne plus ultra ” iu pianoforte playing—no matter who else may come meanwhile.