PIANOFORTE RECITAL

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 203, 20 April 1932, Page 4

PIANOFORTE RECITAL

DELIGHTFUL AND YARIED PROGRAMME LARGE AUDIENCE ENTHRALLED Last evening in, St. John's Hall the visiting English pianist, Mr. Gordon Bryan, enthralled a large and appreciative audience with his remarkable and spirited pianoforte playing. His programme was varied to suit all tastes and it afforded the pianist ample opportunity of displaying his versatile talent at the piano. Especially in his more delicate selections was his true ability admirably expressed and his brilliant execution of the three Bach Choral preludes which headed the evening's programme were a special delight in themselves. Scarlettis two sonatas, which followed, suited Mr. Bryan's style of perfection with their clever staccato fingering, coupled with the light and airy melody of the pieces. A very popular item in the programme was the five preludes by Meyer, a Dutch composer. Each prelude eonsisted of a very realistic description of a certain animal and especially was the lively interpretation of the mouse enjoyed by the listeners. The pianist introduced composers of different centuries into his programme, but the more modern works he often prefaced hy brief descriptive comments which were greatly appreciated. In "The Hurdy-Gurdy Man" he showed the tendency of modern authors to introduce delicate and illusive humour into their compositions and the discorded element which pervaded the piece gave the listeners much amusement. The last section of his programme was occupied by more classical music and the five Chopin extracts were a great delight, each in marked contrast to the other. ; This section also contained "The Music Box," by Rebikoff. Full of tinkiing melody, it gave the unmis* takable effect of the well-known article itself. The evening concluded with a grand climax of two rhapsodies hy Dohnanyi. Each was executed perfectly by the pianist, bringing forth his ti'ue artistic talent to the full. Mr. Bryan complied with insistent recalls with a very skilful composition played entirely with the left hand, after which a musieal feast of unparalleled charm was brought to a close hy the singing of the National Anthem.