The Triumph of Paderewski

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 78, 23 June 1927, Page 14

The Triumph of Paderewski

HIS NEW ZEALAND TOUR AUCKLAND NEXT WEEK To describe Paderewski’s tour of New Zealand as the triumphal progress of a master musician and a noteworthy man would be no exaggeration, for he has been acclaimed by thousands of people as the greatest living pianist in the world to-day. Musicians, students and that section of the general public which makes no pretension to musical knowledge but finds real enjoyment in listening to the wonderful playing of Paderewski, have demonstrated with equal fervour their great pleasure at the delightful and varied feast of music provided by this great man who is now in our midst. Civic welcomes would have been extended to Paderewski, deputations of representative men from the world of music would have attended to do him honour, he would have been publicly lauded, had he so desired, but with his innate modesty he shrank from the glare of publicity, and sought to express his thanks to the thousands of well-wishers by practising assiduously so that he could give of his best. “I will speak to them from my heart,” he said, “but it will be by the medium of music.” Paderewski’s recitals in Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin were veritable triumphs, and while thousands listened to his wonderful playing, hundreds unable to gain admission lingered and listened to the fragments of his beautiful music. At Wellington on Saturday, June 25, Paderewski will give a farewell recital, and to mark his appreciation of the splendid work done by the New Zealanders during the Great War, he has signified his intention of donating the proceeds of the recital for the immediate relief of necessitous cases of returned soldiers. The final recitals will be given at Auckland on June 29, July 2 and 4. Paderewski’s tour of New Zealand is being made under the aegis of Messrs. J. and N. Tait, who have introduced so many musical celebrities to New Zealand. Writing of Paderewski’s opening recital at Christchurch, the Christchurch “Sun” describes the famous Polish pianist’s playing as follows: —“Exquisitely delicate, almost ethereal at times, were the effects he achieved in the lighter passages in his numbers, but when vigour was called for lie thundered forth, crashing chords in a manner which literally electrified his auditors. One would like to write at length on the various outstanding features of his wizardry—his phenomenal technique, his marvellous gift of interpretation, revealing to his hearers beauties before hidden, and afiove all his beautiful tone —but even a Paderewski has to bow to the limitations of newspaper space. One special feature of his art, however, must be mentioned —his marvellous use of the pedals. It has been claimed that no other pianist, except perhaps Chopin, has understood the art of pedalling as Paderewski understands it. In this respect he is epoch-making. Nothing like his pedal effects has ever been heard in Christchurch before —he produces tone-colours never before dreamed of in a pianoforte. By rapid successive pressure of the pedal he succeeds in giving his instruments a new power, that of changing the quality of a note after it has been struck, enabling him to enrich his playing of a chord or arpeggio with magic tone-colours and mystic sounds that seem to float into the hall from some invisible orchestra.