FRIEDMAN’S FAREWELL

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 160, 27 September 1927, Page 14

FRIEDMAN’S FAREWELL

A CHOPIN RECITAL M. Ignaz Friedman, pausing in his voyage to America, gave a recital in the concert chamber last night. There are many people, and quite artistic people, who regard an evening of unbroken Chopin as the highest musical happiness, this is an attitude not possible for everyone: and some of last night's audience allowed their minds to wander, at moments, in the devising of ideal programmes. The best of Chopin is surely fine enough for any taste, yet perhaps a close season or two is needed, to restore his old strangeness of beauty. In the earlier numbers of this recital Friedman did not play with the perfect ease and certainty which were so much admired in his late season. He may have been a little indisposed, o.r troubled by our springtide’s rigour; and he must have suffered exquisite irritation from the misconduct of a pedal, which made farmyard noises at each most lyrical moment. Whatever the reason, there was not always the expected purity of tone and of outline. In compensation, however, he had gained impulsiveness and urgency of expression. The Friedman of two months ago was sometimes rather detached, rather inclined to apply his art from the outside; and Chopin, though he gives so many opportunities for technical finesse, requires often the sort of ecstatic sorrow or dangerous joy which leaves little room for thoughts of craftsmanship. The programme opened with three Preludes, the short C minor, the 33 flat (“Raindrop”)—the first done most impressively, the second with a telling simplicity—and the 13 minor, which was given a fine frenzy, with some roughness in places. The B major Nocturne (op. 9) and the Valse in C sharp minor were taken more quickly than is usual, the Valse losing thereby something of its poignancy. The great F minor Ballade was rather patchy, . with patches of splendid artistry— Friedman made us catch our breaths at that haunted pianissimo before the coda. And then came a truly magnificent performance of the B flat minor Sonata, as largely and dramatically handled as ono could desire; a little sensational, it may be, but blessedly free from sentimentality. There were many points of charm and distinction in the two Mazurkas, B minor and C sharp minor, and the Impromptu, F sharp minor. But more important were the two Etudes, A minor (No. 2 of the first set) and C. minor ("Revolutionary”). The first of these gave us perhaps the best pianism of the whole programme—a legitimate display of perfect skill; and the •’Revolutionary” was high tragedy. We descended from these to the Andante Spianato and Polonaise in E flat, an early work, the Andante rather thin, and most of the Polonaise merely “showy”—but superbly played. The programme finished with Friedman’s own little work, “File Danse,” and the delightful E minor Scherzo of Mendelssohn . . . and with a last grave bow, a last enigmatic and fleeting smile;.