BENNO MOISEIWITSCH

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 378, 12 June 1928, Page 15

BENNO MOISEIWITSCH

TO VISIT AUCKLAND The isolation of New Zealand from the musical centres of the world is a brake on its musical development. Only those fortunate enough to travel have hitherto been able to revel in such music as will be brought right to us in New Zealand shortly, when Benno Moiseiwitsch, the Russian pianist, will give three grand concerts on June 19, 21 and 23. He is bringing all his famous talent to us in programmes that will be a revelation. Gramophone records will have prepared his admirers for these programmes, but it will be something unique in the annals of our musical history to be able to watch this briliant pianist at work while he fills the hall with glorious sound. Moiseiwitsch has no equal for keen intellect and poetic charm. His technique is admirable and unrivalled; no matter how difficult the composition, his crispness and clarity of style assist him in surmounting all intricacies; he has the touch of a lover of the instrument and of the composers. Moiseiwitsch, who is being conducted through New Zealand by Messrs. J. and N. Tait, has qualities that have placed him right in the forefront of the world’s greatest pianists. He is the friend of his audiences, who immediately fall under the spell of his magic fingers. He is at present delighting New Zealand music-lovers with programmes that reveal him in a new light. He is still the master of the classic; he is still the wizard with the romantic compositions, and he has introduced several new ideas into his recitals that should prove the same lure in New Zealand as in Australia. He has taken up the work of Chesine, an American composer, who has gone to the East for his theme. Chesine has written “Rush Hour in Hong-Kong,” and “Flirtations in a Chinese Garden,” and Moiseiwitsch invests them with a peculiar Oriental charm that his admirers will find irresistible. Traly he is a piano-poet. Box plans open at Lewis Eady, Ltd. on Friday, and there are special concessions to students.