AMUSEMENTS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 74, 6 July 1910, Page 8

AMUSEMENTS.

MADAME CARREXO. A piano is a thing of wood, wire and ivory—and it is dead, although beautiful in its inanimation. Teresa Carreno last night, in the Theatre Royal, caressed a very beautiful piano, >vnd made it sing through the souls of masters of music to many people. Perhaps many of the people had never before heard a piano roused to such splendid life, and they were glad indeed tu be appealed to so superbly. la the mechanics of piano playing Madame Carreno is one of the world's greatest exponents. In !her verve, dash and vivacity she has no superior, even among the male giants of the keyboard. Her method is her own. Whatever schools oi expression she may have favored, she, now at the height of her triumphal art, is individual, matchless in many phases, and complete in her mastery. Masters of music disdain commonplaces, and in uncommon themes it is necessary, in their unfolding, that the exponent should be in tune with the thoughts conveyed by the genius of the writers. The traditional pin could have been heard to fall, as Madame, gowned superbly, sat at the keyboard and expressed magnificently the Beethoven Sonata (op. 57). "Appasionata" is particularly useful as showing Beethoven in his tenderest mood, and the musical story was so flawlessly told that the people hardly breathed until Madame wrote "finis" with her masterful fingers. Madame Carreno is perhaps the finest exponent of Chopin's genius New Zealand 'has heard. In the selection of the four numbers Madame played she was possibly guided by the lact that Chopin could be found in all his many moods, the gloom, the gaiety and the crashing symphonies that so irequently distinguish his method. Beginning with the famous nocturne (op. 15), given with the greatest finish and perfection, the player proceeded to one of the marvellous studies in G flat, wherein the mastership of the composer and the genius of the -instrumentalist., were in wonderful harmony. The brisk and beautiful ballade in A flat, in remarkable contrast to the preceding number, was given with a wealth of expression, and in the waltz in A flat, from Op. 42, the extraordinary facility which Madame has acquired, helped with her understanding of the "theme, brought thunders of applause. The audience demonstrated its admiration by cheering the player to the echo. When she again appeared in response to glad clamour, the dainty trifles she gave went home to the hearts, or all. In the second of Chopin's numbers, the appeal was so direct that the audience was not satisfied until Madame had again played it. In the second half of the programme Madame Carreno showed the people what Schumann meant by his "Des Abends." The almost devotional attitude of the player, when she expresses the emotions of Schumann, are at once understood and appreciated. There is, one might think, a living sympathy between composer, player, audience and instrument. Schumann's "Why?" and "In the Night" followed naturally and superbly. Madame feels the satisfaction of the great artist when she so expressively concludes a number. Her attitude of mind, expressed in her actions, is the attitude of a great painter who has produced a masterpiece, and the magnetism of the woman is such that it makes an audience instinct with her devotion for her art. One has heard the PaganiniLiszt Campanella many times, perhaps, but unless one .has heard, we will say, Paderewski or Carreno interpret it, one has not understood its beauties. Madame's extraordinary animation and superb fingering are in this illustrated in their .most complete • form. Madame Carreno favors Liszt, if her mastery of his music is a guide. The concluding number, "Rhapsodie Hongroise, v was a,n absolute triumph. Madame played it with supreme abandon. She gave rein to her enthusiasm, and exhibited her art so wonderfully that the audience shared her gladness, heard the tramp of the armies with her, and sorrowed when the people of the music story _ sobbed. Madame crashed out her splendid finish to the accompaniment of glad handclappings and appreciative cheers. So she might have charmed thousands in the world's greatest halls, but it is her mission to speak with her piano to the people of the world, and she is heie. To-morrow the town will know Madame Carreno no more, but those who heard her piano will remember her as a friend who has poured out for them the wealth of her art.