FAMOUS PIANIST'S EXPERIENCES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 318, 6 July 1912, Page 1 (Supplement)

FAMOUS PIANIST'S EXPERIENCES.

PADEREWSKI SAYS HE WAS INSULTED. 3 M. Paderewski, the world-renowned 3 pianist, has just cut short a tour in b South Africa, and on the eve of sailing ' for England lie roundly 'condemned the t people for their lack of interest in art. f He also accused them of openly insulting 1 him in the street and on board ship, , where, on one occasion, while playing the - piano softly, he was told to "stop that noise." £ t In an interview which he had with a - representative of the Cape Times, he 5 hit out with unrestrained vigor on. the - subject of his lour. "How'could Ibe t happy," he said, "in a country where ; there is no understanding of real art? l Happy! When I have been insulted? I can forgive many things, but I do de- - mand that some respect be shown to me. s I have never, anywhere, been subjected ■ to insult before." 1 Then he related an experience which J he declare befel him in Port Elizabeth: "I don't mind telling you that in Port Elizabeth a group of men behaved in a ; most insulting manner. One of them ' came up to me in the street and took ( hold of me by the lapel of my coat. He t put his face close to mine, and he said: 'You're Paderewski, aren't you?' and he | and his friends laughed at me.'" | Even this personal insult pales before! another alleged to have been offered to i his piano playing. To a man who is , regarded as the world's finest pianist the following experience must have been galling, to say the least. Paderewski thus relates it:. "Coming dowji the coast from Durban on board the ship, both I and my secretary were subjected to even worse insult. I was playing very softly on the piano, and a man, whose name I will not men- , tion, came up to me and said. 'Here! you stop that noise,' most rudely. I ped playing at once, and then he went into the smoking room to his friends, and they roared with laughter when he told them that he had stopped that man playing. He was not content with insulting \ me, but he must also go up on deck, | where my secretary was painting, and throw biscuit crumbs all over the pic-1 ture. What a country! "The people of Sputh Africa," added the pianist, "do not really want art. They make plenty of money, but they don't know how to spend it," is his conclusion. "Look at Johannesburg. Think of the wealth there, and then look at the dirty state of its streets." \ CAUSTIC OPEN LETTER. During his tour M. Paderewski was the subject of an "open letter" in the Pretoria News. .In this his art was treated with scant courtesy. ' It follow- • ed the publication of the interview quoted above, and one of its passages ran: ' "You consider the manner in which you • were received amounted to an insult, j but, my dear, good Sir, who are you to I expect mayoral deputations, scarlet car- | pets, processions, and so forth? { "What have you done for the world? > What do you do ? You play the piano— j I am told that you play the piano better j than any living pianist: I am not pre- J pared to dispute that, but, after all,! what is there in playing the piano? "A pianola can do the same thing, and ' do it, so the maker claims, as well as' you can. But even if you are better i than a pianola, what is there to make a fuss about? "We had a man here the other day J who could not only play the piano, but] seventeen other instruments, including | the Jew's harp? "Nobody made a fuss about him. It cost only two shillings to hear him play all his instruments. He didn't want the Mayor to receive him, nor did he charge a guinea for his front seats." The open letter defends South Africa's artistic sense. "It is not fair to say that we have no appreciation of art You should have seen,, the crowd that assem- j bled to hear the 'Quaker Girl'; the bioscopes are crowded every Saturda.y." And it adds that "the man who makes two blades of grass grow where one grew before is a greater benefactor to humanity than you can ever be for all your playing of the piano." Nevertheless, in conclusion it wishes "good luck to you ■ and your piano." ' j