He Played With A Maharajah’s Orchestra

New Zealand Listener, Volume 1, Issue 3, 14 July 1939, Page 33

He Played With A Maharajah’s Orchestra

Clifford Huntsman visiting English pianist

HERE are some things in life which, when all else is forgotten, we remember. Clifford Huntsman, visiting English pianist, will probably never forget a certain occasion when he played under circumstances unusual for a white man. This was when, during a visit to Mysore, he played with the private orchestra of the state’s fabulously rich ruler, the Maharajah. Perhaps still more unusual was the fact that the concerto was Schumann’s, ‘It seems hard to imagine an orchestra ‘composed solely of Indians (except for their German conductor), playing the delicate, romantic themes of a composer who belongs pre eminently to the romance period. The performance actually went well, Mr. Huntsman told a representative of The Listener, except that the Maharajah had the orchestra arranged in rows, so that some of the players were practically off the stage. And in some places the native musicians were inclined to follow their own conception of the tempo in‘stead of following the pianist. _ Mr. Huntsman has indeed had an interesting career. He is particularly fond of playing Debussy, and in Paris he knew the widow of that composer and studied under her. In the same city he met Poulenc. He also studied in Vienna. He arrived recently from Singapore after completing a tour of India and Malay. But he finds that New Zealand’s winter weather strikes particularly chill after one has lived in temperatures often over one hundred degrees. Mr. Huntsman tells of an amusing experience when he was playing to an audience of soldiers near Poona. During the first half of the programme he was trcubled by a persistent squeak which

came from the upright piano whenever he used the pedal. At half-time, deciding that the annoyance must be remedied, he asked some one to oil the offending pedal. When the front was taken off the piano a large rat jumped out! Mr. Huntsman believes that London is becoming the musical centre now. Berlin is no longer in the limelight, but in London there is a symphony concert almost every night. He mentioned particularly the growing popularity of Bach’s music At the Bach nights of the Promenade concerts, once patronised only by keen musicians and Bach enthusiasts, it is now difficult to get in, and the promenaders are so tightly packed that people very often faint in the crush. When he was in Quetta a subaltern remarked to him, "Dash it, give me Bach-he’s easiest to understand!" There are two ways of seeing a country. One method is to stay within the confines of conducted touring, and the other is to go out from the cities on one’s own account. Mr. Huntsman prefers the latter method. He is an enthusiastic traveller, and has visited India and Burma several times. In India he went into out-of-the-way villages near the fron- tier, and saw much of the real life of that enigmatic land. Although his stay in New Zealand will be short, and the weather is not of the best, he hopes to see a good deal of our scenery. "He leaves for the South Island in « few days, and will visit Christchurch and Dunedin. After that he will go to Aus tralia, where he will fulfil engagements with the Australian Broadcasting Com mission. Listeners will have an opportunity of hearing this fine pianist on Monday, July 17, when he will play the Beethoven Sonata in A flat.