Good Stories Well Told

New Zealand Listener, Volume 30, Issue 759, 5 February 1954, Page 10

Good Stories Well Told

ERHAPS because it carried the. interest beyond the con- | fines of the specialised musical world out into that of the good story, I found the resemblance between Gerald Moore and Edgar Lustgarten most enjoyable. In The Well Tempered Actompanist, heard from 3YC, Mr. Moore mimicked the peevishness of one of his correspondents with much the same talent as Edgar Lustgarten brought to his description of the various figures at the bar. True, in his first talk, Mr. Moore gave us a better understanding of the care his work as an accompanist required and its importance in the successful performance, but on the whole I think entertainment outstripped educational interest. In the running stream of anecdote there was scarcely time for a considered statement of just why Mr. Moore thought the "epidemic" of child prodigies was, from the aesthetic point of view, just a "stunt," nor, for that matter, did he reconcile this conviction to the fact that "My very dear-friend Solomon" was himself a child prodigy. But perhaps he left Solomon’s own stated belief in its dangerous aspects to argue for him on this score. Mind you, I am not complaining: nor will anyone who likes a good story well told.