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Musical Courier 1902-02-26: Vol 44 Iss 1144, 1902
58 lines. Read by computer on 22 September 2026. Printed page 32. See the scan on archive.org.
1SLIVINSKI.
3THE recent successes which have been won by Joseph Slivinski on his tour through New England rarely have been equaled by any pianist. Wherever he has played critics and audiences have at once capitulated, recognizing him as a masterful artist. This tour, which supplements the one Slivinski made earlier in the season, is proving an unqualified success in every way.
5There is so widespread a demand for this eminent Polish pianist that he has been offered enough engagements to keep him busy until far into the spring. In every city where he has given a recital a return engagement has been made.
7How great was the pianist's New England success the following press notices tell:
9Steinert Hall was fairly well filled on the occasion of the beginning of the new series of Slivinski recitals, in spite of the blizzard, and the audience was representative and evidently deeply interested.
11Mr. Slivinski is markedly characteristic in his interpretations; he has a great technic, of course, all the eminent newcomers have that; he has a fiery and impetuous style combined with some delicacy. There is not a trace of mawkish sentimentality in his playing, yet he avoids the phlegmatic vein which one or two of the competing piano virtuosi seem to affect.
13A very good test of the "juste milieu" of this artist's execution and interpretation was found in the performance of Mendelssohn's "Variations Sérieuses," one of the best sets of variations that the piano possesses.
15Slivinski steered skillfully between Scylla and Charybdis and gave a tender, yet a manly picture of melancholy. Occasionally he gave more force than was necessary—a Symphony Hall tone is out of place in Steinert Hall, where size of auditorium and acoustics favor the artist so greatly.
17The Schumann group of the program was given with great abandon, perhaps in too free a tempo, but "Traumesswirren" received a really brilliant performance, and the Chopin numbers were free from too much emotion, Slivinski making it apparent that he distinguishes between feminine and effeminate effects. Altogether, although handicapped by the horrible weather, the Slivinski recitals have started auspiciously, and the second recital, to be given in Steinert Hall Wednesday afternoon, February 26, will be awaited with interest.—Louis C. Elson, in the Boston Advertiser.
19It was a solace and a joy yesterday afternoon to escape from the heavy, wet, clinging snowfall and the persistent, persecuting wind into the calm depth of Steinert Hall and listen for a couple of hours to great music greatly played. At that time Mr. Slivinski made his re-entry upon the Boston concert stage, under interior conditions, which conducted to the finest possible result. The program was particularly well chosen, and the artist evidently felt moved to do his best, as being in an environment where nothing would be lost. He has never played better in Boston—indeed, we doubt if, upon the whole, he has done so well before. The spirit so moved him that he seemed impatient of any check or delay, and, while there was no suggestion of hurry, he passed on from one number to another almost as if he feared the inspirational impulse might leave him before the end had come, allowing himself only a moment's respite between the two parts of the program, and permitting no opportunity for applause to protract itself into a call for an interpolation.
21The program began in the classic things—Schubert's Impromptu, op. 90, No. 1; Mendelssohn's "Serious" Variations and Schumann's "Fantasiestücke." The first and second were given with dignity, fullness and almost severity, many of the variations having a force and character which were by no means unbecoming to them, even though they somewhat exceeded the limits of what a purist might mark out for a truly Mendelssohnian style. Several of the little fantasies are familiar, such as "Warum?," "Grillen" and "Abend," some of the others being usually passed by as less interesting; but Mr. Slivinski brought something worth the hearing out of every one of them and gave them new life and charm.
23The second part of the program began with four Chopin selections, of which none was a hackneyed or common one. First was the second Nocturne in op. 37.
25Then followed two Preludes, Nos. 6 and 8, from op. 28, delicately and fondly dwelt upon, and thereafter came by way of contrast, the Polonaise, op. 44. As Mr. Slivinski played it, one seemed to see, as in a phantasmagoria, just such a splendid ceremonial as Liszt says Chopin had in his mind and heart when he wrote his polonaises, embodying as they do the soul of national pride and pomp. In the opening pages one seemed to realize the brilliant assemblage gathering to sound of gun and trumpet; then came the dispersion of the group lightly as at their varying pleasure, through halls and galleries, and finally the grand resumption of the original movement for the ceremonial departure. It was magnificent playing, for it touched not only one's nerves, but his imagination and ideality.
27Lighted moods came next in the Berceuse and "Si oiseau j'étais" of Henselt, and in parts of the Rubinstein waltz, op. 14, No. 4, although that sometimes rushes to the opposite extreme of brilliant demonstrativeness. For the finale was set Liszt's "Spanish Rhapsody," the performance of which was a simply prodigious display of superb virtuosity, unblemished by any extravagance or excess. The applause that had been held in control all the afternoon broke out now ungovernably, and, after a couple of polite denials Mr. Slivinski yielded and played a Rubinstein Barcarolle.—Boston Herald.
29The playing of Slivinski yesterday stamped him as one of the great pianists of the world. Indeed, I doubt if any player now living could have so thrilled and excited an audience as did he with his masterly performance of Liszt's Spanish Rhapsody. And in other things, too, he was superb. But a word of caution should be said, for in his earlier pieces, admirably played as they were, there was a slight tendency toward hardness and an exaggeration of strenuousness.
31When Slivinski reached Chopin, however, there was a different story; two geniuses met, and the result was entrancing. The Nocturne was full of the rarest poetry, yet manly withal, and the two preludes suggestive and delightful. The rarely heard Polonaise, op. 44, went with massive impressiveness. The Henselt "If I Were a Bird" was most airily and beautifully done. As for the Rubinstein waltz, it was a fiery exhibition of passion, and then came the magnificent tour de force of which I spoke earlier. This was the Liszt "Spanish Rhapsody," somewhat unfamiliar and all the more enjoyable for that. It was given with tremendous fire, marvellous technical power and a poetic frenzy that burst every conventional bound. Such inspiring playing has rarely been heard in this city of great musical events. In response to the great enthusiasm aroused Mr. Slivinski played the familiar Rubinstein Barcarolle.—Wilder D. Quint, in the Boston Traveller.
33Josef Slivinski, the Polish pianist, won and deserved an ovation for his playing last evening in Horticultural Hall. The audience was large and enthusiastic.
35Mr. Slivinski is without a superior as a master of the difficulties which his instrument offers. His technic is wonderful, amazing. Nothing is impossible for him, nothing daunts him. He plays with absolute freedom and abandon and makes sport of the most serious and perplexing problems. This side of his work is naturally the first that appeals to the listener. If it were impossible to say more, we should still have said enough to explain one reason for the hold which this artist has upon the musical public. But in the truest sense of the word he is a musician. Combined with all his ability in execution is breadth of conception and depth of feeling and real appreciation of every possibility of his instrument as an interpreter of the mind and soul of man. He is brilliant, sympathetic, stirring, soothing in turn. He is a master of tonal coloring. His sense of rhythm is extraordinary. And one might run the gamut of excellencies, and Mr. Slivinski would rarely be found wanting.
37With the Schumann group came the first glimpse of the man himself. Here first he gave evidence of his versatility, of his delicacy of fingering, of his poetic sentimentality, of his keen sense of rhythm, in fine, of his abundant genius. All the numbers were well worth the hearing, and three, if possible, "Warum?," "Fabel" and "Traumesswirren," were exceptionally beautiful.
39With this introduction came what was probably the greatest exposition of Chopin which has been heard here in many days. He has been compared to De Pachmann, but wherein he is inferior to him it is hard to state. In the Nocturne, the Valse and the Polonaise, in particular, the artist stood revealed in his true light. He seemed to have caught the full intent of the composer, to be speaking for him, to be presenting his conceptions, and a wonderful and inspiring presentation it was. Magnificent power, without injudicious use of muscle, clarity of diction, intelligent phrasing, spirit and dash and fire, rippling, limpid beauty exemplified to a superlative degree.
41And then, after two delightful numbers of simpler style by Henselt, Mr. Slivinski brought the recital to a close in a blaze of pyrotechnics which fairly carried the house by storm. The rhythm of the Rubinstein Valse, its brilliancy, the tremendous octaves of the Liszt number and the almost insurmountable difficulties of both were handled with a master's power.
43Mr. Slivinski is a modest, unostentatious man, without the usual eccentricities of the average virtuoso. But having remembered that eccentricity is not merit, and mannerisms not art, one has no hesitation in saying that Josef Slivinski is worthy a niche in the great pianists' Hall of Fame.—The Worcester Gazette.
45Despite the storm there was a large audience in Infantry Hall last evening, when Mr. Slivinski appeared for the second time in this city. Mr. Slivinski's hearers last evening were sufficiently enthusiastic, and at the end of the program he was cheered again and again, and came back to play a Schubert-Liszt arrangement. Such work as his does not pall with repetition.
47The opinion of Mr. Slivinski's work already expressed in these columns does not need modifications. He has a brilliant technic, of course; that goes without saying; the modern pianist has mastered his instrument. In such work as the Chopin Polonaise and the Liszt Rhapsodie this feature of Mr. Slivinski's art is especially in evidence; here the force and elegance of his style are beyond question; and yet he never loses a certain measure of restraint, of reserved force, even in moments of the most absolute vehemence of expression. But his achievement does not stop short at mere virtuosity. He has a remarkable gift of sympathetic interpretation. This was shown very delightfully in the rendering of Schumann's "Fantasiestücke"—bits of sentiment that require first of all some poetic sensibility in the player. The same quality was obvious in the Schubert Impromptu and in the Chopin Nocturne and preludes. It is difficult to imagine a more exquisite rendering of the Polish composer's work than this by his countryman. It was Sienkiewicz who compared Chopin's compositions with the Polish country itself—vast, overpoweringly desolate and indescribably mournful. Mr. Slivinski developed this aspect of Chopin without dropping into the sensational or maudlin. But the recital throughout was so fine that to dwell upon details is unnecessary. Such evenings cannot come too often.—The Providence Journal.
49Piano recitals are so few and far between in this city that it is doubly fortunate that the few which we are privileged to hear are almost uniformly of the highest quality. To the list of admirable artists who have appeared here in recital must now be added Josef Slivinski, the Polish pianist, who last evening gave in High School Hall one of the choicest recitals of piano music heard here in recent years. The program was admirably selected both for the display of the pianist's fine qualities and for the enjoyment of a general audience.
51There was really nothing finer in the recital than the beautiful performance of the Schubert Impromptu in G minor, op. 90, No. 1. More than most composers Schubert calls for just those qualities which Mr. Slivinski most conspicuously possesses. If the music does not carry its hearers along spontaneously on the sparkling current of its song 'tis naught. Purity of style and the perfection of cantilene are simply indispensable. The very first bars sufficed to show the musician and the poet. The Mendelssohn "Variations Sérieuses" were no less perfectly done, but the work itself is not so interesting, despite its effective adaptation to the keyboard. It has something of that redundancy which was the weak point in Mendelssohn's work. To many the most enjoyable part of the evening was the admirable interpretation of those great little compositions of Schumann's, the "Phantasiestücke," op. 12, which are not so often heard in concert as they should be. "Aufschwung" and "Grillen," to be sure, are played everywhere, and are still put on recital programs to fill up, but the opus as a whole is not heard so often as many inferior works. Mr. Slivinski caught admirably the mood of each, the brooding melancholy of "Des Abends," the exultant uplift of "Aufschwung," the unending doubt of "Warum?" the fantastic caprice of "Grillen," the spectral phantasmagoria of "In der Nacht," the simple charm of "Fabel," the fluttering lightness and excitement of "Traumesswirren," the sharp contrast of mood in "Ende von lied," in which the group comes to a poetic and very Schumanesque close. His interpretation was very simple and unaffected, the only exaggeration being of the rubato at the beginning of "Aufschwung."
53Not less delightful was the Chopin group, comprising the G major Nocturne, op. 37, No. 2, with its loveliest of melodies (which Mr. Slivinski played at a good, full tempo, without languishing), two of the finest preludes, the B minor, op. 28, No. 6, and the eighth in the same opus, the waltz, op. 42, which he played with firm and elastic rhythm without distortions of any sort, and the great F minor Polonaise, op. 44, which was really the climax of the concert. Without overtaxing his instrument in the least, the pianist yet gave great concentration of power and emotion in the big passages, and the middle part was in exquisite contrast. Two charming smaller works were the Henselt Berceuse, op. 45, and the familiar etude of the same composer, "Si oiseau j'étais," which is one of Pachmann's favorites. The Rubinstein waltz, op. 14, No. 1, is a brilliant show-piece and little more, and the Liszt "Rhapsodie Espagnole" is by no means so interesting as some of the Hungarian rhapsodies, but these closing selections at least served to give a telling close to the program, and to show the unusual versatility of Mr. Slivinski's powers.—The Springfield Republican.
55Barron Berthald Did Not Sail.
57BARRON BERTHALD, the tenor, who was booked to sail for Europe on the Patricia last week, has altered his plans because of personal affairs, and will be heard in America at some of the May festivals. This will be welcome news to many who are anxious to again hear this gifted artist.
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