Books › Musical Courier 1927-10-27: Vol 95 Iss 17, 1927 › scan 12
Scan 12
Musical Courier 1927-10-27: Vol 95 Iss 17, 1927
73 lines. Read by computer on 29 September 2026, twice; the two readings disagreed in places. Printed page 13. See the scan on archive.org.
1CONCERT, CARNEGIE HALL, OCT. 19, 1927
3THE NEW YORK TELEGRAM
4At Last a Recital of Ponderable Import
5Mischa Weisbord in Carnegie Hall Demonstrates His Prowess as a Fiddler
6By PITTS SANBORN
7A autumnal vintage of amazing inconsequence—the sort of thing that we expect and excuse when April is melting into May and May is waxing toward June, but not at all the habit of our halls in the bracing month of October—has so far this season been a local concert rule of melancholy and waste. All the more striking, then, seemed the substantial merit of the violin recital given at Carnegie Hall last evening by Mischa Weisbord.
9When two or three seasons ago, this slender, poetic-looking young fiddler played for the first time in Carnegie Hall, there was no mistaking his talent. He has returned with the added poise and address of increasing maturity. His recital of yesterday gave pleasure to ears that oftentimes have feasted on the best violin playing that it has been the privilege of our generation to hear.
11Mr. Weisbord has a magnificent technical equipment and draws an extraordinarily long bow, which easily puts within his reach a style of imposing sweep and plenitude. Since his playing is marked likewise by discretion and good taste, his delivery is often a model of poised and far-flung elegance.
13A Smooth and Ample Tone
14(no line here) one of two readings
16He evoked from his fiddle on this occasion a tone of ample volume and, whether in lyric phrases of long flight or in rapid passage work, of exceptional smoothness. It was rather a cool tone, even as his playing in general was calm and collected, but if he failed markedly to excite the nerves and stir the pulses of his hearers he gave them almost unvarying aesthetic pleasure, and at times his performance mounted toward the enviable elevation of the "grand style." Only in the harmonics at the close of the second movement of Saint-Saens' B minor concerto did his delivery suffer the intrusion of a cloud, and that was doubtless due to unfavorable atmospheric conditions.
18EVENING JOURNAL
19Mischa Weisbord, Violinist Plays
20Mischa Weisbord, a young violinist just out of his 'teens, gave a concert last night at Carnegie Hall after some two years abroad. He played a programme of familiar items out of the fiddler's repertoire and showed considerable improvement over what he was able to do when he was heard here before. His technique is excellent, he gets a fine tone from his instrument and he possesses very respectable interpretative powers.
22THE EVENING WORLD
23REALM OF MUSIC
24By Richard L. Stokes
25STYLE—elegant, civilized, dispassionate—once more suffers its cool and well-bred voice to be heard amid the barbaric yawps of a mob of recitators. The possessor of this classic reticence is Mischa Weisbord, violinist, who, two years ago, was espied as an ascending talent and who after postgraduate labors in Europe, celebrated his homecoming at Carnegie Hall last night with a program purged of emotion.
27What with another would have been a signal for processional torchlights and parading drums was with this Hellenic spirit a cue for muted viols. Not for him the cannonades of Bruch or Tschaikowsky's passionate banners. Instead—Corelli's exquisite muse and the savoir-faire of Saint-Saens.
29A method thus Athenian demands strength as a foundation of grace. Strength there was—the deceptive swavity of an athlete's sinews—in the firm, muscular bow which tossed off such airy marvels of charm. No less than ethereal were many of the effects in the high register, and the keen, sharp sweetness of tone had an electric tingle of ozone in mountainous altitudes.
31The program began with Corelli's twenty-three variations on an ancient lay, probably Spanish, which was known as "La Folia." This sonata is the last of twelve in an opus which laid the foundations of violin literature. According to the primitive technique of the eighteenth century, the music never ventures beyond the third position. It cites not only counterpoint but the opulent double-stopping on thirds and sixths which was to enable harmony to displace the science of polyphony. The serene and innocent perfection of this masterpiece was ideally sympathetic to the violinist's temperament.
33An extraordinary talent for song—that is, the plastic moulding of phrases and their articulation into a symmetrical whole—distinguished the slow movement of Saint-Saens's Concerto in B Minor. The performance was almost a last word in Gallic harmonics—save that the damp air was not friendly to harmonics. Concluding the concert, which established Mr. Weisbord in the top rank of younger violinists, were Paganini's "Le Streghi," Wieniawski's "Souvenir de Moscow," Hubay's "Hullanzo Balaton," and Ernst's "Hungarian Melodies."
35NEW YORK AMERICAN
36At Carnegie Hall Mischa Weisbord, a young violinist who was heard in New York only once before, a season or two ago, presented himself in an evening recital at which he demonstrated decided ability musically and as a virtuoso.
38Weisbord has tone of fine quality, ample volume and convincing warmth. He showed a knowledge of style in the romantic works, of which his programme was made up preponderatingly. His technic, while not flawless, emphasized brilliant command of finger passages and more than usual agility with the bow.
40The audience responded quickenings to the Weisbord performances and applauded and encored the young artist in deserved fashion.
42NEW YORK EVENING POST
43Music
44Mischa Weisbord, Violinist
45THE rising tide of concertgoers did not fill all the nooks and corners of Carnegie Hall last night, but there was a goodly crowd on hand to hear the first concert this season of Mischa Weisbord, violinist. Those who did not hear Mr. Weisbord were the losers. He is a young man who is going far in his chosen field and his managers are not "ballyhooing" when they bill his as "a new genius."
47The player opened his program with Corelli's sonorous and sometimes almost solemn sonata, "La Folia," and brought out its somber beauty of tone with much feeling.
49The second number was the not often heard Concerto B Minor No. 3 by Saint-Saens. It is in three movements and the second part is especially beautiful with an almost cloying sweetness. Mr. Weisbord showed artistry as well as musicianship in the way he enhanced the haunting melodies.
51Then he reverted to type and went to Paganini, the grand master of violinists of his time, for the next number and played "Le Streghi." In this Paganini might have nearly exhausted his "bag of tricks," but he did not phase last night's artist in the least. The singing tones which are the despair of many violinists came clear and true and one did not have to shut the eyes to know a master was playing.
53NEW YORK TIMES
54MISCHA WEISBORD GIVES VIOLIN RECITAL
55Young Artist Pleases Carnegie Hall Audience—Saint-Saens Concerto Well Interpreted
56It was a true and sensitive performance of Saint-Saens's violin concerto in B Minor which Mischa Weisbord gave at Carnegie Hall last night. This young artist, only 20 years old, showed clearly that he has grown in depth and maturity since he made a brilliant debut eighteen months ago.
58He played the andantino movement of the concerto—made up largely of simple melodies—in a poignant and wistful manner, which a lesser musician could not possibly have expressed. Then, as if to give a reminder of his powers, he ended this movement with a display of faultless harmonies.
60The impression given by Mr. Weisbord was that of a modest, utterly sincere musician who is already far on the high road to achievement. There was a calmness and poise in the way he faced his audience which betrothed a steady temperament underneath—one which will not be swept away by early praise or success. His hearers seemed to see in Mr. Weisbord a future star of the first magnitude, for they applauded him warmly and recalled him for repeated encores.
62THE NEW YORK SUN
63Mischa Weisbord, a young Russian violinist, who made his local debut here in Carnegie Hall on February 23, 1926, and won enviable success for his attainments combined with brilliant promise for his future, appeared again last evening with a program in the same auditorium, following a successful tour in Europe. His general performance of his two principal numbers, the sonata and concerto, was consistent in displaying again his native gifts as set in an artistic symmetry of musical outlines, technically accurate, with rare refinement of taste. He passed through passages of difficulties with unerring surety of finger work, his intonation was certain and his style, if not always fully incisive, was generally commanding and finished. Mr. Weisbord drew from his violin a beautiful tone, one of the highest beauty indeed and the freedom of his bow lent charm and beauty to all he did. He gave musically readings and his hearers were not slow in showing him their appreciation of his work.
65WEISBORD
66A NEW GENIUS of the VIOLIN
67(no line here) one of two readings
69MANAGEMENT
70R. E. JOHNSTON
711451 Broadway, New York
72Knabe Piano Used
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.