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VOLUME 43.Ifl CRITICISE CASALS’ WORK WOULD BE AN IMPERTINENCEkvk.v comment APPKARA HI--j PKRFLUOVH, says writerName of 'Cellist Must be Added to I Ust of Famous Artists Who Have1 Appeared HereThe fourth Artist Recital of the semester was given in Finney chapel, Tuesday evening by Mr. Pablo Casals, ’cellist; Mr. W. K. Brecken-rldge, accompanist. The following was the program:Sonata in G major................HaendelConcerto in A minor, op. 33.............................................. Saint-SaensAdagio and Allegro from Sonata inA minor ....................L. BoccheriniElegie ............................................Sicilienne ........................................Papillon ..............................G. FaureAria ............................................BachLe t’ygne ........................................ iAllegro appassionata Saint-Saens j,Tarantelle ..............................Popper jMinuet ....................................Haydn j,When, in the opinion of those j, most competent to judge, an artist | s stands supreme in his line of work, j comment upon it appears superflu- j, ous, criticism would be an imperti-1 ( nence. To speak in superlatives is j always futile, yet there seems no j other possibility if anything is to be j saiU concerning tue pmjii.g, of Mr.Casals. He is indeed, if it be permit- e ted to use once more a phrase so r hackneyed, a ’cello player “by the j grace of God,” by which perhaps is i e to be understood that to the gifts j j which make the finished artist—per- j t feet technique, exquisite taste, firm j t intellectual grasp—there is added i c that subtle element, indefinable but|a unmistakable, lifting his perform- ^ ance out of the class which it has been usual to consider adequate and i satisfying, and stamping it as a thing r unique and apart. Oberlin is fortu- nate in having among its most cher-| t ished memories the appearances | p hero of a few such great artists, and j d the quality in their work which made j f it supreme—the singing of Frau s Joachim, the playing of Guilmant i I and Ysaye, the conducting of Anton! o Seidl. To these famous names must | fi now be added that of Pablo Casals. I s In attempting to record something | a of the impression made by his play- j V ing, one thinks first of its astounding j if virtuosity—naturally enough, per-1 k baps, so well-nigh superhuman it s' seemed. He is indeed a magician b who could make of a piece like the. v Faure “Papillon,” a piece almost im- e hossiblydifficult technically, the -Ihtest, airiest of bagatelles! But ful art could utter, there, one felt, equalled, miraculous even, as such was to be found the real greatness of nnnand of the technique of his in- j the musician, who in the presence of ’ument seemed, one realizes that, | masterpieces had but the one thought ter all, it was the lefty spirit of the —that they be rendered worthily andnobly; that they give once more, to those ready to receive it, their message of truth and beauty.It is a pleasure to add, what indeed is a matter of simple justice, that no small part of the success of this fine concert must be ascribed to Mr. Breckenridge. Such masterly accompanying as his is itself a rare and beautiful art, and without it, even Mr. Casals’ superb playing must have lost much of its consummate effect.Charles K. Barry.usician behind it which, in the aying of Mr. Casals, as in that of 1 artists who may justly be called eat, commanded one’s highest adoration, and, it is perhaps not too uch to say, profound reverence, hen an artist could interpret the and classic simplicity of Bach and aendel, the quaint charm and dain-grace of Boccherini and Haydn, e thrill of passionate modernity in Jut Saens and Faure, so admirably at each in turn seemed the last “rd of perfection which his beauti-
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Oberlin Review
Oberlin, Ohio, US
Fri, Dec 03, 1915
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