M. de Pachmann's Recital
ON Tuesday last
M. de Pachmann gave his second pianoforte
recital at St. James's Hall, which was attended by a large
audience. His program included ten selections, of which
six were compositions by Chopin. In place of the "Marche
Funèbre," which had been announced, one of Chopin's
Nocturnes was selected, and was excellently played, despite the
annoyance evidently inflicted on the performer by what has been
described as a "maddening obbligato," performed on a very
noisy muffin-bell. The "Ballade in G minor, op. 23," was
admirably performed. So also was the "Impromptu in A flat,
op. 29," but M. de Pachmann took it upon himself to improve
Chopin's work by interpolating several passages of his own invention,
and coolly told the audience that they must
excuse him for introducing some alterations "in such innocent
passages"! The "Étude," op. 10, No. 5, "Mazurka," op. 24,
No. 2, and the "Valse," op. 64, No. 1, were skillfully and
sympathetically played. Beethoven's "Sonata in C sharp
minor, op. 27," was not so satisfactorily played. Beethoven's
express directions that the first movement should be played
"Senza Sordini" (without using the soft pedal) was coolly
disregarded, and the soft pedal was freely used—or abused. If
we remember rightly, before M. de Pachmann made his lengthy
visit to America he was not in the habit of disregarding the
directions expressly given by great musicians, and the sooner he
resolves to respect them the better it will be for his reputation.
Mendelssohn's "Prelude and Fugue, op. 35, No. 5," and
Weber's "Rondo presto," from his Sonata, No. 3, were fairly
well played, and the same may be said of Schumann's "Carnaval,"
op. 9, with which the recital ended.