THE REMENYI CONCERTS.

Inangahua Times, Volume X, Issue 1537, 20 April 1885, Page 2

THE REMENYI CONCERTS.

tUEATRE ROYAL.

In spite of the heavy rain last night a well tilled house welcomed the third appearauce of the distinguished Hungarian violinist at the Thoitr* Royal The ilWtb we see and Tie* of lhiri»

wonderful artiste the more are we convinced that his like has never booa t^fore an Auckland public Whether prying classical or popular mnsio, hohoids liis Audience spell bound in bit jjrip, and during a long twenty minutes' solo not a sound can be heard, his audience being mute and still, showing the wonderful hold the performer has over them. Last nig'tt's concei t was certainly one of the nost enjoyable »f the seuts, the house being well tilled, aud the audience evidently bent on a uight's thorough enjoyment. There is as much curiosity about the roan as his music. What manner of geunis is this itamenyi, who has thrilled vast audiences all over tW world for a generation, and who, with his fiddle as a field marshal's baton i» seeking other worlds to conquer ? An unpretending, rather undersized old

ttmii, modestly dressed in an artiste's velvet coat with loose sleeve* and bared wrist, round one of finch peeps j out a gold filagree bangl«. Bat the | face of the man ; that is the stndy. | Uomei yi is a Liszt or a Mozart, or ( some other oid master who has stopped I down into this mundane sphere fre» a | Ltmiliar engraving on c&uva*. Qfiie I common remark is that Remenyi hai ' au eclesiastical appearance, and it i« j dfficult to get rid of this impression 1 till lip takes his beloved violin to bis I osoiu. Th*n, as he bunds carreesingiy j over his instrument, a* a lover withthft ! queen r*f uis heart, and as one begins : to doubt whether it is the man that , made tin; violin aud not the violin that | made the man, the imaginary eceleti* I ia.-4tu-.il mask dr»»ps away, aud tho I of the inspired musician flashes | from every Hue of that remarkable | face. See his varying; expression as ! finge is and bow bring «ut the wonderful speaking tours of the muaio we all lore mo wtll but never thonght so ouicu of before. Now he is grave aud passionlos>3 as a judge, or again he is as stern as Bi at'is condemning his son ; now he nt^«s like an angry patriot hemmed in bv his country's foes ; and now he is j light and gay, even playful. To ondsr- ; stand Remeiiyi you mast ktrp en \ rapport with him throughout. Tba nidu tnnst be watched as well as the violin listened to ; aud then you will catch something of his sacred fire, and your homage at his triumph will be a i tribute intelligent as well as sincere. I Tue hearer must endeavour to concentrate and be as intense as the artist. Remenyi is not a man to be taken to pieces ; his rot a pwforif ance- — h is a poem. Take for instance the won deri'ul opening »lo of last night : it was the Andante and Finale of Mendels9ohu's great Concerto, and its execution was such as will be long re- • mem>>ered Hy all pt'(>sent The musical I symmetry and poetry embodied in I the aidunte were revealed in their full j beauty, and the effort of the solemn tonching strains could he traced plainly in the demeaaonr of the attdienor. I One would have thought thai notuing con id ot>Ht«*rate suddenly the effect of that touching first niOTemrnt " allegro molto appassionata, M aud yefc wh«a the artist rose for the fiifale the anrii«nce rose with him. The tempo now was marvellously quick carrying with it, as if l>y magic, the sympathy of th« listeners — it was a delicious wuh'l — and when the music ceased i: was felt that the best impressions of t'n's grand work had been revived. The second solo was his own transoriptien of Scotch melodies, *-bich has already bt;en fpoken of. Once more he watleri and sighed through the air cf "Aold Robin Gray," and then struck into % bi-iglit. tripping measure tbat tioally mtvodnced the stiring tnne "The Campbells aie Cumin.'" At some mom--ti a» army of bag pipt'i might ha»« k«n playii:g, with the n'onetooou droa* distin.guisable tjuough all, and Uien tb« SDiain died away ; only, however, to ewell up once more gradually from the dim distance - the tramp c-f marching men advancing nearer aud ueaivr, nntil at last they were close at hand again, and the martial ah in its fall volume stirred the audience to enthusiasm. The encore to this (it is ao accepted fact that every performance of this great virfroto shall be encord) was a magnificent rendering of La Marseillaise, played in that vigorous and thrilling style of which he has already giveu us a sawpte the previous evening, in bis '• LiWrty Hymn." The delight of bis audience which bad been euthnsiasticaliy shown tln-on^liout the concert, had now n* soon da. Hands, f**t, stidss, and voices, were combined to makA an uproar, Vhioh «»nly es«c»d wb*a th«» greßt Vtfstn had ra-appesred t-^ioe, to bow his a&nowiedgaittts. Of it RsuieuviV third solo As-

'• Horamage a Paganini," little need b9 said, save that in its elaborate variations, its hre*Uh of imagination, and its Pxtraordiuaiy triumphs of execution, it was a fitting tribute to that m-ister of violin technique > ip whose honour it wa* composad. ln« feat, of '.ow *>ri fi a^« inwme, p.a«Mffas of this > piece wMiH "•thin* short of amazing whilst the minner in with th* su-c-ssive th-meg ware j treated shoved the e.centv* f <n, : y of the plaver at Sm »'»•*. Mm* Hattie B. Downing ■*».« Wi:ia-ds,char.nui« ballad "W-titi-<" witl •»*** arid f«*ling, and in response t" a vociferous re-all «*av " O-vvn n?on th« S*unee (not Swaany) frver" in a mrHi-r which charmed her hearers. M Kadolf Himm<M\ wno wplic»v 19 Only jmi wowrin'T from a *evnre cold, ■?ang Ci-nivli^'s eve r ffvwn " Kathleen Mavoan^n," with nvn-h tut" and »xpresv-v>, His phvA^ins b^n? m^t n'pasin? iml co'Tfft, lit"**: 1 in t,h« «vpnin: U" ';i'e tw •» lr? 1" of " Wand--ti " and tl Hitd«nrf»sli»Jn.". H«re Mr ' Hiiu'ti**r's fo«t, vr\s om h!« uatir»> heath. a»i(l Uie a-^^"^ v ""- Ktowed on him amplv pvovffl that hp jnsti«" to thf contr)->«i*inn L;ick«tone s^ v '« " s a "Ni'jht wWi ; Ohopin," eont.ri | >'Jtitv4 no h»«s than three numbftrs by the great in*«K»r, eou*iatin^ as they did of his " N(So tarne in D W " Et-i<^ No. 21" and his beautiful " Polonaise in A ■ flat," all of vrh : -.-h t v --»» r»-i I—^ i' * manner vn^My of M.; TVielr^w-V. ; hi^h r"ptit\ti >•!. \« ■ )! >^ Hf is one of the m^V n li^iel -*- 1 h iv» 'n 1 in Ancklai'l, w'lilst as an acompani? 1 : he stands far awv vnv» ffvt'iin? w have yet heard. 0.-o^v «n''.i entitled '• On the BUi<; Paeiiie," composetl by Mr .Lnc k^» v\ was "i iv t« an enoore hy Mr Himmpr, and shows | that M. Rftravnyi'«« p ; mm ; f is ; » --> »- poswr of no m»vt order. To-'nsfht | i<! annonneeH a<< a KVJini fa"*hio«ia"le night, whesvM. Rf -ri"-iri wiU p<?'-f'.rm < Fantasia, o-i "T' K—.i**. '" "»v 1-$ -Ili-i". « "Rt«verif«" bv VifiXfni^-i. v-ils^ ! "Lentu" by ■ ' D-lih-M. a <'l liisnw- < transcription of rtv.i-Jei's '• Harmom'ous j Blacksmith." To all v-ii.:iiv«w I heard R«me:ivi we w>iM a'v *' (t > ' find hear him at once." — Auckland '■ Star. . '