SERGEI RACHMANINOFF Wednesday Evening, January 28, 1942 • The F. & M. Schaefer Brewing Co., New York 2 <:: -' "-- THE BROOKLYN INSTITUTE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES COMPRISING THB BROOKLYN MUSBUM, THB BROOKLYN CHILDRBN S MUSBUM, THB BROOKLYN BOTANIC GARDBN, AND THB INSTITUTE AT THS ACADEMY OP MUSIC EDWARD C. BLuM, Chairman of the Board JAMBS G . M c DoNALD, President PSRMANSNT MEMBERSHIP, $2500 LIFB MBMBBRSHIP, $500 CONTRIBUTING MBMBBRSHIP1 $100 PBR YSAR SUSTAINING MEMBERSHIP, $25 PSR YBAR THE INSTITUTE AT THE ACADEMY OF MUSIC 30 LAPAYBTTII AVBNUB-BROOKLYN-STSRLING 3-6700 ADRIAN VAN SINDBRSN, Chairman, {jovernin§ Committee JuLIUS BLooM, .Associate Director ANNUAL MBMBSRSHIP, $10. MBMBBRSHIP PRIVILBGSS INCLUDB FREB ADMISSION TO MORB THAN TWO HUNDRBD EVBNTS: LECTURES, RECITALS, PRO­ GRAMS FOR YOUNG PBOPLB, MOTION PICTURBS, FIBLD TRIPS, BTC. MBMBBRSHIP MAY BB TAKBN OUT ANY 11MB DURING THB YBAR. THE BROOKLYN ACADEMY OF MUSIC 30 LAPAYBTTB AVBNUB-BROOKLYN-STBRLING 3-6700 WILLIAM T. 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Slade 4 SERGEI RACHMANINO FF Past and Present are Linked by a Great Musical Contemporary p AsT, present, and future, embodied in an Although political changes deprived him of artist contemporary to all three, come to the security, his gifted hands earned him a liveli­ Institute with Sergei Rachmaninoff on Wednes­ hood on the concert stage. His wide-spread day evening, January 28. His recital marks reputation in America stems from these fre­ the sixth program of the Institute's Major Con­ quent appearances in halls all over the country. cert Series. As a pianist, Rachmaninoff is un­ The individualistic style, unmistakably Rach­ surpassed. His career bridges two eras, sur­ maninoff, charmed an ever-widening circle of vives the cleavage of cultures, and unites much listeners. Painstaking with the details of his of the best of both. performances, four pianos go along when Rach­ The old Russia, where he was born in 1873, maninoff starts a lengthy tour. This does not nurtured abundant musical talent. The figures mean that all four are sent to every city. They of Tchaikovsky, Moussorgsky, and Rimsky­ are kept in different sections of the country so Korsakov dominated the world of his youth. that when the artist has to make a long jump Rachmaninoff was at home in that world. At between cities there will be no danger of his the age of thirteen, he caught the attention of being minus the right kind of piano when it is Tchaikovsky by making a piano arrangement of time for his concert to begin. "Manfred." So much was commendable in the Rachmaninoff finds it impossible to give re­ manuscript that Tchaikovsky became interested citals and to write music simultaneously His in the young Rachmaninoff and assisted in his composing routine consists of hard, unrelenting development. His early studies at the Moscow work, beginning at nine in the morning and Conservatory culminated in the composition of permitting no respite until after eleven at night. the opera "Aleko," which received the coveted Something concrete at hand, such as a poem or gold medal in 1892. Three fields of musical a picture, helps him concentrate. Rachmanin· endeavor beckoned Rachmaninoff at the outset off has a passion for revising his own com· of his career: composer, conductor, and pianist. positions and never seems completely satisfied The First Piano Concerto, published at that with them. I !e is occasionally amused when time, the symphonic poem "The Rock," and the newspaper critics chide him because he does now famous Prelude in C-sharp minor evidenced not play the C-sharp minor Prelude the way his musical fecundity. llis first attempts at it was written. "I have revised it since it was conducting met with success i he was only published," he explains. twenty-four when he was appointed conductor This constant striving for perfection ts re­ of the Moscow Private Opera. Later he con­ flected in his piano technique. The years have ducted in London, New York, Chicago, and brought a maturity of expression and a pro­ Boston. He especially enjoyed his appearances fundity of knowledge that finds new shades of with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and was meaning in the music he performs. The clarity gratiAed when that organization offered him of tone, brilliance of execution, and the techni­ a permanent engagement as conductor, succes­ cal perfection of his performances make his ap· sor to Max Fiedler. Rachmaninoff's preference pearances eagerly awaited. for the piano prevented his acceptance of this During the season of 1939-1940 he returned flattering proposal. He returned to Moscow to to the podium to conduct the Philadelphia Or­ concentrate on his work with that instrument. chestra in a program of his own compositions Shortly afterwards the Revolution of 1918 A recent wave of all-Rachmaninoff programs forced him out of Russia. His estates were con­ played by Rachmaninoff stamps him as pecu­ fiscated, and he and his family fled to the Um­ liarly articulate for our time. The values which ted States. They arrived in New York just as emerge from his music and the positive manner the Armistice was declared. This good omen of his expression are valid in the troubled pres­ began the association which has led to the iden­ ent, and foreshadow a very substantial influence tification of Rachmaninoff with this country. on the future 5 ''BESS'' TO SING WITH KIEPURA jan Kicpura Anne Brown 1N place of the recital by Tito Schipa and Rose in what she considered the proper lofty manner. Pauly, originally scheduled for Wednesday Thus she was not altogether a novice when, at evening, February 11, the Institute announces the age of five, she made an improvised debut the joint appearance of Jan Kiepura, the Polish at Camp Mead. "Bess'' brought her to the tenor, and Anne Brown, young American so­ concert stage and members of the Institute will prano, who is best known as the vivid Bess in recall her brief but delightful performance at Gershwin's folk opera, "Porgy and Bess." The the special program which marked the opening opera was first produced in 1935 and was later of the current season. Shortly afterwards, Leo­ performed with equal success all over the United pold Stokowski invited her to sing in Beethoven's States and Europe. It has recently been revived inth Symphony which he conducted with the in ew York, opening on January 22 with Anne BC Orchestra. Brown in her original role. The happy combi­ Mr. Kiepura's romantic personality and dra­ nation of talents of Mr. Kiepura and Miss Brown matic tenor voice have long been known to promises to be of unusual interest in their Insti­ American audiences through the cinema as well tute recital, seventh in the Major Concert Series. as in the concert hall and opera. I Ie forsook a Miss Brown is endowed with an exciting voice lucrative law practice in his native Poland to of exceptional power and depth. Critics hailed pursue a musical career. Handsome, compel­ her immediately with all the enthusiasm they ling, with a marked histrionic bent, he was a manifest for those other gifted members of her success in grand opera from the first. He made race, Marian Anderson and Paul Robeson. his New York debut at the Metropolitan in "La When she applied for the part of Bess, fresh Boheme," in 1938, after a triumphal career in from the Institute of Musical Art, Gershwin Europe. His most popular moving picture role selected her from a crowd of talented aspirants. was that of the hero of "My Heart Is Calling." He was so intrigued by her beauty, as well as In this he co-starred with Martha Eggerth, the by her dramatic and musical ability that he at charming Viennese singer, whom he later mar­ once expanded the role for her. I Ier success ried. When the war broke out Mr. Kiepura notwithstanding, Miss Brown has worked tire­ immediately enlisted in the Polish Army. I Ie lessly to prepare for the leading roles of heroic reluctantly accepted the government's decision opera, without neglecting, however, the well­ to demobilize him and did so only to fulfill his loved lieder and the popular folk songs. American engagements for the benefit of his She was born in Baltimore, where her father ravaged country. "Apparently," he said, "the was a doctor and her mother an amateur singer. government thought my singing would be more Fired by her mother's tales of grand opera, Miss effective than my shooting." And the govern­ Brown made up her own, spending hours before ment's action was justified by Mr. Kiepura's the cheval glass in idyllic posturings and singing successful tour. 6 FROM PAGANINI TO ERNEST BLOCH T ilL BRoOKLYN SYMPHONY coMeS UEI'OJu, the public in its fourth concert of the season on Wednesday evening, February 18. Gerald Warburg will again conduct. The earlier per­ formances have already proved the unqualified success of this latest of symphony orchestras. Gerald 1:ollowing its custom to present "something old, something new," the Orchestra includes on its Warburg program Paganini's Concerto for Violin in 0 major and Ernest Bloch's "America," an epic rhapsody in three parts.