Descent counts for much in matters artistic as well as in the breeding
of racehorses. "Tell me who the master is and I will describe for you
the pupil," cry some theorists who might be called extremists. How many
to-day know the name of Anton Rubinstein's master? Yet the pedagogue
Villoing laid the foundation of the great Russian pianist's musical
education, an education completed by the genial Franz Liszt. In the
case, however, of Rafael Joseffy he was a famous pupil of a famous
master. There are some critics who claim that Karl Tausig represents the
highest development of piano playing in this century of piano-playing
heroes. His musical temperament so finely fibred, his muscular system
like steel thrice tempered is duplicated in his pupil, who, at an age
when boys are gazing at the world across the threshold of Toy-land, was
an accredited artist, a virtuoso in knee-breeches!
Rafael Joseffy stands to-day for all that is exquisite and poetic in the
domain of the piano. His touch is original, his manipulation of the
mechanism of the instrument unapproachable, a virtuoso among virtuosi,
and the beauty of his tone, its velvety, aristocratic quality, so free
from any suspicion of harshness or brutality, gives him a unique
position in the music-loving world. There is magic in his attack, magic
and moonlight in his playing of a Chopin nocturne, and brilliancy--a
meteor-like brilliancy--in his performance of a Liszt concerto.
This rare combination of the virtuoso and the poet places Joseffy
outside the pale of popular "pianism." From Tausig he inherited his keen
and severe sense of rhythm; from his native country, Hungary, he
absorbed brilliancy and colour sense. When Joseffy was young he
delighted in the exhibition of his fabulous technic, but he has
mellowed, he has matured, and superimposed upon the brilliancies of his
ardent youth are the thoughtful interpretations of the intellectual
artist. He is a classical pianist par excellence, and his readings of
Bach, Beethoven, Schumann, and Brahms are authoritative and final. To
the sensitive finish he now unites a breadth of tone and feeling, and
you may gauge the catholicity of the man by his love for both Chopin and
Brahms.
There you have Joseffy, an interpreter of Brahms and Chopin! No need to
expatiate further on his versatility! His style has undergone during the
past five years a thorough purification. He has successfully combated
the temptation of excess in colour, of the too lusty exuberance in the
use of his material, of abuse of the purely decorative side of his art.
Touching the finer rim of the issues of his day Joseffy emulates the
French poet, Paul Verlaine, in his devotion to the nuance, to the shade
within shade that may be expressed on the keyboard of the piano. Yet
his play never lacks the robust ring, the virile accent. He is no mere
pianissimist, striving for effects of the miniaturist; rather in his
grasp of the musical content of a composition does he reveal his acuity
and fine spiritual temper.