Evening Star Newspaper, January 26, 1942, Page 30

Goodman’s ‘Swing’ Thrills Audience at Concert Here National Symphony Orchestra Plays Well But Clarinet Maestro Takes Honors; Miska Merson Gives Recital By ALICE EVERSMAN. ‘The National Symphony Orches- tra has never before had a rival on its own program and in spite of its good performance last evening it practically was forgotten when Benny Goodman and his band took | the stage at Constitution Hall for the | second half of the concert Of course the forgetting was done by the Goodman fans and it may be that the regular symphony patrons clung the more desperately to the sweet sounds they had just heard which were obiiterated when the swingsters got into their stride. The staid recesses of the D. A. R. hall, where art with a capital A has| flourished. resounded to music it has | seldom heard before and witnessed | & mounting excitement such as the | biographers of the three B's never brought to light when writing of | their successes. The very skilled muaiaiaes whiom . Goodman has assembled real- ized their opportunity and the i portance of it and gave their “all.” Body, and presumably soul, united in as wholehearted a performance as the most exacting devotee of swing could wish for and the audience was not backward in doing its part. Arms and bodies swaved to the rhythm, hands began to clap to the beat while cheers and thun- derous applause tore at the rafters as each favorite number was an- nounced. When Melvin Powell settled down to the piano and Cootie Williams took the middle of the stage to quiver his soul out with his trumpet and dance a few steps 60 that the rhythm would not be lnst and Peggy Lee sang her deep- voiced songs vou knew that these artists had a following that Heifetz might envy oodman's Playing Praised. Occasionally Mr. Goodman, re- #ponsible for all this glittering music, | took a few measures for his clarinet and played them deftly, but then Mr. Goodman had had his special ova- tion in that remote first part of the program where the National Sym- phony ruled supreme. It was an- other Goodman who plaved the Mozart “Clarinet Concerto” and as encore the Debussy “Rhapsody” for clarinet and orchestra, a sedate Goodman who handled his instru- ment in restrained, classic style A thought intrudes at this mo- ment. Do the classics minimize one’s personality and does swing bring it out? In Mr. Goodman’s case the answer to both questions is “Yes.” As a player of classics and of Debussy, his work was artistically conceived and presented in clean, flowing manner. But give him a bit of swing and he blooms and radiates and scintillates into the hero he is to his followers. | The National Symphony plaved exceptionally well. It may be sim- ply our imagination, but the influ- ence of Mr. Goodman and his band ¢ bit discernible in the he orchestra put into * for it had of a 1942 tinge than anything the 17th century approved of. Just to prove to the Goodmanites what a svmphony orchestra can produce in massed sound. Dr. Kindler pro- | grammed his interesting arrange- ment of excerpts from “Boris God- ounov” and the grchestra’s per- formance was one of those to which the minority of serious music lovers present clung. Everybody seemed to like it, however, and gave Dr. Kindler and the orchestra standing with him a real ovation This was a good moment to bridge the distance between the first and second half of the program and Dr. Kindler did it skillfully by playing the voodoo dance, “Batuque.” by the Brazilian composer, Fernandez, which was given its local premiere Wednesday night The program, the orchestra’s performance and Dr. Kindler's directing made a deep impression on the crowded hall and it was not only the symphony patrons who gave the resounding applause. The question now is, did the orchestra win over adherents MUSIC. Organ musical Chapel, Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints, Sixteenth street and Columbia road N.W. 8 o'clock tonight Phonograph concert, Jewish Com- munity Center, Sixteenth and Q rtreets N-W., 8:30 o'clock tonight Phonograph concert, central building. Public Library, Eighth and K streets N.W., 7:30 o'clock tonight Army Band concert, Army War College auditorium, 2 p.m. tomor- row. DINNERS. Producers Council, Mayflower Ho- tel, 6:30 o'clock tonight Buffet. Bov Scouts of America, Washington, National Capital area, Willard Hotel, 8 o’clock tonight MEETINGS. National Association of Sheet Metal Distributors, Willard Hotel, 10 am. tomorrow. | CONVENTION. General Federation of Women's Clubs, Mayvflower Hotel, closing to- day. BREAKFAST. Early Birds Breakfast Club, Wil- lard Hotel, 8 am. tomorrow. LUNCHEONS. Women's National Press Club, Willard Hotel, 1 pm. tomorrow Civitan Club, Mayflower Hotel, 12:30 pm. tomorrow Optimist Club, Mayflower Hotel, 12:30 p.m. tomorrow. Pi Kappa Alpha Alumni, Madril- Washington lon Restaurant, 12:30 p.m. tomorrow. | Delta Upsilon Club of Washing- ton, Mayfair Restaurant, 12:15 p.m. tomorrow. Uptown Washington Lions’ Club, ‘Broadmoor Hotel, 12:15 p.m. tomor- row. East Gate Lions’ Club, 839 Bla- densburg road N.W., 12:15 p.m. to- morrow. FOR MEN IN THE SERVICE. Basket ball, Central High School. ‘Thirteenth and Fairmont streets N.W., sponsored by Calvary Meth- odist Church, 8 o'clock tonight. FOR COLORED SERVICEMEN. Ping pong tournament, Y. M. C. | 1818 Twelfth street N.W., li eo'clock tonight., o its type of music from Mr. Good- | man’s fans or did it lose some of | its followers to the swing maestro and his musicians? Miska Merson in Recital. Miksa Merson began his series of piano recitals yesterday afternoon with a program featuring Haydn, Mozart and Schumann. The con- | cert was held at Phillips Galler where a small but warmly appreci- | ative audience gathered to welcome the artist in this charming hall where chamber music has taken precedence over solo recitals. ‘The most outstanding character- istics of Mr. Merson's playing are a vibrant tone, a lively temperament and a technical proficiency of bril- liant nature. In these character- istics, the progress of Mr. Merson's art is discernable, for he gives them greater freedom of expression than was formerly his custom. For that reason his reading of the Haydn “Sonata in E Flat” and Schumann's “Phantasie’ 'and “Toccata” had a particular aliveness and buoyancy | that nevertheless was never allowed to become obtrusive. As is almost inevitable, however, | when music releases the vitality of an artist, the feeling for color suf- fers. Mr. Merson, while adhering to the editor’s notations carefully, did not quite visualize the full extent to which he might go in realizing the effects he wished to attain. Both in nuance of tone and in vari- | ation of tempi, he limited himself to but a few changes, noticeable chiefly in the Adagio cantabile of the Haydn Sonata and in parts of the Schumann “Phantassie.”” Where res- | | onating volume and crisp, ringing passage work were needed, he had an individual quality that belongs to the grand school. 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