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13 Review of a Concert by M. R. The Times (London), December 5, 1921 H. C. C. We reached the Wigmore Hall on Saturday in time to catch Mr. Rosenthal maltreating Brahms’s Piano Sonata in F Minor [op. 5]. The sonata is an early work, badly written from the point of view of piano effect. Mr. Rosenthal does not make it more effective by playing fast and loose with the rhythm of the Scherzo and indulging in explosive sforzandos with additional notes packed into the chords to increase the percussion. Moreover, this treatment obscures the fact that, whether well written or ill, this sonata is a piece of very beautiful music. The “Rückblick” does not look back over a murky past, but dreams over the innocent aspirations of a romantic youth,but Mr.Rosenthal apparently can perceive nothing of these ¤ner aspects of Brahms.Similarly,he could make nothing of the little Intermezzo in A ®at (from op. 76), though the Capriccio in B Minor gave him an opportunity for the display of his wonderful staccato touch, which he took to the full. A selection from the Paganini Variations, taken without regard to sequence from the two books, showed off many other sides of the pianist ’s accomplishment and further illustrated his supreme disregard of the composer’s intentions. ...

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