Page:Notes of a Pianist.djvu/71

Rh first. The audience again cry encore with all their power; they demand two pieces for one. Gottschalk plays a third for them. I shall not attempt to describe a talent so original, poetic, and marvellous. After Gottschalk il faut tirer l'échelle. 3em

Yes, Gottschalk was last Tuesday admirable, marvellous, immense. Since the silence of Liszt, I do not know a more worthy name than his to be triumphantly carried into the world of art. I pity those who were not present at this memorable soirée; to them one does not know how to give an idea of the unsurpassed talent of Gottschalk. Talent! I ought to say genius; for the young pianist brings into the world so encumbered with pianist composers a new form and ideas of which no one can contest the paternity with him. Gottschalk played eight pieces; five were encored in the midst of applause, which burst out after each phrase or each variation, with an electrifying effect.

Gottschalk is now upon a throne; to overthrow him would require more than a revolution to take place in the piano and among pianists. 3em

Above all, it is the sentiment which seizes me, and carries me along with it in the wonderful execution of Mr. Gottschalk. The most intelligent and most inspired orchestra in the world (even if it was the Conservatoire's) could not interpret the rentrée of the 'Concerto' of Weber better than Gottschalk did. It would be equally difficult to render the great piece of Beethoven with more warmth and force than he. 3em

The following is by Theophile Gautier, the celebrated French critic:—

An originality, marked by good taste and a little eccentricity, devoid of charlatanism, have always appeared to us the two chief qualities in an artist of true talent; we have likewise submitted ourselves unreservedly to a sentiment of sympathy and of admiration for Mr. Gottschalk from the first time that we had the pleasure of hearing him. Among our popular pianists to-day there are but few who have known how to create for themselves an incontestable individuality. Liszt, Prudent, and Thalberg are the points of comparison ordinarily chosen by the public when it desires to measure the value of their imitators or of their followers without knowing it.

It is, then, more difficult than one might think to depart from the beaten track, and to have his own tent placed alongside those of the masters. If Mr. Gottschalk has been able, although still young, to acquire this individuality which escapes so many others, it is perhaps owing to the fact that, after having formed his talent by solid studies, he has left it to wander carelessly in the fragrant savannas of his country, from which he has brought back to us the colours and perfumes. What pleases us in