Concert Conditions in America

"One of the great difficulties, however, in concert touring in America is the matter of enormous distances. I often think that American audiences rarely hear great pianists at their best. Considering the large amounts of money involved in a successful American tour and the business enterprise which must be extremely forceful to make such a tour possible, it is not to be wondered that enormous journeys must be made in ridiculously short time. No one can imagine what this means to even a man of my build." (Reisenauer is a wonderfully strong and powerful man.) "I have been obliged to play in one Western city one night and in an Eastern city the following night. Hundreds of miles lay between them. In the latter city I was obliged to go directly from the railroad depot to the stage of the concert hall, hungry, tired, travel worn and without practice opportunities. How can a man be at his best under such conditions?—yet certain conditions make these things unavoidable in America, and the pianist must suffer occasional criticism for not playing uniformly well. In Europe such conditions do not exist owing to the closely populated districts. I am glad to have the opportunity to make this statement, as no doubt a very great many Americans fail to realize under what distressing conditions an artist is often obliged to play in America."

Questions in Style, Interpretation, Expression
and Technic of Pianoforte Playing

SERIES XV

alfred reisenauer

1.What should be the first step in the musical education of the child?
2.Why was Köhler so successful as a teacher?
3.Did Liszt follow a method in teaching or was his work eclectic?
4.Give Liszt's conception of how Chopin developed one of his Valses.
5.Have the possibilities of the art of musical composition been exhausted?
6.Are other great schools of pianoforte playing likely to arise?
7.What was Reisenauer's opinion of the works of MacDowell?
8.What may be said of musical taste in America when Reisenauer was touring this country.
9.What may be said of the status of American musical education?
10.What great difficulties do the virtuosos visiting America encounter?