Presto
Issue: 1927 2154 - Page 4
PRESTO-TIMES
November 12, 1927
JOSEF LHEVINNE PLAYS LISZT'S CHICKERING
In Carnegie Hall, New York, on Sunday evening,
October 30, Josef Lhevinne, famous Russian pianist,
opened his 1928 season with a concert made up
largely of Chopin and Liszt compositions, closing by
playing the Liebestraum on the Chickering concert
grand piano which once belonged to the composer,
Franz Liszt.
In 1867 Liszt came into possession of the Chick-
ering which had been awarded the gold medal at the
Paris Exposition of that year. He took it with him
to Weimar where he placed it in his private studio
struments are accompanied in their tour of the coun-
try by a number of intensely interesting mementoes.
Among them is one of the letters, mentioning the
Chickering which was in Liszt's home at Weimar,
written by Edward Grieg, greatest of Scandina-
vian composers. The then young Grieg went to
Weimar to pay tribute to the master as was the wont
of renowned artists of that day. Liszt received the
young composer kindly and requested him to play.
In the letter this following passage is found:
"My courage dropped below zero when he asked
Sons, and one of the greatest tributes ever given a
pianoforte manufacture, is the one which contains
the now famous word, "perfectissimos" (superlatively
perfect), under date of December 26, 1867:
Messrs. Chickering:—
It is very agreeable to me to add my name to the
concert of praises of which your pianos are the ob
ject. To be just, I must declare them perfect, and
perfectissimos (superlatively perfect).
There is no quality which is foreign to them. Your
instruments possess in the supreme degree nobility
and power of tone, elasticity and security of the
This photograph, taken in the Royal Academy of Music at Budapest, shows the Chickering that won the first
prize and the acclaim of Europe at the Exposition Uni-veraelle, Paris, in 1867. It later became the property of
Franz Liszt and was used by him in his home at Weimar.
and used it continuously thereafter until his death,
when he willed it to the Hungarian nation. Some-
what later in his life when he was spending consid-
erable time in Rome, Liszt acquired a second Chick-
ering concert grand which at his death joined the
other as a permanent exhibit at the Royal Hungarian
Academy of Music in Budapest.
For some years past efforts have been made to
bring these two pianos to America, but it was not
until last summer that negotiations were completed.
They are in splendid condition and are to be played
in recital in some sixty or more cities of the United
States before being returned to Hungary. The in-
me to play the Sonata (it was Grieg's Sonata for the
piano and the violin). It had never occurred to me to
attempt the whole score on the pianoforte, and I was
ansxious, on the other hand, to avoid stumbling when
playing for him, but there was no help for it, so I
started on his splendid Chickering grand."
Now in the possession of the Royal Hungarian
"Franz Liszt" Academy of Music is another letter
in Liszt's own handwriting under date of 1881, to
a director of the ancient academy of which Liszt was
at one time president. The letter is reproduced here-
with .
Another letter of Liszt's, written to Chickering &
Photograph of a letter in Liszt's own handwriting-, as-
signing- one of his two Chickerings to the keeping of the
Royal Hungarian Academy of Music.
touch, harmony, brilliancy, solidity, charms and pres-
tige; and thus offer a harmonious ensemble of per
fections, to the exclusion of all defects.
Pianists of the least pretensions will find means
of drawing from them agreeable effects; and, in
face of such products—which truly do honor to the
art of the construction of instruments—the role of
the critic is as simple as that of the public; the on
Photograph from an old portrait of Franz Liszt, now
hanging in the Music Salon at Chickering Hall, New
York.
Josef Lhevinne trying out one of Liszt's Chickerings immediately after the arrival of these precious relics in
New York.
has but to applaud them conscientiously and with
entire satisfaction, and the other but to procure them
in the same manner.
In congratulating you sincerely upon the great and
decisive success obtained at the Exposition in Paris,
I am pleased to anticipate the happy continuation of
the same in all places where your pianos will be
heard; and I beg, gentlemn, that you accept the
Enhanced content © 2008-2009 and presented by MBSI - The Musical Box Society International (www.mbsi.org) and the International Arcade Museum (www.arcade-museum.com).
All Rights Reserved. Digitized from the archives of the MBSI with support from NAMM - The International Music Products Association (www.namm.org).
Additional enhancement, optimization, and distribution by the International Arcade Museum. An extensive collection of Presto can be found online at http://www.arcade-museum.com/library/
November 12, 1927
JOSEF LHEVINNE PLAYS LISZT'S CHICKERING
In Carnegie Hall, New York, on Sunday evening,
October 30, Josef Lhevinne, famous Russian pianist,
opened his 1928 season with a concert made up
largely of Chopin and Liszt compositions, closing by
playing the Liebestraum on the Chickering concert
grand piano which once belonged to the composer,
Franz Liszt.
In 1867 Liszt came into possession of the Chick-
ering which had been awarded the gold medal at the
Paris Exposition of that year. He took it with him
to Weimar where he placed it in his private studio
struments are accompanied in their tour of the coun-
try by a number of intensely interesting mementoes.
Among them is one of the letters, mentioning the
Chickering which was in Liszt's home at Weimar,
written by Edward Grieg, greatest of Scandina-
vian composers. The then young Grieg went to
Weimar to pay tribute to the master as was the wont
of renowned artists of that day. Liszt received the
young composer kindly and requested him to play.
In the letter this following passage is found:
"My courage dropped below zero when he asked
Sons, and one of the greatest tributes ever given a
pianoforte manufacture, is the one which contains
the now famous word, "perfectissimos" (superlatively
perfect), under date of December 26, 1867:
Messrs. Chickering:—
It is very agreeable to me to add my name to the
concert of praises of which your pianos are the ob
ject. To be just, I must declare them perfect, and
perfectissimos (superlatively perfect).
There is no quality which is foreign to them. Your
instruments possess in the supreme degree nobility
and power of tone, elasticity and security of the
This photograph, taken in the Royal Academy of Music at Budapest, shows the Chickering that won the first
prize and the acclaim of Europe at the Exposition Uni-veraelle, Paris, in 1867. It later became the property of
Franz Liszt and was used by him in his home at Weimar.
and used it continuously thereafter until his death,
when he willed it to the Hungarian nation. Some-
what later in his life when he was spending consid-
erable time in Rome, Liszt acquired a second Chick-
ering concert grand which at his death joined the
other as a permanent exhibit at the Royal Hungarian
Academy of Music in Budapest.
For some years past efforts have been made to
bring these two pianos to America, but it was not
until last summer that negotiations were completed.
They are in splendid condition and are to be played
in recital in some sixty or more cities of the United
States before being returned to Hungary. The in-
me to play the Sonata (it was Grieg's Sonata for the
piano and the violin). It had never occurred to me to
attempt the whole score on the pianoforte, and I was
ansxious, on the other hand, to avoid stumbling when
playing for him, but there was no help for it, so I
started on his splendid Chickering grand."
Now in the possession of the Royal Hungarian
"Franz Liszt" Academy of Music is another letter
in Liszt's own handwriting under date of 1881, to
a director of the ancient academy of which Liszt was
at one time president. The letter is reproduced here-
with .
Another letter of Liszt's, written to Chickering &
Photograph of a letter in Liszt's own handwriting-, as-
signing- one of his two Chickerings to the keeping of the
Royal Hungarian Academy of Music.
touch, harmony, brilliancy, solidity, charms and pres-
tige; and thus offer a harmonious ensemble of per
fections, to the exclusion of all defects.
Pianists of the least pretensions will find means
of drawing from them agreeable effects; and, in
face of such products—which truly do honor to the
art of the construction of instruments—the role of
the critic is as simple as that of the public; the on
Photograph from an old portrait of Franz Liszt, now
hanging in the Music Salon at Chickering Hall, New
York.
Josef Lhevinne trying out one of Liszt's Chickerings immediately after the arrival of these precious relics in
New York.
has but to applaud them conscientiously and with
entire satisfaction, and the other but to procure them
in the same manner.
In congratulating you sincerely upon the great and
decisive success obtained at the Exposition in Paris,
I am pleased to anticipate the happy continuation of
the same in all places where your pianos will be
heard; and I beg, gentlemn, that you accept the
Enhanced content © 2008-2009 and presented by MBSI - The Musical Box Society International (www.mbsi.org) and the International Arcade Museum (www.arcade-museum.com).
All Rights Reserved. Digitized from the archives of the MBSI with support from NAMM - The International Music Products Association (www.namm.org).
Additional enhancement, optimization, and distribution by the International Arcade Museum. An extensive collection of Presto can be found online at http://www.arcade-museum.com/library/
Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).