Leo Bensemann
Aotearoa New Zealand, b.1912, d.1986
Mischa Levitzki
- 1931
- Ink
- Presented to the Gallery by Mary Bensemann, 1995
- 355 x 425mm
- 96/45
Tags: caricatures, men (male humans), monochrome, musical instruments, musicians, people (agents), pianists, pianos, portraits, profiles (figures)
Mischa Levitzki (1898 – 1941) was an American pianist. He toured New Zealand in 1921 and again in 1931. The Evening Post (24 April 1931, page 15) described him as "...one of the really few great pianists of the day."
Exhibition History
Related
Notes
Mischa Levitzki
Our exhibition Bad Hair Day includes a caricature by Leo Bensemann of the Ukrainian-American pianist Mischa Levitzki (1898-1941), who toured New Zealand in 1921 and again in 1931.
Reviews suggest he was a superlative technician and a poor communicator and his popular reputation has not really lasted. Vladimir Horovitz was scathing: 'Just fingers, and you cannot listen only to fingers. There is a difference between artist and artisan. Levitzki was an artisan.'
Listen below to his performance of his own Valse de Concert, opus 1, recorded 23 May 1924.