Anecdotes of Great Musicians/Anecdote 27
27.—RATHER A HARD OPPONENT TO CONQUER.
It is not always safe to deride one whose abilities seem to be less than our own. This lesson was painfully learned by a young violinist of Berlin at an evening party, to which he had been invited. He played several pieces, not with great applause, however. Afterwards another young man was invited to play, but his playing was worse than that of his predecessor; in fact his style and execution were wretched. So our young professor again came forward and showed his superior abilities in a very pretentious way, as if to utterly crush the strange musician. But when it again became the stranger's turn to play, his performance was given with such expression and brilliancy of execution as to utterly vanquish the young upstart, who disappeared and was seen no more that evening. He had been contending with Paganini.