OCR Text |
Show ___ TheSaltLakeTribune Lake ARTS— Sunday, Nov November 21, 1999 | | | | | | Sweet Abode Forthe ‘Mayor’ of Sugar House her bosom rested a locket con- taining a cigar stump. It was dis- carded in thestreet by Franz Liszt, Soeee a | The neighborhood around 1800 | oneof ranch-style homes, bunga- werebuilt shortly after World WarII. But the house at 1797 S. 1400 Eastdates from 1912, andit is large,so big it dominates the nearby homes. It stands upon a rise andissetoff by largetrees and broad lawns.Thatit hasalways seemed exceptionallylarge is confirmed by a panoramic view Jack Goodman A big housein a neighborhoodof smaller dwellings, the Nephi J. Hansen mansion at 1797 S. 1400 Eastin Salt Lake City was the residenceof the unofficial mayor of Sugar House. Hansen sawtoit that the neighborhood's streets were paved andtrolley-car tracks moved. Hansencame into prominence with a mercantile businessat ProgressHeights, seen in a photo- 3300 South and Highland Drive. This made enoughprofit for him to buy outthe failed Pacific Lum- graphtakenin 1915 or thereabouts from the clock tower of into the profitable Granite Lum- of what was once knownas Westminster College. Known then and nowas the Nephi Hansen house,the brick homeis easily spotted in the photograph byits high, hipped roof and the central dormer on the west-facing ber Co., which hetransformed ber Co. Then camethe Portable House Construction Co. and the Sugar Banking Co., of which he waspresident, plus involvement with the Granite Furniture Co. and HygeiaIce. (You mayrecall facade. thelatter becauseofits indoorice Designated as a “four-square” in architectural parlance, the skating rink on 2100 South.) Hewas progressive enough to take on an early automobile sales house, with its neoclassical details and commandofa smallhill, makes one wonder whothis Nephi Hansen gentlemancould havebeen, andhowherated such a showcase house. Pretty well forgotten now, Nephi Jenne Hansen was,in effect, the “mayor” of Sugar House. He wasgiventhat unofficial title because of his en deavors on behalf of the then-new neighborhood. Research shows him influential in getting local stré and bringing trolley i ved to Sugar House(andthen having the tracks movedfrom thebusinessdistrict). The onlycivic endeavorin whichheoriginally failed was getting the State Prison movedout of Sugar House. Ti.at move took 20 years, during whichhe served a termin the State Legislature. He had retired before Point-of-the-Mountain becamethe newprison site, but he lived to see Sugar HousePark on the roadto reality Bornin Salt La € City in 1868, business andhis HansenAuto- mobile Co. became thelargest Forddealership in the western United States. He helpedfoundthe Business- men’s League of Sugar House and the local Commercial Club and found timeto serve on the com munity Zoning Commission and the State Water Commission. He donatedthe landforthe local blic library, whichisstill in use, and pushed for construction of the tail Pioneer Monumentat the busiest intersection in Sugar House. One surmises he deserved a big house in the days whenSalt Lake City, with a populationof 92,000 (in 1910) was expanding to the South andEastoftheoriginal mapped“grid.” At that sametime, Glenn Both well and EdwardLair i (a wives) platted an 11-ac sion between 1400 and 1500 East in the 1700 South neighborhood They called theproject Progress Heights and encouraged Nephi Hansento build a “showcase,” ultra-modern house, which he did, for a reputed $8,000. The builder was a contractor,Elijah Thompson, but the architectis unknown. However, this being a time when interestin the English (andlater the America) Arts and Crafts movementwasatits height, the interior of the house wascrafted by a knowledge someone,with built-in cabinets, bookcases, tiled fireplaces, stained or colored glass window accents andthelike. Thewest-facing house stands upona foundationof rock-faced red sandstonelaid in ashlar courses. Thelevels above the high basementhave walls of fired redbrick laid in a popular “running bond” with flush mortar. joints. The windowlintels and sills are red sandstone. Brick- work of highquality includes the three brick chimneys, each of which has a triple belt courseat its top. The wide hip-roofed dor- ironrailing that extends around the porch deck. Up on the second story balcony, the railing is connected to four large balusters — leading one to wonder why the builder didn’t use Tuscan pillars up thereas well as on the lower porch.Asfor the door and win- dows onthe main floor, they are enhancedbyleadedglass transoms. Insidethe house, the leaded and colored gl: set a foot or so apart The main floorlevelis approachedbycurved concrete steps, guarded by sandstone- edgedrailings, the steps leading to a wider-than-average porch having a sandstonedeck. Springing fromthe porchare four stout Tuscan-style columns. Surprisingly, the columns are painted wood, not stone, but they are set on sandstonepiers matching the height of an ornamental ailable by contacting the Sun- gram is accepting applications for danceInstitute in Santa Monica, CA(301) 394-466 alt Lake Laboratory. City at (801) ¢ \ww.sundance.org. the 2000 Sundance Theatre Thelabwill takeplace July 5-23 at the SundanceVillage in Provo Canyon. Applications are Blacker, will provide eight projects with rehe: | space, artistic guidance, stage manage. and fiamboyant stage antics brought him fame and wealth, while his manywell-publicized love affairs (one with a countess, another with a princess) brought notoriety. In his long life he wrete more worksfor the piano than any other composer — so manythat until recently no pianist ever re- corded themall. Now, Australian pianist Leslie Howardhas. Howard's Liszt recordings, on the Hyperion label, fill 95 discs, arranged in 57 volumes. The project took 14 years to complete. Howard recorded 16,000 pages of music —- most of it fiendishlydifficult — for a total playing time of 117 hours. This week Utahns can a tulip pattern. There are box beamsontheceiling, and three of ing a recital here, and — no surprise — he’s playing Liszt. The “Goethe- Festmarsch,” the “Concert Para- the four square rooms opened to form a large “L” shaped room. No wonderthe neighbors nicknamed the house “the Sugar House Mansion” in the days when Nephi phraseof the Waltz from ‘Faust’ ” and a host of transcriptions, paraphrases and waltzes are on the “mayorof Sugar House.” In that oversized “L” shaped room, favoredresidents enjoyed dances and parties in the home, which prowess, and this gave him an Hansen wasnicknamed the also hada billiard After their childre: : program. Liszt tended to compose and play piano works designed to showoff his astonishing technicai early reputation as a musical lightweight more interested in showmanship thanart. He proved his detractors wrong. While riding thecrest of fame, he gave up his career as a keyboard wizard andsettled into life of com- merhasa trio of windowsandis sheathed in clapboards. The eaves are quite wide, with their supports being wooden brackets pianist extraordinaire and the prototype of the moderncelebrity. Liszt was a highly influentiat composer,2and perhaps the greatest piano virtuoso who has ever lived. His razzle-dazzle pianostyle hear a sample. Howardis frequently uses theater manager,had seven children. Later ow: included the Keslerfamily, the Gilberttsons, and the Chapmans. Nowit is ownedby Jule and Michelle Marine, who are rehabilitating the house while titude of Arts maintainingits mulandCrafts features. Onething is certain: theydon’t build ‘em like that anymore. Jack Goodman has been associated with The Salt LakeTribune asa staffwriter or{ writer for 53 years, posing works for mediums other than piano. He invented the symphonic tone poem, and his adventuresome treatment of tonality strongly influenced the future course of musical development. “Liszt composed an enormous amount of music, and the general level is very ,” said Howard, from his studio in London. “Many times whenpeople have had a bad impressionofLiszt's piano music, it's because it has been badly per- formed. It's commonfor musical delinquents to iake up his music to showoff. They remove the substance by their mannerofplaying, Sundance Accepting Applications for Theater Lab Next Summer The Sundance Theatre Pro. BY CELIA BAKER ‘THESALT LAKETRIBUNE In the mid-1800s, a lady of the German court at Weimar drew unfavorable attention because of an auraofstale cigar smoke emanating from her clothing. She reluctantly explained that next to South and 1400 Eastis primarily lows anda few duplexes. Most Utahns Will Taste aaSample Of Howard’s Amazing Liszt Repertoire on Friday but Liszt had the same serious- Sundancetheater-program director, “Sundancelooksfor original, 6. or at ment and accommodationsfor the compelling, humanstories that reflect the independent vision of The Sundance Theatre Lab, underartistic direction of Robert collaborative team working on each project According to Philip Himbert, for submissions is Dec. 15. Appli the theatre artist.” The deadline cants will be notified by April 10. nessof purposeas Beethoven. His music can be entertaining and humorous, but if you start from the wrong pointofview, you won't find the complexity. & Lisztomania Leslie Howard will per. form works of Franz (Ferenc) Liszt Friday at 8 pm. at St Mark’s Cathe- dral, 231 E. 100 South, Salt Lake City. Tickets are availabie at the door for $12. with serious and original music. During his lifetime people were jealous of him because he was so famous. There was no door in Eurepe through which he couldn’t go. He knew every king, every queen, every pope. He was the most photographed man of the 19th century.” Howard can’t explain how he became the world’s foremost chronicler of Liszt’s complete works. “You can never say you choseto doit,” he says. “1 was interested in Liszt from when I was quite young. For some reason heis still provoking controversy.” Asa precocious teen-age pianist, Howard started taking a serious look at Liszt's work andrealized no cne had done comprehensive recordings of his works. An idea began to form. He won a prize for hisfirst Liszt recording. His orig- inal plan to record 48 discs evolved into a monster project to- taling 95 CDs. Howard shares with Liszt's ability to remember music he hears and duplicateit at the piano. His manyvisits to Salt Lake City have included sing-along parties in local homes, where Howard presides at the piano surrounded by wanna-be singers. Gene Pack of KUERradio has attended a numberof these. “Leslie’s inemory of great songs is encyclopedic — both British and American. We have books oflyrics and wesingalong. It’s a wonderful experience.” Howard downplays his mental catalog of popuiar music. “T'm not very good on modern pop songs,” he says. “But the pop music up throughthe '50s I know very well. I’m just lucky thatI've got a memory that things stick to like Velcro. I wish I could remember the booksI've readaseasily.I “Thestories about him are absolutely true. Women fought over don’t remember chapter and verse the way I do with music. I can’t quote 200 lines of Shakespeare having heard it once ortwice.” him — justlike a pop star. Because he was that kind of phenomenon, people were slow to credit him achievementfor anyone. That's OK. Playing the entire Liszt catalog is enough of an “At Coit your cleaning receives personal attention.” S hu... Sam Weller’s is having a SALE! Two Days Only. Friday, November 26 & Saturday, November 27 All New and Used Books will be 25% off Rare Books, which have never -Larry Farr Owner been discounted before, will be 15% off Keep it Quiet At Coit, we guarantee your drapes, carpets, and upholstery to be cleanéd.'by professionals with the highest level of experience and OCTAeMC Mea NM ce to your home. This is what makes Coit “number one.” Payment must be made in full on day of purchase, Layeways, Search Service, Orders, and Short Discount tame Excised, A Salt Lake City Institution since 1954 3% OF Validated Parking Avaliable at American Stores and American Towers. Enter on 300 South. CARPET, DRAPERY & UPHOLSTERY CLEANING Explres 119090 COIT= Bo O K S 254 South Main, Salt Lake City 328-2586 1-800-333-SAMW www.samwellers.com i NW hGnta ila arma Not good with any otheroffer Minicoum charge CALL 'COIT FOR A FREE INHOME ESTIMATE TODAY! THE WORLD'S MOST EXPERIENCED CLEANER OF CARPETS, PEN SR Ce) ae ag |