Lipatti

(Said with a sigh of relief): I just love Dinu Lipatti, don't you? What elegance and finess. What a loss.

 

Has he died, then ?

 

For me the finest Schumann Concerto in A was played by Dinu Lipatti. He died in 1950, so young. A few years earlier he had been diagnosed with Hodgkins Disease. Back then the only treatment was cortisone. Despite pain and discomfort he courageously played recitals and concerts almost to the end. I was in kindergarten at the time, so wasn't aware of him. But later on I got to hear some of his recordings and learned more about him. He was one of a kind. William Kapell, another young, upcoming artist died later in 1953 in an air crash while returning from Australia or an Asian tour as I recall it. I had just started piano lessons that year. I remember my teacher speaking of him. At the time, I imagine that the loss of two great young artists was a shock to music lovers the world over. Both great pianists were only in their low 30s.

 

Indeed!

In this respect I remember reading D. Paperno Memoirs (or whatever the book was called). The year he was playing (along with Ashkenazi) at the Warsaw Chopin Competition, for the opening night A.B.Michelangeli (was member of jury then) performed Schumann Concerto. After the concert all that excited Paperno and Ashkenazi rushed to Michelangeli to tell how much they liked it and how wonderful it was.
Michelangeli (according to many, he wasn't the nicest guy, ever) through his teeth: "Have you heard Dinu Lipatti?"

Best, M

P.S. Thinking of it, I actually heard Gilels live playing this Concerto. Of course, it was very different... but equally magnificent!

 

For me, too!!! Absolutely....

 

There is that crazy Alborada del Grazioso and the Chopin waltzes!
He was Cortot's pupil, but very differently he was amazingly accurate.

 

True that! :lol:

 

Hi,

In the matter of Cortot, his playing was so refined and poetic that nobody cared about errors or memory lapses. He was a truly great artist.

David

 

Indeed...
@David: I never thought that Cortot was not a great artist. His art is certainly a rarity that today's listener miss a lot. I love also Kempff's playing with his many slips :wink: and heard from somewhere that Rubinstein's playing in his young age was more beautiful than the later one which was concerning the accuracy much more polished.

 

Maybe I should start another thread on this, but my stomach turns with the mention of Kempff near to that of Chopin (Cortot). I own one record (LP) that I will never listen to again and couldn't make it through the first time, and it was Kempf playing Chopin. It was like vinigar and oil to me. Now let me hasten to say that his Beethoven is quite another matter.

 

I've never heard Kempff playing Chopin and maybe that's why I like him so much :lol: :lol:

 

I also love listening to Dinu Lipatti.
I have a collection of LP's called "The Art of Dinu Lipatti" and I admire his playing very much.
I like techneut's remark "Has he died, then?"
Of course he is not dead because his music lives on...

 

I would agree that the best Schumann Concerto in A that was played that I really liked was that of performed by Lipatti. The thing that I really liked about him is his dedication. Upon playing his final recital, even with severe illness, he still performed very well. I wished to see such musician nowadays.

 

Hi hyenal,

Yes, I recall reading in Rubinstein's first volume of autobiography, "My Early Years" that once he left Prof. Barth, started his career, and went on tours, he paid little attention to his playing and took many a liberty to say the least. He seldom practiced and just played off-the-cuff. When Horowitz came on the scene, it was like a shockwave to Rubinstein. He knew that he had to totally reform his playing to be competitive on the concert scene and to be taken seriously. To his credit he did exactly that and emerged with a more accurate, polished and magisterial artistry. So he considered himself to be a better pianist in his 50s and 60s than earlier. In a way, I think that's inspiring. It's possible that in his younger years he was more poetic in his playing. I'd have to scout up some of those old piano rolls and Pianola recordings on YouTube to sample his playing then. But his style of playing certainly became much more mature and appreciated later in his life when he was one of the Big Three pianist along with Serkin and Horowitz (and later when the Three became the Four with Richter).

David