Last Sunday my wife and I enjoyed the privilege of attending, at Steinway Hall, a concert given by our friend, Walter Hautzig. With this concert he was celebrating his 90th birthday. He has been a Steinway artist for almost 70 years, a tenure exceeded only by that of Arthur Rubinstein. Our friend may beat this record yet.
In recognition of his extraordinary career, the president of the Steinway Company presented him with an engraved walking stick, only the second ever given by this venerable company. (The first was given to Henry Steinway, also on the occasion of his 90th birthday.) Walter Hautzig walks without the aid of a stick, but he is, after all, ninety years old, an age at which one appears to be more spirit than flesh. Nonetheless, his hands and fingers have retained their strength, and his musical intelligence remains unimpaired. He continues to have few peers.
The concert in itself was of course a treat but it was also notable for the love and affection with which the audience showered the artist. Standing ovations, the first given when he walked into the hall and approached the piano, were the rule. Students, friends, and fans from Japan, the Philippines, and Europe - indeed from all over the world - came to the concert to honor him. Among the distinguished personages at the concert was his friend the King of Tonga, who had flown in from his island kingdom especially for this occasion.
Before playing the last piece on the program, Chopin’s Ballade in G minor, Op. 23, Walter Hautzig told the audience that when he was 16 years old, he was scheduled to play it in a student recital at the Conservatory in Vienna. But then the Nazis marched in and, with so much now changed, the concert never took place. His mother and sister were arrested. He was arrested. It wasn’t clear from his story how long they were detained, but five weeks later, he summoned the courage to return to the Conservatory. He found soldiers encamped there, their rifles on the pianos.
Depressed, he went home. Then he sat down at the piano and began to play the Ballade. As he played it he thought to himself, “whatever happens, they can’t take this away from me.” May he play it until he’s 120.
2010-2011 Anchises-an Old Man's Journal All Rights Reserved
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