Grouchy old man

There is a problem I have in that the things I like to listen to, I listen to over and over, and the things I like to read, I read over and over. It is not a bad thing but it is hard to find the time to do it. I wish I were a teenager again, when all I had to do was sprawl on my bed and listen to Bach.

Now I sneak in pleasures here and there.

The other day at a second-hand book sale I spent a buck on a book I get a kick out of, David Dubal's "Evenings with Horowitz."

It has been a long time since I looked at this book and there are some things I am foggy on. The book tells how Dubal's friendship with old pianist Vladimir Horowitz collapses because the Horowitzes will not let him bring a date to any of the parties. I am not sure why that is. Also I am not sure why Horowitz gets addicted to having students playing for him. Did he just want to feel like the Maestro or was it more nefarious? Probably what I should do is sit down with this book and read it cover to cover. But when? I do not even have time to dry my hair.

So what I do is, I open the book here and there, and read this and that, often when I am drying my hair, which was the mental connection there. "Evenings With Horowitz" is always fun.

I like the book for its insights into Horowitz's personality, which I think must be pretty accurate. Also, not to sound too nerdy, but I like Dubal's use of adverbs.

"Wanda ardently agreed."

"Horowitz said glumly."

"Horowitz and Wanda nodded vigorously."

That is Horowitz and his wife, Wanda, the daughter of Toscanini, up above. By the time Dubal knew them, though, they were much older.

One paragraph last night got Howard and me laughing.

Dubal wants to bring his girlfriend to a party the Horowitzes are having and he is arguing with Horowitz about it.

"You know Wanda is in charge of these things," Horowitz says. "She likes only married people. She's Catholic."


I said, "Come now, Maestro. Are Woody Allen and Mia Farrow married? And I can name other exceptions who are allowed to your parties. ..."


There was no doubt Horowitz was rather upset at this confrontation. Just then, we were called to dinner.


"We go down now. I go peepee first. After a good dinner, you will feel better."


When he returned, he sat, as always, at the head of the table, with me at his left side. During his absence, he had regained his composure and started talking about the people who had been ostracized from his life.

Hahahahahaa!

That is what cheers Horowitz up!

Well, Dubal makes the point that Horowitz was thinking of ostracizing him, making a subtle threat. But I think even besides that, Horowitz probably liked to think about the people he had ostracized. Like notches in his belt.

Gotta love him, you know?

A fish called Wanda

I am glued this morning to David Dubal hashing over the respective memoirs of Byron Janis and Leon Fleisher in the Wall Street Journal.


Who knew that Janis had a romance with Wanda Horowitz -- daughter of Toscanini, wife of Vladimir?

I did not, I will tell you that right now! I was trailing after my husband this morning trying to talk to him about this. Howard was making his oatmeal, trying to get around me to the honey and raisins, trying to get me to go away.

Dubal, taking the high road, writes: 


"In a chapter titled 'Wanda,' we learn that, in his early 20s, Mr. Janis had an affair with Wanda Toscanini Horowitz, his teacher's wife. After 60 years, do we need this footnote to the tortured Horowitz marriage?"


We do indeed!

If Byron Janis is writing a memoir, how could he leave that out?

I cannot wait to read that chapter "Wanda." When I get my hands on this book I am going to skip right to it. 


That is Wanda and Vladimir up above, c. 1946, says the site from which I stole it. Dubal makes the point that she would have been horrified to have had that information in Janis' book made public. But you know what, you marry someone like Vladimir Horowitz, you better get used to the spotlight, even when you are dead. Especially when you are dead. Plus, I am tired of Horowitz being looked on as being this sacred being. 

And furthermore, Dubal wrote that book "Evenings with Horowitz" that contained a lot of personal details that I do not think Horowitz would have been crazy about getting out. There are people who see that book as unprofessional. I am not one of them, needless to say. I enjoyed the heck out of that book and think it is wonderful that Dubal got around to writing down all his experiences. 

Anyway, I am looking forward to reading Janis' book too even though it sounds kind of loopy, full of stuff about Uri Geller. Uri Geller, how 1970s. I have not heard that name in forever.

These pianists, I am telling you.

By the way, the "Fish Called Wanda" headline is not meant to imply that Wanda was a cold fish. I know not. I have not yet read Byron Janis' book. The headline was irresistible to me because my husband has a friend who was something of a ladies' man and finally got married and settled down. The friend is happy with his choice. "I got my fish," he says.

As we have discussed before, you can hear Byron Janis reading from his book here. 

He has his own inimitable style!

The student of Horowitz, 2

One thing I love -- love! -- about the Internet, about Blog-O-Land, is that you toss something out there on the way to bed, you do not really think about it, and the next morning surprises are waiting for you.

Last night I just ruminated a bit about Byron Janis when I was sitting around in my pajamas and this morning, I get this note from my friend Steve Baker who is now, ahem, Senior Director of Marketing at the San Diego Symphony. Steve is a great Facebook friend because he is intense and loves music. And he told me that on the Vanity Fair Web log site you can hear Byron Janis reading an excerpt from his book which is "Chopin and Beyond: My Extraordinary Life in Music and the Paranormal."

These are great days for books on pianists, you know? We recently got "My Nine Lives," by Anne Midgette and Leon Fleisher, and now there is this memoir by Byron Janis. Also I wonder about the memoirs of Earl Wild. I know he had been working on them. I think they might be out. Anyway, it is great that the public cares so much about these people, these pianists.

Back to Byron Janis. I had not known about this book and I have to say the title intrigues me. What, is he talking  with Chopin? Does Horowitz visit him in his dreams and impose more lessons on him? These are questions that will have to be answered.

I have to mention this, Vanity Fair proves what I said yesterday, that you never hear Byron Janis' name without Horowitz's name being right there next to it. There it is, first sentence: "Renowned concert pianist Byron Janis -- the first student of Vladimir Horowitz at age 16 -- has made quite a remarkable career..."

Working on my book on Leonard Pennario at least I do not have to worry about his being eclipsed by some teacher. Well, no one eclipsed Pennario. But that must be a particular kind of bummer, you get identified with some teacher at 16, for Pete's sake, and in a way it is downhill from there. It has its advantages, sure. But I do wonder how Byron Janis, a bright and interesting man in his own right, feels about that tie with Horowitz being his biggest credential.

Perhaps he will talk about that in his book.