Word: rubinsteins
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Slowly, solemnly Artur Rubinstein unfurled his arms and began to play the familiar melody. His nobly sloping brow tilted heavenward, his wispy white hair swirled about his dome like a wreath of cumulo-cirrus, his milky blue eyes shuttered in repose. Then, suddenly, everything went haywire. His left hand skittered out of control, his right did nip-ups. Harmonies collided, the tempo skidded and stumbled. Rubinstein did not bat an eye. His family and friends, huddled around the Steinway in a Manhattan hotel room, laughed heartily...
Artur was cutting up again and, as he brought the melody back under control, they sang out lustily: "Happy birthday to youuu . . ." Rubinstein beamed...
...typical playful fashion, began the 80th year of the world's greatest pianist. The birthday was only a few weeks ago, and the days that followed were typical, too, of Rubinstein. There was a concert to be played in Boston, so he packed his suitcases, not forgetting a shoe bag crammed with the good-luck charms that his four children have given him over the years?baby shoes, a turquoise marble, a set of jacks, a pipe-cleaner doll, an acorn, a crumbled plaster angel. He put on his fur-lined blue suede shoes and his long navy blue overcoat...
...baggage-claim room at the Boston terminal, Rubinstein perked an ear to the oozy wash of Muzak and began to shuffle across the floor with an imaginary partner. When a leggy young blonde entered, he shot an appraising eye at her. "Hmm, not bad," he murmured. "Shall I ask her to dance? No, she's too serious." And on he waltzed...
Arriving early at Boston's Symphony Hall the following afternoon, Rubinstein found that Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 10 had erroneously been put into the program. He had not played it in two years. With scarcely a shrug, he retired to a piano backstage to brush up. By concert time he had it down pat, and during the performance he played it faultlessly. Later, after the inevitable post-concert dinner party in the suburbs, Rubinstein decided to hire a limousine for the 200-mile return trip to Manhattan. "Let's do it!" he cried. "It will be an adventure...