Word: virtuoso
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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Died. Paul Muni, 71, virtuoso of biographical roles; of a heart attack; in Montecito, Calif. "Method? Formula? Highfalutin words," Muni once scoffed. Trained on New York's Yiddish stage, he submerged himself in each new movie role until the actor disappeared, taking days to perfect his makeup, spending weeks learning every nuance of the characters he portrayed-an arrogant gangster in Scarf ace (1932), a fierce patriot in Juarez (1939), a dedicated scientist in The Story of Louis Pasteur, which won him a 1936 Oscar. His Hollywood appeal faded in the 1940s, but he made a triumphant return...
Author Share has set himself a virtuoso's task, but he is no Joyce. He occasionally gives evidence that he writes well enough to go straight, and it would be nicer to have a novel of his that is less obtusely experimental...
Only a week or so ago, Composer Walter Burle Marx, 64, was at the Municipal Theater directing the first performance of his Third Symphony. Haroldo Burle Marx, 55, is the wealthy manufacturer of Brazil's most exquisite jewelry. And Roberto Burle Marx, 57, is a Renaissance virtuoso: tapestry designer, tile glazer, chef, noted amateur baritone-and Latin America's most eminent landscape designer. For good measure, Roberto was displaying his recent paintings at a Rio gallery...
Quirky Evaluations. His evaluation of virtuoso performers is no less quirky. Pianist Vladimir Horowitz's "unvarying, mannered manipulation of melodic phrase [with] infinite gradations of tone is his one way of operating with every composer." On the other hand, Pianist Van Cliburn, who has taken some critical lumps in recent years, displays "disciplined mastery" and an "unfailing sense for note-to-note continuity of tone, tension and outline...
...field is harder than ever to delineate, for a p.r. man may be anyone from a $100,000-a-year vice president to an operative with a mimeograph machine and a credit card. But certain trends stand out. The virtuoso has given way to committees, with a memo-writing style involving such terms as "idea transference," "posture of receptivity," and the "multiple-channel approach." Specialization is on the rise: there are firms for proxy fights, firms for staying out of trouble on civil rights, firms to get the New Rich into society, firms oriented toward culture or sports...