Word: virtuoso
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...years people have asked Cellist Janos Starker to name the piece he most enjoys performing. "The one by Brahms -if only he had written it for cello," was the virtuoso's reply. He was referring, he would explain, to Opus 78, the G Major Sonata for Violin and Piano, an introspective work tinged with Nordic melancholy. "It is the most glorious Brahms," says Starker, "and it has been the dream of all cellists some day to be able to play it." No one, however, dared transcribe the violin work for cello, but early this year a transcription by Brahms...
...best in a small place; when he plays he screws an omnipresent cigarette into his mouth, contorts his face into an impossible squint to keep the smoke out of his eyes, nods his head to unseen rhythms and plays terriffic rapid-fire solos. A real virtuoso...
That automatically included politicians and government officials, as well as businessmen, educators, lawyers, scientists, journalists. The definition ruled out many Americans who are truly outstanding in their fields but who really belong in another category. They exemplify what John Gardner describes as "virtuoso leadership"-the diva, the poet or novelist, painter or actor. They may be a fresh inspiration and their audiences may be vast, but they are basically soloists, and we felt that they should be included only if their work had a clear, direct impact on society...
...superiors have no intention of ransoming his son, has the texture of steel. Don Siegel (Dirty Harry) delineates his characters quickly and vividly, with toughness and sly attention to quirks of behavior. Donald Pleasence plays another intelligence officer-a compulsive ferret with eyes like stomped marbles-in a true virtuoso turn. Pleasence, however, gets shuffled to the sidelines during the later portion of the film, and the picture itself changes from a briskly elegant exercise into real Mickey Mouse melodrama...
...caterer and then became a blueprint technician. As a boy, Duke showed more aptitude for painting than music. Piano lessons were a chore. "Before I knew it, I would be fashioning a new melody and accompaniment instead of following the score," he said. Indeed he never became a virtuoso pianist; his talent was as a leader, arranger and composer. By the age of 14, he had written his first song, Soda Fountain Rag. Soon he was fronting a band that played dances and receptions...