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Rubenstein, Belle, tape 1, side b

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Maurice Levy:  You were. You were talking about Herman Recht and Mort
Rosenbaum, who had more or less taken over the administration of the of the
concert series. And this is back in the early 50s.

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Belle Rubenstein:  And, uh, Herman Recht had a wife whom I knew had known
very well, Esther. And she. Teamed up with them and I called them the Evil
Trio. And did they give me a terrible time.

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Levy:  Well, what were what was the difference in in in in your opinions
over, over who did. Well who selected the the artists. Did the committee do
the selecting?

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Rubenstein:  Oh wait. We used to get, um, they used to come in from New
York to, to meet us. The representatives used to come in from New York to
meet us.

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Levy:  Those are the uh. That's is the agency in New York who represented
the artist?

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Rubenstein:  Sure. They come and meet us at. But when the. But but when the
Rosenbaum and Recht took over. We didn't have any of that anymore. They
took over. They did everything and it was so dreadful. You have no idea.

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Levy:  In other words, they bypassed the committee.

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Rubenstein:  They did.

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Levy:  They cut the committee out of out of many of the decisions you used
to make.

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Rubenstein:  And the. And. And I remember that. Um. Uh, I once went. Oh,
and I once went to New York. Oh, I knew the, uh, you know, the, uh, the
secretary, Miss Ellingsworth, who used to come from New York, she was in.

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Levy:  Uh, she was in the agency.

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Rubenstein:  But she was in, uh, you know, this, uh. Oh. What was his, uh,
what was the, uh.

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Levy:  You mean Assurach?

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Rubenstein:  Assurach.

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Levy:  Right.

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Rubenstein:  She was in his office. She was the secretary. She was a big,
big secretary there. And she used to come to Pittsburgh to meet with us.
And she would introduce some of the the new artists that were on, on, uh,
ready to come here. And whom we had. We hadn't met. And we and she came to
she wanted us to introduce this artist and that artist, which was great.
And Miss Ellingsworth and I became good friends and. So I happen to be in
New York one one day and I always called her up. And she's she says, I want
you to hear this. Uh, uh, she says, a town hall. I there's a new artist,
uh, giving a program in town hall. Uh, and she sent over two tickets for
me. So I don't know whom I invited anyway. And there was this, a black
girl. And she gave a most. She reminded me of Marian Anderson, and Marian
Anderson was in the audience at that time. And I thought, oh, boy, you
know, this is she's just giving this concert. This is the time for us to
grab the the artist to come to Pittsburgh. That was the idea. So I come
running home. But that evening, the our committee was having a, uh, he was
having a meeting. And he had not told me about it. Who was.

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Levy:  He? Morton Rosenbaum?

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Rubenstein:  Recht and Rosenbaum. They were there was a meeting at that.
Know anything about it? They didn't call me. And I said, and I told Herman
Recht about this concert. Oh, it was, um. What's her name? She was, I know.
She is now in the Metropolitan, as.

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Levy:  You were anxious about that.

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Rubenstein:  About. We should grab her immediately. So I tell Rosenbaum,
uh, the rest about her.

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Levy:  Wasn't Leontyne Price, was it?

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Rubenstein:  No, no, no, it was, um. She she was more after Leontyne Price.
She was more, uh, recent. Um.

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Levy:  Shirley Verrett. No.

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Rubenstein:  No no no.

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Levy:  Shirley.
Rubenstein:  No. Isn't that funny? I know, anyway, uh, so he says. Oh,
yeah, and he didn't do anything about it. And of course, in the meanwhile,
she was getting all kinds of attention. And she is now in the Metropolitan.
And that's when I, you know, anything I wanted was not interesting. Not
interesting. Oh, he was dreadful. He was just dreadful.

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Levy:  Now you had you had this. Before we go back to the artist, you were
talking about Herman Passamaneck. And you mentioned that an incident with
Pete Seeger.

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Rubenstein:  Oh, yeah.

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Levy:  Was that occurs when Passamaneck was still the executive director.
Yeah. Right. And they had they had engaged Pete Seeger to come to
Pittsburgh. Pete Seeger, the folk singer. Yeah. And what happened what did
what do you remember? Well.

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Rubenstein:  He didn't uh, they didn't, uh, have him.

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Levy:  You mean the Y didn't.

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Rubenstein:  The Y didn't have him. They. And one of the. Um. Let's see.
Uh, what's her name?

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Levy:  And one of the members of the committee, then.

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Rubenstein:  The mother of one of.

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Levy:  The mother of one of the members, was was active and she was anti
anti left wing. Is that it left wing.

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Rubenstein:  And so anyway.

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Levy:  She instigated Passamaneck  to withdraw the invitation. Yeah.

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Rubenstein:  Yeah. And I was fit to be tied I came I came storming into
Passamaneck. I said, how can you do that sort of thing? You're you're a
bigot. I call them all kinds of names. And he said he couldn't help it. He
was talked into doing that. They used pressure on him. They used pressure
and he didn't do it. And he was sorry because Passamaneck was a very fine
man. Very fine. But I remember that I carried on high and of course, a lot
of good it did.

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Levy:  Many people felt embarrassed. Many people who belonged to the Y
board felt embarrassed by that. Of course, I recall that incident. Of
course. Didn't he end up going to Carnegie Music Hall? I don't know, or no.
He ended up with one of the churches or something like that. Yeah.

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Rubenstein:  And later on, I guess

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Levy:  He came back. So he's been back to Pittsburgh? Several. Oh, yeah.

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Rubenstein:  But that's that incident. Um, that's.

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Levy:  One of the most famous incidents in the history of the Y Music
Society. Yeah. In terms of public, a public display of dissension.

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Rubenstein:  Yeah, I was terrible. A lot of stuff. But with the with the.
Uh, Rosenbaum. And. Recht. That's, uh. That was just awful. Just awful. And
and it lasted too darn long, too.

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Levy:  So here are some other names. Uh, Mischa Elman 19..

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Rubenstein:  Oh, yeah. That's, uh.

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Levy:  I know that you met many of these people at receptions afterwards.
Yeah. Didn't you, because of your position on the committee. And, of
course, we have mentioned your husband, who was very active on the
committee itself.

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Rubenstein:  He used to turn pages for 17 hours.

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Levy:  His turn pages. He was a violinist. Yeah.

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Rubenstein:  And he was, uh, they asked him to turn pages for some of the
artists. Yes.

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Levy:  Marjorie Lawrence, the soprano.

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Rubenstein:  Oh, yes. Yeah. Uh, did she come in a wheelchair then? Yeah.

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Levy:  45, 46. Was she in the wheelchair.

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Rubenstein:  She was in the wheelchair.

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Levy:  Forget the sight of them. And. Igor Gori, the bar baritone. He was
known on the radio for the scene many times. Uh, is this a local, uh,
artist? Helen Kwalwasser.

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Rubenstein:  Oh, yes.

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Levy:  Is that related to the ones in Pittsburgh? Yeah. Is she a
Pittsburgher?

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Rubenstein:  Yeah. Well, she, um. Uh. Yeah, I think they came from
somewhere. Yes, she was a she was, um. Uh. Her her. Her family were were
here. Yeah.

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Levy:  And she'd probably gone. Gone away to school? Yes.

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Rubenstein:  She was, uh a local.

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Levy:  Yeah, here's here's. Here's a little note on the program, ladies, as
a courtesy to those behind you, will you kindly remove your hat?

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Rubenstein:  Oh, really?

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Levy:  That's the kind of thing they used to put in the old silent movies.

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Rubenstein:  That's right.

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Levy:  They put it up on the screen and Benno Moiseiwitsch.

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Rubenstein:  Oh, yeah. Moiseiwitsch. She was very good. And who else? Let's
see. And.

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Levy:  And then you became the chairman of subscriptions. Uh, for the uh Y
Music Society in 1949.

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Rubenstein:  Oh. Did I?

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Levy:  Yeah. Well, what what did you were in charge then of maintaining the
membership list? The people who belong.

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Rubenstein:  Well, you know, it so happened that, uh, I had more. You know,
we used to contact. We, uh, we used to have, uh, sheets with the names on,
and, uh, and we each had, uh, several names to call constantly, and I had
the most, uh, names of all. And I contacted them more people than the rest.
Uh. And, uh, who's the other one? Um. Character.

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Levy:  That was when Mrs. Ozerov was chairman. Yeah. Richard [Half?] was
associate chairman. Yeah.

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Rubenstein:  And who else was on that committee?

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Levy:  Helen Rao was the chairman of patrons and donors. Yeah. And Emanuel.
Mrs. Emanuel Friede was the secretary. Oh, yeah.

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Rubenstein:  Oh, my. Very fine people. Who else was on that committee? Give
me a name.

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Levy:  Uh, you were telling us that, uh, when you met the Dame Myra Hess,
the world famous pianist? Yes. What happened?

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Rubenstein:  Well, she, uh. Uh, she was very lovely, by the way. You know,
she was Jewish. Mhm. I found out later. Uh oh. Uh, so when I met her, uh,
I. I just put my hand out and she said, oh, I'm sorry, I don't shake hands.
She says. I. Um, please forgive me. I just I just don't shake hands, you
know, to preserve her hands, you know, because.

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Levy:  Because you play the piano.

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Rubenstein:  Yeah.
Levy:  I'm sure some people squeezed them hard or whatever.

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Rubenstein:  Sure, sure. So. But. Later on. You know, the. Uh, on Mt.
Lebanon, they had, uh, a series.

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Levy:  Music for Mt Lebanon.

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Rubenstein:  Yeah, right. And they followed us. They they brought all the
artists. After they came. They would ask them the following year. They
would ask them. And, um, there was, uh, what was his name? Something like
Oswald. The. The chairman of their committee. Uh, he he has since died
anyway. Um. So one evening. Oh, Myra Hess was the artist at Mount Lebanon,
and the the chairman invited us and invited the Bakaleinikoffs.

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Levy:  Bakaleinikoff was the associate conductor of the Pittsburgh
Symphony.

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Rubenstein:  Very good friend of mine. And, uh, let's see. Uh, and, uh.
Invited Donald Steinfirst.

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Levy:  Steinfirst was the music critic for the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. All
right.

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Rubenstein:  And I was invited. And, um. Let's see. Oh, um. I think.

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Uh uh um.

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Rubenstein:  Somebody else. Anyway, so we all went to the to Mount Lebanon.
And you know, the kind of audience they have there. You know, it's the kind
that, you know, you have to be. You must be seen to go to, uh, you know.

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Levy:  You think It was more of a social thing than it was. Yes, it was a
musical.

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Rubenstein:  And the, uh, the. Well, there's.

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Levy:  A little bit of that at the Y, too, a little bit. Is it a little
bit. Yeah. Yeah.

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Rubenstein:  Well, anyway. Oh, now. But in those days it wasn't anything
like that. Okay. Uh, anyway, um. Let's see. And they all they made a big
fuss over the the the ushers, the were all dressed up and uh, anyway it was
a it's an entirely different audience entirely. So we sat in the audience
and. I thought, oh, they're not going to they're not going to appreciate
Myra Hess here. Or whatever. And I'm sitting in the audience and a couple
is in back of me and the. Uh. I hear her say, uh oh, now she's going to
play, uh. Hayden. And I thought, huh? That's exciting. That's the type that
they are. Anyway. I felt that that that that's, uh, that's, uh, program
was. Beyond. Oh, and Myra’s playing. She's sitting, playing, and she looks
to the audience as if to say, isn't this beautiful? She had that kind of
attitude, you know, and had that.

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Levy:  Kind of platform and.

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Rubenstein:  And the and the way she played and she was playing and I felt
that she was just. This was all wasted. Honestly, I just felt that in the
audience, you know, you feel an audience, you know? Anyway, I know that the
artist feels an audience. Absolutely. So. Later. So then afterwards, then
the they had a big reception in the country club there for the artist. And,
um. Myra Hess was.

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Levy:  So you were telling us about the reception at the end of the concert
and the music, and.

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Rubenstein:  The chairman got up and he introduced. Oh, Lewando was there.

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Levy:  Ralph Lewando, who was the music critic for the Pittsburgh Press?

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Rubenstein:  Yeah, he was there too. So and he, the chairman got up and he
introduced us as. Sir. You know, he introduced us by name and so on. Made a
big fuss and. And Myra was there at the head table and. Uh, one of our
committee members. Uh, was taking her home to stay with her overnight. And
then I heard the following day that Myra has stipulated absolutely never,
never to invite her to play in Mount Lebanon.

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Levy:  See. Here are some other ones here. Here's, uh, Solomon, the
pianist. He was, uh, we call that name. He had [?]. You don't recall?

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Rubenstein:  No, Solomon. Do you have the do you have the program?

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Levy:  The program here. Here's the program. Okay.

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Rubenstein:  Oh, you've got all that. My goodness.

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So on. Um.

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Rubenstein:  I don't remember him.

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Levy:  Okay. We have enough. We have other people. Italtile. The bass
baritone. Yeah.

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Rubenstein:  Yeah.

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Levy:  I'll just mention a few names here. Maybe. Yeah. Uh, I think this is
Miss Victoria de Los Angeles.

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Rubenstein:  Oh, do I oh, she was gorgeous. She was wonderful.

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Levy:  Did you meet her?

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Rubenstein:  Yes. Yeah. Victoria. Oh, yeah. She was beautiful. And she sang
magnificently. Yeah, we had her back a couple of times.

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Levy:  Um, she had a very long career.

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Rubenstein:  Uh huh. Yeah. Oh, yeah. I think she's still singing.

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Levy:  Uh, and then here's your friend Bakaleinikoff. The Bakaleinikoff
Sinfonietta. Oh, yeah. Aldo [Perryso?]. the the cello. So he was the first
cello for the the principal for the symphony. Yeah.

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Rubenstein:  Well, you know, he went out to he quit the symphony, and

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Levy:  He had a solo career. Yes.

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Rubenstein:  He did. Yes.

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Levy:  He's teaching now, I think.

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Rubenstein:  I think so, yes, I think I know where he's teaching.

00:19:34.000 --> 00:19:41.000
Levy:  He said some music institute or university. Yeah, yeah. And here,
here's a concert. I remember William Warfield.

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Rubenstein:  Oh, that was beautiful. Yeah, it was wonderful. He died,
didn't he.

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Levy:  I don't recall, yes.

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Rubenstein:  I think he did.

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Levy:  Yeah. And here, here was a young Pittsburgh pianist. I didn't know
her, but I knew of Irene lit.

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Rubenstein:  Wait, what?

00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:04.000
Levy:  Irene lit.

00:20:04.000 --> 00:20:06.000
Rubenstein:  Oh, sure.

00:20:06.000 --> 00:20:07.000
Levy:  She was a Pittsburgh.

00:20:07.000 --> 00:20:18.000
Rubenstein:  Yeah. Yeah, she was good. What happened to her? Oh, of
course.

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Levy:  And here, here's the young one who died young. And that was Michael
Rabbit. Oh, he was.

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Rubenstein:  And he was.

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Levy:  Very 10 or 12 years old when he came to the Y.

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Rubenstein:  Oh, he was wonderful. And he.

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Levy:  Died young.

00:20:31.000 --> 00:20:34.000
Rubenstein:  Yes. He did. What was that, an accident?

00:20:34.000 --> 00:20:43.000
Levy:  No, I don't think so, I think. Well, I don't recall, but I remember
he he was a he was a sensation. He was, he was. And he had.

00:20:43.000 --> 00:20:47.000
Rubenstein:  A great, uh, career. And, uh.

00:20:47.000 --> 00:20:59.000
Levy:  But I don't think he really made it, though. I think he tailed off.
He appeared on places like the Telephone Hour. Remember the telephone?
Yeah, that was on Monday nights. Yeah, but, uh, but.

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Rubenstein:  He died young. Uh, I don't know what, uh, how far he had
gone.

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Levy:  Good. George. London the great.

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Rubenstein:  Oh, George. Oh, yeah. We had a wonderful time with him. We had
a reception. We had a reception afterwards. He was very, very charming and
very outgoing. Oh, I think we had a reception with him afterwards. A for
him. And. He was very charming. I remember him very well.

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Levy:  That's Leonard Rose, the cellist.

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Rubenstein:  Yeah. Very good.

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Levy:  Paul Badura-Skoda. Dennis.

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Rubenstein:  Yeah.

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Levy:  Uh. Now we're getting into back into the 70s. Now, this is already
past your your tenure, but I'm sure you attended these concerts.

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Rubenstein:  Uh oh. Sure. Well, I was still on the committee. Yeah.

00:21:57.000 --> 00:21:59.000
Levy:  Kyung-Wha Chung.

00:21:59.000 --> 00:22:00.000
Rubenstein:  Here.

00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:03.000
Levy:  The Korean violinist Chung.

00:22:03.000 --> 00:22:04.000
Rubenstein:  You know.

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Levy:  Him? It's a it's a she. But she had she had a brother, Myung Whun
Chung. And it was easy to get their names mixed up. Different was a K and
an M and Pincus Zuckerman, I remember.

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Rubenstein:  Oh, yeah. You know, I was.

00:22:21.000 --> 00:22:27.000
Levy:  Remember when he came with his wife? Yeah. Uh, Eugenia, when she was
a flutist. You remember that?

00:22:27.000 --> 00:22:29.000
Rubenstein:  Well, they're divorced, you know.

00:22:29.000 --> 00:22:31.000
Levy:  Yeah. He married the actress.

00:22:31.000 --> 00:23:07.000
Rubenstein:  And married somebody I didn't have. And I, you know, at that
time, I didn't. He was. He had a beard. And I have a thing against beards.
I can't stand them. And I didn't like him. Uh, the. And Eugenia still on
the on the Kuralt, uh, program. She always brings a great musicians and
talks about them. Do you listen to Sunday morning?

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Levy:  Oh, sure. Uh, it's. You mean the Saint Paul Sunday morning?

00:23:12.000 --> 00:23:13.000
Rubenstein:  No, no.

00:23:13.000 --> 00:23:14.000
Levy:  Which one?

00:23:14.000 --> 00:23:21.000
Rubenstein:  Kuralt. Uh, 9:00 Sunday mornings on, uh. Oh.

00:23:21.000 --> 00:23:23.000
Levy:  On QED?

00:23:23.000 --> 00:23:25.000
Rubenstein:  Yeah, yeah.

00:23:25.000 --> 00:23:33.000
Levy:  I remember on channel two. Oh. You're talking. Oh, you're talking
about TV, T.V.. Are you talking about Charles Kuralt? Yeah.

00:23:33.000 --> 00:23:35.000
Rubenstein:  Well, do you listen to him? No, I.

00:23:35.000 --> 00:23:38.000
Levy:  Don't I don't I listen to the radio on Saturday mornings. Oh.

00:23:38.000 --> 00:24:15.000
Rubenstein:  Well, anyway, I listened to him on Sunday mornings, and
Eugenia is on his very often. And she talks about musicians and she's
lovely and she plays a flute very well. And, uh, I didn't like Pincus
because he divorced her, and I didn't like him. Then he married some old
actress. Yeah, a year older than he and I just. I didn't like him. But, uh,
he he's doing very well now. He's playing beautifully, and.

00:24:15.000 --> 00:24:50.000
Levy:  Well here. Here's a few we missed there Isaac Stern. Well, I
remember when he came, uh, when he came. Uh, um. Yeah. I remember when he
came and he substituted, uh, for somebody at the last minute. And he came
on the stage. Yeah. You recall that incident? Yeah. Where, where after the
program was over, he said, well, rather than me walking back and forth and
you applauding and I doing an encore, and then you'll applaud and I'll come
back. He says, I'll, I'll do two encores and say goodbye.

00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:51.000
Rubenstein:  Yeah, well.

00:24:51.000 --> 00:24:53.000
Levy:  It was a very personable man.

00:24:53.000 --> 00:26:12.000
Rubenstein:  Well, I'll tell you about Isaac Stern. So one morning
Passamaneck. Calls up. Calls me up. And he says, there's a and this was on
Saturday morning. And he says, there's a young fellow wants to play to for
the committee and. And the. He's giving a program in Aliquippa tonight,
and, uh, and he wants to be heard. So he says, I'm calling the committee.
Whoever can come. We all rushed down there to the Y. And on the third
floor, you know, there's a that was, uh, there was a piano there. And there
were several of us. And. And here, this young, uh, 23 year old. He was
ugly. He had pustular skin, a very bad skin. And this. And he. And he had
the same accompanist as as. There. What's his name? Serkin.

00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:14.000
Levy:  The [?]

00:26:14.000 --> 00:26:48.000
Rubenstein:  Uh, no. Um. Uh, Isaac Stern's accompanist, um, who? He's had
him all his life. Zircon. Something like that. Anyway, that was, uh. So
this, um. Are we to know who it was? And there is about 23 years old and he
was to me. He was very, uh, ugly. You know, he he was not very attractive.
His face was pustular. And so. And he starts.

00:26:48.000 --> 00:26:49.000
Levy:  Post-adolescent skin and.

00:26:49.000 --> 00:27:28.000
Rubenstein:  He starts to play. Of course, he played beautifully like an
angel. And. We sign them up for the following season for $300. That was
before he gave his town hall recital in New York. That was before that. And
that was Isaac Stern. And then. Then shortly after that he gave his recital
in Town Hall and, of course, the raves in New York. And that started him
out on.

00:27:28.000 --> 00:27:36.000
Levy:  Well, that brings that brings up the point. Uh, do you recall
anything else about Stern or is that he came back several times after
that?

00:27:36.000 --> 00:28:19.000
Rubenstein:  Oh, yes. Yes, he came back. He was, uh, uh, and he he was. And
then, of course, I, I bought all his actions and, uh, his, uh, what he has
done, he, he saved Town Hall in New York, Carnegie Hall and, and, uh, and
he's very, uh, very, uh, outgoing. And he's, he's doing he was doing so
much good work in the, uh, for the Israel. And he has he sponsored many
young people and, and their careers. And he was.

00:28:19.000 --> 00:28:20.000
Levy:  A very responsible person.

00:28:20.000 --> 00:29:20.000
Rubenstein:  I have a great, great respect for him, for what he's done.
And, uh, I knew that he was married to a. Uh. He was married to a someone.
Was she? She was a she was a dancer in, in a in a in a ballet. And that
didn't last very long. And then he married a lovely, lovely, beautiful gal.
I think she was a from Israel, a from Israel and, uh. I met her. She was. I
met her at Steinfirst’s house. She's. She's very attractive. And she is
doing a lot of philanthropic work around, you know, all over and a very
fine. And. And I remember that Isaac Stern every time he came to
Pittsburgh. To wherever, you know, either, uh, Heinz Hall or the Y. He was
a very good friend of Donald Steinfirst. And he'd be he'd stay over there
and they. And they would play gin rummy all all night. And they were very,
very good friends. And the. And they always had a great time in Pittsburgh.
Okay.