William Strother <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>I witnessed Serkin with Abbado/Chicago, an unforgettable performance for
>me.  I also was present when he performed Beethoven Op 109, 110 and 111
>in Los Angeles.  And that was even better!!  He had a way of making a
>3000-seat concert hall seem like an intimate gathering of his personal
>friends while he demonstrated music he loved.

I heard that same concert in Toronto.  In Op.  111, it was one of those
performances where the walls started to shimmer, the Pearly Gates started
to open, and the whole audience was in a trance from the sheer beauty of
it.  My friends and I went to a donut shop afterwards for coffee, and just
sat there without saying anything for almost an hour.  Serkin is the only
pianist I've ever heard who had that particular effect on me.  *Nobody*
played late Beethoven the way he could.  I feel sorry that none of my
students will ever get a chance to experience this.  Best,

Leslie Kinton
Piano Faculty, The Glenn Gould Professional School, Toronto.
Anagnoson and Kinton piano duo website: http://www.pianoduo.com/