Rodney DeCecco wrote: >With reference to Mr. Schonberg's neologism, "hypervirtuoso,": If digital >dexterity be the criterion then Barere stands alone. Even through rather >dim and distorted sound, the extant recordings (esp. the live recitals) >bear witness. Any one ever hear Barere live? I take it you mean on this list! On a more macabre note, some here may have heard him die. In 1951, aged 54, he was scheduled to appear at Carnegie Hall to play his first-ever performance of the Grieg concerto w/ Ormandy and the Philadelphia. Olin Downes wrote the following report of the concert (according to the liner noted accompanying Appian Publications and Recordings set of his complete HMV recordings 1934-36, CDAPR 7001): "Mr. Barere seemed to be in top form. His entrance solo was brilliantly delivered. But presently this writer was puzzled by the pace of his performance, which seemed excessively fast. Then comes the passage after the violoncellos have announced the second theme, of developments discoursed between the piano and the orchestra. A moment later it seemed as if Mr. Barere were bending over to one side, listening with special attention to the instruments as he matched his tone with theirs. In another moment his left hand fell from the keyboard and in another second he fell senseless from the stool to the floor. The orchestra stopped in consternation, someone shouted from the stage for a doctor, and with some difficulty the unconscious man was carried from the stage." Barere had succumbed to a cerebral hemorrhage. Walter Meyer