Funny facts about different artists

[A.C.]

I'm very interested by the funny facts of different artists. For instance, Glenn Gould's odd habits as wearing a wool topcoat in the dog days of summer, seating on a low chair and slumping over the keyboard, humming (sometimes singing) audibly to himself as he played, all the while conducting with his free hand. Paganini played violin with his face facing the floor whereas Heifetz played violin facing the roof (thus Paganini and Heifetz were called "Devil" and "God" respectively). Moreoever, Yoyo Ma never wears sock in his own concerts!

Any intriguing facts are warmly welcomed to be posted here!

[donjuan]

One word: Liberoce
lol

[A.C.]

Liberoce?

[ayahav]

I think he means LiberAce........

the guy with the candelabra, isn't he?

http://www.liberace.com/

[ayahav]

Jean-Yves Thibaudet had a "red sox" period, where he wore red socks to every performance....

[JK]

The famous (and contraversial) pianist Paderewski very briefly became primeminister of Poland after one of the world wars (I think it was WW1)!!

[mosis]

Why was Paderewski a controversial pianist?

[janice]

Yeah--I'm curious also

[JK]

I'm not totally sure as I've only seen one bit of fotage of him playing. But some people said he was vulgar and unimaginative, in fact his teacher actually doubted whether he would become a concert pianist at all. He didn't start studying piano until in his twenties and his technique was in some way basically floored! Despite this he was a very popular pianist with the pulic and I think Saint-seans hailed him as a genius, however he was not very popular with his fellow pianists who didn't like his playing a all. He also, towards the end of his life, made his debut as a Hollywood movie star in the film Moonlight sonata!

[EthanT]

Mozart was gay  


Doesn't it sound like that though? I mean his music is so prancy and GRAAA i hate mozart! He has got to be gay  

[PeterHK]

Mozart was gay  
Doesn't it sound like that though? I mean his music is so prancy and GRAAA i hate mozart! He has got to be gay  

Huh . . . what has music to do with sexual preference?
It is well-documented that Tchaikovsky was gay - so what? His music is loved all over the world, as is Mozart's - although most Mozart don't do much for me.

[Chopins_Fantaisie]

Chopin would throw chairs at his students if they didn't play a piece correctly.

[ahmedito]

Mozart was gay  


Doesn't it sound like that though? I mean his music is so prancy and GRAAA i hate mozart! He has got to be gay  

What the hell?!!!!
That has got to be the most stupid ignorant comment I have seen in these forums ever!

[ayahav]

not to mention it's not true... Mozart had a wife and a kid - a privlege not owned by many gay men...

[PeterHK]

not to mention it's not true... Mozart had a wife and a kid - a privlege not owned by many gay men...

Ah . . . then it is also a burden not shared by most gay people.

[Saturn]

It is well-documented that Tchaikovsky was gay - so what? His music is loved all over the world, as is Mozart's - although most Mozart don't do much for me.

Well, there is a difference.  You see, Tchaikovsky might have been gay, but his music didn't sound gay.  Mozart's music, on the other hand, sounded "prancy," which is very characteristic of gay people.  Because gay people are always prancing, especially to the tune of classical music.

Some musicians do not understand this; fortunately we have Ethan to help us make the distinction between music which is "prancy" and that which is not.

[faulty_damper]

I think he was joking about Wolfies sexual preference.  And don't you know that being gay is a stigma so many gay men marry women anyway?

[EthanT]

jeebus.. can u guys take a joke.. man...  :-/

[PeterHK]

jeebus.. can u guys take a joke.. man...  :-/

Oh I appreciate your sense of humour.
But then any pejorative remark on minority groups such as the gay community is no joke. Any time it could evoke a flame war.

[Spatula]

I kinda wonder if Mozart really did laugh after every sentence he said, like in Amadeus, hahaha ...

I love that phrase, ... " they think they're royal, they sh*t marble!!" or something like that.

HAHAHAAHAHAHAHHA ...oops..there goes my "mozart laugh".. maybe that supports the notion he was gay..HAHHAAH... Okay I'll stop.

(Not that I think he's gay   )

[Spatula]

BTW, I'm not touching any gay/straight issues with a sixty foot pole.

[cziffra]

since when did chopin throw chairs?

[Saturn]

Ethan:
I didn't mean to be so harsh about my comment.  I knew it was a joke, it just wasn't a very good one.  I'm a huge fan of Mozart too.

Spatula:
I found this in a little search:

"The concept for Mozart's annoying laugh was taken from references in letters written about him. One described his laugh as 'an infectious giddy' while another described it as 'like metal scraping glass' (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086879/trivia)."

So it's fact-based, but probably exaggerated quite a bit.  Personally I found that his laugh in the movie kind of grows on you by the end...