David Dubal

[vlhorowitz]

I recently read every book of Dubal's. It seems that many people (teachers and students) think of him as pompous, full of it, irritable, etc...   However, although I've never met him, I find him to be a real servant of music - a man whose goal it is to bring great music back to light. Of course, the man knows just about everything about repetoire AND he's met just about every great pianist in the last 30-40 years. So why do people think negatively about him ? If classical music ever becomes vastly popular again (in North America), he will have done his part.

[jakev2.0]

He said the music of Mendelssohn was like 'a magical fairly-land filled with elves and sunshine.'

[Mozartian]

Favorite Dubal moment was when he was talking about Schumann; he ended absolutely wonderfully: "Schumann..... QUIRKY!"

So awesome. I love that guy.

[ramseytheii]

I recently read every book of Dubal's. It seems that many people (teachers and students) think of him as pompous, full of it, irritable, etc...   However, although I've never met him, I find him to be a real servant of music - a man whose goal it is to bring great music back to light. Of course, the man knows just about everything about repetoire AND he's met just about every great pianist in the last 30-40 years. So why do people think negatively about him ? If classical music ever becomes vastly popular again (in North America), he will have done his part.

I think David Dubal comes across in his writings often as pretentious, because when you read him, you don't just get information about the subject, you tend to get a lot of David Dubal there.  In his Horowitz book "Evenings with Horowitz," he makes it a point to point out whenever he said something that Horowitz agreed with.  One is left with the impression as someone who wanted to be a gate-keeper to Horowitz, and who eagerly desired a certain amount of power in New York society.

"Knows everything" is also a dangerous statement, because I think there is more surface glitter to David Dubal then actual information.  I sat with Liszt expert Leslie Howard once at a Dubal lecture, and Howard took my attention the whole time telling me, during the lecture, what was wrong about it.

That said, Dubal is a highly charming individual, one who perhaps wanted to be a pianist but didn't succeed at it, and as a compensation sought to become a power-broker for pianists.  This is not a criticism, but from what I've gathered just the course of his life.

The role of piano enthusiast has a long tradition, probably almost as long as opera enthusiast, so I wouldn't give him too much credit for injecting classical music into people's conciousness, especially since the great works he talks about are not works that suffered from any particular invisibility.

I could give a few more anecdotres if you are interested.

Walter Ramsey

[jakev2.0]

"Some say that Hofmann got the idea for the windshield-wiper by watching his METROnome....while he PRACTICED!!"

[Mozartian]

"Some say that Hofmann got the idea for the windshield-wiper by watching his METROnome....while he PRACTICED!!"

I have one of those old metronomes. You can seriously get sea sick watching them.

back...and forth... and back... and forth.. and up... and down... and back.. and forth...

[vlhorowitz]

I think David Dubal comes across in his writings often as pretentious, because when you read him, you don't just get information about the subject, you tend to get a lot of David Dubal there.  In his Horowitz book "Evenings with Horowitz," he makes it a point to point out whenever he said something that Horowitz agreed with.  One is left with the impression as someone who wanted to be a gate-keeper to Horowitz, and who eagerly desired a certain amount of power in New York society.

"Knows everything" is also a dangerous statement, because I think there is more surface glitter to David Dubal then actual information.  I sat with Liszt expert Leslie Howard once at a Dubal lecture, and Howard took my attention the whole time telling me, during the lecture, what was wrong about it.

That said, Dubal is a highly charming individual, one who perhaps wanted to be a pianist but didn't succeed at it, and as a compensation sought to become a power-broker for pianists.  This is not a criticism, but from what I've gathered just the course of his life.

The role of piano enthusiast has a long tradition, probably almost as long as opera enthusiast, so I wouldn't give him too much credit for injecting classical music into people's conciousness, especially since the great works he talks about are not works that suffered from any particular invisibility.

I could give a few more anecdotres if you are interested.

Walter Ramsey

I think that's a fair view of Dubal that you've presented. I agree with your point about him having little to do with the great works which have survived till this day. I did not give music its due in this respect.
What I probably meant was that he is doing good advertisement of classical music for those who aren't necessarily studying it. In a way, he's a "pop"ular teacher of classical music. Of course, I don't know his history. Upon reading his books, (eg. Evenings with Horowitz), I gathered that he was, like all of us, under Horowitz' spell. And were it not for his account, I don't know how future generations of pianists would ever get to know a more personal account of Horowitz. For him, meeting Horowitz must have been like meeting Liszt or Chopin, etc.. So to me, Dubal sees himself as an artist who did many people a favor in writing all those experiences down. I guess we have to deal with that side of him as well.
I would actually be very interested in other anecdotes !

[vlhorowitz]

"Some say that Hofmann got the idea for the windshield-wiper by watching his METROnome....while he PRACTICED!!"

LOL

[Mozartian]

Off topic, but nice quote, vlhorowitz. Kapell was so awesome.

[vlhorowitz]

Off topic, but nice quote, vlhorowitz. Kapell was so awesome.

Kapell was indeed awesome. I wish they would publish a selection of his diaries. We could all learn a bit from him.

[Mozartian]

Kapell was indeed awesome. I wish they would publish a selection of his diaries. We could all learn a bit from him.

Agreed; I'd LOVE it if they did that.

[vlhorowitz]

Of course, they probably won't... because they were conceived outside of wedlock.

[thracozaag]

Of course, they probably won't... because they were conceived outside of wedlock.

  The diary entries which you are referring to were actually from 1952 (after his wedding to Anna-Lou DeHavenon in 1948), and were published in Piano Quarterly, Number 131 (Fall 1985). 

koji

[Mozartian]

Of course, they probably won't... because they were conceived outside of wedlock.

I'm admittedly having far from my brightest day today, but I really don't see what you're driving at- explain? 

[vlhorowitz]

I'm admittedly having far from my brightest day today, but I really don't see what you're driving at- explain? 

Ya I'm not having the brightest day either. My writing is really incoherent. What I meant to say was that the people who are in charge of what gets published/recorded (eg. the people who didn't want to record Horowitz and Rachmaninoff playing 4 hands) seem to leave out some pretty good stuff, i.e, say the Kapell diaries. So I wanted to say that they were b@stardly for doing so.

Of course, in this case, my guess is that the diaries are kept by his widow; and very rightfully so. So that was wrong.

  The diary entries which you are referring to were actually from 1952 (after his wedding to Anna-Lou DeHavenon in 1948), and were published in Piano Quarterly, Number 131 (Fall 1985). 

koji

Wow. You sure know your stuff. I guess I need to find a way to get a copy of that. I must say, aside for his great playing, I especially appreciate Kapell's written reflections (about music, patience, etc.). Such a sensitive artist. It'd be really something to have learned about the practice regimes of, say, a Horowitz or Rachmaninoff as well.

[thracozaag]

 If you're near a college campus that has a decent music library, they should have back-issues of Piano Quarterly.  Along with the publication of the Kapell diary from 1952, Piano Quarterly also published some selected letters of Kapell to Solveig Lunde (his girlfriend from 1942-46), Olga Samaroff (his principal teacher), and Shirley Rhoads-Perle (a close confidant and friend--his final letters to her while on tour in Australia are particularly touching and illuminating).  The issue number for that publication is 124 (Winter 1983-84).  If you have problems locating these issues, please feel free to PM me.
  (I'm Kapell-nerd owing to the fact that I wrote my dissertation on him).

koji

[tds]

DD needs a spa, thats all

[Mozartian]

Ya I'm not having the brightest day either. My writing is really incoherent. What I meant to say was that the people who are in charge of what gets published/recorded (eg. the people who didn't want to record Horowitz and Rachmaninoff playing 4 hands) seem to leave out some pretty good stuff, i.e, say the Kapell diaries. So I wanted to say that they were b@stardly for doing so.

Of course, in this case, my guess is that the diaries are kept by his widow; and very rightfully so. So that was wrong.

Ah right, gotcha.

Someone needs to compile all of the Kapell diaries and prepare them for publishing, IMO. *looks at a certain member hopefully*

I'll be looking out for those Piano Quarterly issues.

[vlhorowitz]

If you're near a college campus that has a decent music library, they should have back-issues of Piano Quarterly.  Along with the publication of the Kapell diary from 1952, Piano Quarterly also published some selected letters of Kapell to Solveig Lunde (his girlfriend from 1942-46), Olga Samaroff (his principal teacher), and Shirley Rhoads-Perle (a close confidant and friend--his final letters to her while on tour in Australia are particularly touching and illuminating).  The issue number for that publication is 124 (Winter 1983-84).  If you have problems locating these issues, please feel free to PM me.
  (I'm Kapell-nerd owing to the fact that I wrote my dissertation on him).

koji

Alright, thanks a lot. I will look for them at the Vincent d'Indy music library in Montreal (school where Marc-Andre Hamelin studied); if I can't find anything, I'll be sure to find it in New York next month. Very excited about reading those publications.

A dissertation on William Kapell: that must have been completely enjoyable. I bought the RCA 9 CD set last year, and it just seems so unjust that of all people, his fate was to leave so soon. It would have been quite something to hear him in his 40s, 50s, etc... His Mephisto Waltz, Chopin works, even his Bach! etc.

I have never met anyone who met him. I met Gary Graffman once, but I only asked him about Horowitz, Gould, and Art Tatum. It seems that this is the fate of future generations of pianists - which is why I value the work of a David Dubal so much.

[Mozartian]

I actually LOVE his Bach (and he apparently was a big influence to the young Glenn Gould). I have that 9-disc set too.

Kapell just rocks my socks. 

[vlhorowitz]

There just seems to be something that hangs over Kapell's name, legend, and recordings. Almost as if his potential was so great, it just... had to be taken over. I believe that it was Fleisher who said that Kapell was the greatest homegrown American pianist ever. As a Canadian, I can only imagine the grief if it was Glenn Gould's plane that hit.

[ramseytheii]

I would actually be very interested in other anecdotes !

At this same lecture, Dubal was talking about how he was going to change the repertoire of Liszt's music that was played by "championing" the 2nd Mephisto waltz, and he went on about how he was the most vocal advocate for this work, and nobody knows it (not untrue).  Leslie howard was slated to play it at the end.

Apparently, the day before the lecture, Dubal needed to find out how long it was.  In other words, he didn't know.  When he heard it was 15- 20 minutes, he tried to cancel the performance from the lecture saying it would take too long.  I heard this from the administration of the venue.   Well the performance went on magnificently, howard just sat down and played it after an hour of Dubal, but Dubal did his damndest to make sure we remember him as its "champion." 


Shopping at Saks Fifth Avenue in Cleveland, I struck up a conversatoin with the woman helping me try on jackets and it turned to music (she asked what the occassion for the jacket was).  She told me she was the younger cousin of David Dubal, and that he used to babysit her back in the day.  She must not be that close, because she thinks of him as a "famous pianist," but according to her back then there was no music to be heard in his life.  

Well, these are only fun anecdotes, which in my mind just add to his image of superficial glitter and little underneath.  Perhaps in a way it was historic, his interviews with horowitz, but I have also ehard that after those books were published the Horowitz's exiled Dubal from their inner circle, because he often makes Horowitz look liek a bumbling child, and probably a lot of things they thought were private ended up in the book.  The classic Truman Capote model.  I am sure someone else can shed more light on this than me, but I can't help but wonder if a more objective depiction of horowitz could have come up. 

Walter Ramsey

[thracozaag]

There just seems to be something that hangs over Kapell's name, legend, and recordings. Almost as if his potential was so great, it just... had to be taken over. I believe that it was Fleisher who said that Kapell was the greatest homegrown American pianist ever. As a Canadian, I can only imagine the grief if it was Glenn Gould's plane that hit.

  Probably the most tragic aspect to Kapell's early demise is precisely that he WAS continuing to develop and grow as an artist and human being (keep in mind he had just turned 31); future plans included comissions from major american composers, chamber music performances and recordings with Heifetz, Piatigorsky, and Byron Janis, along with proposed concerts with such works as the Schumann Symphonic Etudes, Beethoven 32 Variations, and Brahms 2nd concerto.  The RCA box set is a wonderful introduction to Kapell's recorded legacy, but if you wish, I'd be happy to post his complete discography.

koji

[vlhorowitz]

  Probably the most tragic aspect to Kapell's early demise is precisely that he WAS continuing to develop and grow as an artist and human being (keep in mind he had just turned 31); future plans included comissions from major american composers, chamber music performances and recordings with Heifetz, Piatigorsky, and Byron Janis, along with proposed concerts with such works as the Schumann Symphonic Etudes, Beethoven 32 Variations, and Brahms 2nd concerto.  The RCA box set is a wonderful introduction to Kapell's recorded legacy, but if you wish, I'd be happy to post his complete discography.

koji

O Good God... I did not need to know all that. What damned luck. The Brahms 2nd Concerto by Kapell. You are right; the most tragic aspect has to be that there was so much light left. He would have made a very inspiring teacher as well. I would very much like to see a copy of his complete discography. I was listening to his Rach. rhapsody on a theme...; and by the 18th variation, there is just something so pure, very sad, but uplifting in his playing. What an artist.

If you wrote your diss. on him, you must know everything about the guy. Did you ever speak to people who met him ?  (I ask only because there aren't that many anecdotes/or books on the guy, and it's stories like these which motivate one to practice more  )

[vlhorowitz]

At this same lecture, Dubal was talking about how he was going to change the repertoire of Liszt's music that was played by "championing" the 2nd Mephisto waltz, and he went on about how he was the most vocal advocate for this work, and nobody knows it (not untrue).  Leslie howard was slated to play it at the end.

Apparently, the day before the lecture, Dubal needed to find out how long it was.  In other words, he didn't know.  When he heard it was 15- 20 minutes, he tried to cancel the performance from the lecture saying it would take too long.  I heard this from the administration of the venue.   Well the performance went on magnificently, howard just sat down and played it after an hour of Dubal, but Dubal did his damndest to make sure we remember him as its "champion." 


Shopping at Saks Fifth Avenue in Cleveland, I struck up a conversatoin with the woman helping me try on jackets and it turned to music (she asked what the occassion for the jacket was).  She told me she was the younger cousin of David Dubal, and that he used to babysit her back in the day.  She must not be that close, because she thinks of him as a "famous pianist," but according to her back then there was no music to be heard in his life.  

Well, these are only fun anecdotes, which in my mind just add to his image of superficial glitter and little underneath.  Perhaps in a way it was historic, his interviews with horowitz, but I have also ehard that after those books were published the Horowitz's exiled Dubal from their inner circle, because he often makes Horowitz look liek a bumbling child, and probably a lot of things they thought were private ended up in the book.  The classic Truman Capote model.  I am sure someone else can shed more light on this than me, but I can't help but wonder if a more objective depiction of horowitz could have come up. 

Walter Ramsey

WR, thanks for the anecdote - it was most interesting. Do PM me if you have any more stories like these.

You may disagree with me, but it seems only fair that there must be a way out for this guy. People criticize the man for his arrogance, his ambition, and his manner of speech. I can't think of a commercial artist who isn't slightly narcissistic or prideful. Can we fault a man for wanting to climb the social ladder ? I'm afraid not. (His means are relatively harmless through education)

It seems that his manner of expression is what annoys people most. This is very understandable. Personally, I wouldn't want to hear him speak like an encyclopedia entry (facts only). I believe this is why I prefer his book to Schonberg's or Plaskin's on Horowitz. After reading it the first time, I was convinced that I had met the Maestro myself. A stupid whim, but quite effective for someone who will never have the opportunity. 

Many people will probably disagree with me, but I would love to sit one-on-one with Dubal and ask him questions about all the great pianists he's crossed paths with. He might be arrogant about it, gatekeeper and all, but if he's willing to share what we don't know, even for $30US+shipping, I think it's alright.

If you think about it, it's probably cheaper than what we've been paying our piano teachers per hour.

[thracozaag]

O Good God... I did not need to know all that. What damned luck. The Brahms 2nd Concerto by Kapell. You are right; the most tragic aspect has to be that there was so much light left. He would have made a very inspiring teacher as well. I would very much like to see a copy of his complete discography. I was listening to his Rach. rhapsody on a theme...; and by the 18th variation, there is just something so pure, very sad, but uplifting in his playing. What an artist.

If you wrote your diss. on him, you must know everything about the guy. Did you ever speak to people who met him ?  (I ask only because there aren't that many anecdotes/or books on the guy, and it's stories like these which motivate one to practice more  )

  Kapell has always been an idol of mine since a teen, and one of the reasons I even considered going to Juilliard was the opportunity to work with Jerome Lowenthal (one of Kapell's main pupils).  The dissertation was just a logical outgrowth of working with Lowenthal, and all the wonderful stories and experiences he conveyed during our time together.  I also interviewed Gary Graffman and Kapell's widow, Anna-Lou DeHavenon for the purposes of research.  Eugene Istomin was probably the closest to Kapell, but unfortunately, he passed away several years ago; Leon Fleisher, Jacob Lateiner, and Seymour Lipkin are three other pianists with whom he had contact, and Robert Mann (of the Juilliard quartet) was a close friend of Kapell's while they were students.
  Here's an interesting story that Anna-Lou tells in wonderful detail regarding Kapell confronting a critic at a party:

"Despite this conscious distancing from Horowitz’s art, on one occasion Kapell almost got into a fistfight with a critic over a negative review of a Horowitz recital:
In 1953, after a Saturday night performance by Willy of the Brahms D minor Concerto, with Franco Autori conducting the New York Philharmonic, our friend, Eugene Istomin, asked us to go with him to a party hostessed by Emily Genauer, the film critic.  With a repeat Philharmonic performance the next day in the offing Willy was reluctant, but we finally talked him into going for a short time.  We entered a large apartment overlooking Central Park and shortly thereafter Willy, hearing a piano in the living room, left us.  Suddenly I saw him coming back into the dining room where Istomin and I were standing.  He headed quickly toward us, his face white and drawn, with Jay Harrison, the music critic, in close and hot pursuit.
It was immediately apparent that something had gone wrong and that they were about to come to blows. I asked Eugene to hold Willy because I was afraid that if he hit Harrison, he might kill him and also injure his hands.  I placed myself in front of Willy and someone restrained Harrison.  Let me add that Willy had a reputation for being a scrapper and had fantastic strength in his back, arms and hands.  Anyway, we got on our coats and as we stood in the hall Autori kept saying to Willy, “Let me go back and take care of him.”  I was trembling but Willy was very quiet and told Autori to forget it. 
Afterwards I was told that Willy had gone into the living room where Harrison was playing the piano.  Having just read an unfavorable Harrison review of a recent Horowitz recital, Willy confronted him with: “Who the hell do you think you are?  You are nothing more than a fourth-rate wind player who got thrown out of Juilliard.  How dare you write such a criticism about an artist of Horowitz’s stature?”
I imagine those comments did not sit well with Harrison."

koji

[iumonito]

Koji, you got me sold on this.  Would you mind posting your dissertation.  I would love to read it.

[vlhorowitz]

  Kapell has always been an idol of mine since a teen, and one of the reasons I even considered going to Juilliard was the opportunity to work with Jerome Lowenthal (one of Kapell's main pupils).  The dissertation was just a logical outgrowth of working with Lowenthal, and all the wonderful stories and experiences he conveyed during our time together.  I also interviewed Gary Graffman and Kapell's widow, Anna-Lou DeHavenon for the purposes of research.  Eugene Istomin was probably the closest to Kapell, but unfortunately, he passed away several years ago; Leon Fleisher, Jacob Lateiner, and Seymour Lipkin are three other pianists with whom he had contact, and Robert Mann (of the Juilliard quartet) was a close friend of Kapell's while they were students.
 

Wow, you are very lucky to have met Anna-Lou. I can't imagine how many great memories she must have of her husband. Poor woman. I would like to meet her just to shake her hand. That seems to be the unfortunate reality of piano history. The great ones who are linked to the "even greater ones" are advancing in age, and there is only so much time to speak with all of them about that age. I could be wrong, but didn't Lowenthal also study with Cortot ?

It's quite interesting, because I'm from Montreal, and the number of decent pianists who are from this city (Hamelin, Lortie, Fialkowska...) all studied with a woman named Yvonne Hubert, who studied with Cortot in France. Lowenthal must have been some talent to have studied with both Cortot and Kapell (that is, if I'm right).

[thracozaag]

Koji, you got me sold on this.  Would you mind posting your dissertation.  I would love to read it.

  Thanks for the sentiments; I'm currently trying to get it published (along with a cd), but it's been a very slow and frustrating process.

koji

[thracozaag]

Wow, you are very lucky to have met Anna-Lou. I can't imagine how many great memories she must have of her husband. Poor woman. I would like to meet her just to shake her hand. That seems to be the unfortunate reality of piano history. The great ones who are linked to the "even greater ones" are advancing in age, and there is only so much time to speak with all of them about that age. I could be wrong, but didn't Lowenthal also study with Cortot ?

It's quite interesting, because I'm from Montreal, and the number of decent pianists who are from this city (Hamelin, Lortie, Fialkowska...) all studied with a woman named Yvonne Hubert, who studied with Cortot in France. Lowenthal must have been some talent to have studied with both Cortot and Kapell (that is, if I'm right).

 
  You are indeed, correct; Lowenthal also had some wonderful stories about Cortot (he also studied with Eduard Steuermann--who had very close ties with Schoenberg).  A friend of mine is actually finishing up his dissertation on Lowenthal as performer and teacher--should make for some very interesting reading.
  Forgot to mention also, the death of Kapell robbed Juilliard of a faculty member--he was slated to join the following term, and one of his first "official" students would have been Van Cliburn.

koji

[vlhorowitz]

   Kapell's story just doesn't seem to get better. I hope he was never scheduled to play the Liszt Sonata. I think that would kill me.

[thracozaag]

 Funny you mention the Liszt B minor--I recently edited an article that Raymond Lewenthal wrote, basically a memoir of Kapell--and he mentions that he played the Liszt for Kapell on several occasions (and broke a string on Kapell's piano).

koji

[vlhorowitz]

While we're on the subject of the Bm and broken strings, I attended a Yundi Li recital in Montreal last year. My guess is that the piano was already busted before he began playing. Anyway, if memory serves me right, the F# strings on the high end of the piano just weren't connected or something. So at the very end of the piece, Yundi - 'great' artist and all, slows everything down and hits those high notes...  only to get.... absolutely nothing but little thuds !  I think everyone in the room felt terrible for him.