Forget Hatto, Choose Ruth!
Les Dreyer, a violinist at the Met, wrote a letter to the New York Times in response to the Joyce Hatto situation.
Joyce Hatto, whose CDs made in her 60s and 70s have now been proved to be the work of younger virtuosos, will sadly not be remembered as a “prodigy of old age,” a term used by Denis Dutton.
Yet there is a legendary living pianist, Ruth Slenczynska, who was a world-famous child prodigy but is now in her 80s and still teaching, performing and recording with her own age-defying hands. Madame Slenczynska is a neighbor of mine, and I have the pleasure of hearing her practice daily.
She is a true “prodigy of old age” — not unlike her teacher and mentor, Sergei Rachmaninoff.
In that spirit, how about we drive some business Slenczynska's way.
Here are performances of:
- Bach and Liszt.
- Brahms, Chopin, and Copland.
- Schumann, Carnaval, Kinderszenen.
Slenczynska, Age 8
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