Jewry's Role in
Human Affairs
This Week
AMONG THE WORLD'S GREAT PIANISTS
Instrumentalists of Jewish descent have excelled in interpreting time-honored and
modern classical music. The large majority of these outstanding artists were
immigrants from Central Europe where Jewish emancipation enabled them to come
into their own. By the early part of the century, the Continent harbored superb
conservatories and teachers. In stellar performances, their graduates have brought
the soul of their music to peoples everywhere.
ARTHUR RUBINSTEIN
(1887-1982) b. Lodz, Poland Colleagues and
international audiences have ranked him with the
Twentieth Century's finest players of the modern )•
romantic repertoire. Rubinstein's musical genius was
confirmed at age three when he first sat at the keyboard
in public performance. His early career, while
concertizing across Europe, was plagued by exultant
highs and depressing lows--until marrying Aniela, the
daughter of a Polish conductor. Family life and its stability transformed
Rubinstein's attitude and style. And after settling in the U.S. in 1940 he perfected
his musical trademark: lyrical, poetic renditions often featuring Chopin and less
familiar Spanish works. With immense energy and generosity of spirit he routinely
scheduled more than one-hundred recitals a year--many for charity. Failing
eyesight led to his retirement in the
mid-1970s.
•
VLADIMIR HOROWITZ
(1904-89) b. Berdichev, Russia It is widely held that
his technical brilliance and virtuosity within the
classical romantic tradition were unsurpassed by
pianists of his generation. As a teenager, Horowitz
studied composition at the Kiev Conservatory, but
turned to the piano to help support his family
impoverished by the Russian Revolution. By 1925 he
won recognition and fame in his homeland, Europe and
America--playing more than two-hundred works with inspired precision. In 1939
Horowitz relocated to the U.S. with his wife, Wanda, the daughter of Arturo
Toscanini. Physical and nervous exhaustion forced him from the stage (1953-65)
to which he later returned, playing important recitals over several years. He retired
once again, but reappeared in 1978 in a stunning comeback before White House
and Moscow audiences.
'• ....
• *
RUDOLF SERICIN
(1903-91) b. Eger, Bohemia The musical prodigy
made his debut as soloist with the Vienna Symphony
Orchestra at age twelve. "The Poet of the Keyboard,"
as he came to be called, gave his first U.S. performance
in 1933 to which he immigrated six years later.
Throughout much of his distinguished career, Serkin
was associated with his father-in-law, violinist Adolf
Busch, with whom he often performed German master-
works. Once urged into an encore, he complied with the hour-long Goldberg
Variations, after which he reminisced: "When I finished, there were only four
people left in the hall--Adolph Busch, Artur Schnabel, Alfred Einstein and myself."
This exception to the rule found him playing to admiring S.R.O. audiences
worldwide. Serkin also served as a director of Philadelphia's Curtis Institute of
Music and helped form the Marlboro Festival in Vermont.
- Saul Stadtmauer
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6/15
2001
20
Voters in five local communities return
school board incumbents.
DIANA LIEBERMAN
Stall- Writer
were among
I T ewish the candidates
winners in public school
elections June 11.
But, more than voting by
religion or ethnicity, voters chose those
representatives they have come to
trust. In races tracked by the Jewish
News, every incumbent running for re-
election was returned to office.
Berkley School District voters have
"a high degree of satisfaction with the
neighborhood schools," said trustee
Catherine Fridson of Huntington
Woods, re-elected Monday for her sec-
ond term.
"The challenger said there were
problems with the neighborhood
schools," said Fridson, who is co-presi-
dent of religious school parents at
Congregation Beth Shalom.
In the Bloomfield Hills School
Winners are designated by bullet before
their names in these unofficial tallies:
BERKLEY
SCHOOL DISTRICT
FARMINGTON
SCHOOL DISTRICT
• Barbara Berger White
(incumbent): 834
• Catherine Fridson
(incumbent): 810
Martin Klernet: 124
• Frank Reid, incumbent: 2327
• Pam Christian: 1909
Phil Neuman: 1308
John Goshom: 716
Pam Charleston-Lyons: 576
Terence Elsey: 522
• Judith L. Adler (incumbent)
running unopposed: 1,621
BLOOMFIELD HILLS
SCHOOL DISTRICT
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District, incumbent Mindy Nathan,
former education director and current
religious school teacher at Temple Shir
Shalom, and Victor Begg, the Indian-
born Muslim head of the Unity Center
in Bloomfield Township, ran as a
multi-religious team. Both were elected.
"Together, we represent a back-
ground of many kinds of community
involvement, as well as a blend of wis-
dom gained from board experience
and a fresh new perspective," Nathan
and Begg wrote in a joint advertise-
ment.
Begg will be the first Muslim board
of education member in the
Bloomfield Hills schools.
In other issues, the Birmingham and
Farmington school districts' millage
renewals passed by impressive margins.
These renewals will not result in any
raise in taxes. The countywide
Oakland Community College millage
renewal passed by more than 2-1.
Vote Tallies
BIRMINGHAM
SCHOOL DISTRICT
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Making Their Mark
• Mindy Nathan
(incumbent): 1349
• Victor Begg: 938
Doug Zack: 721
Jeffrey Williams: 667
Emmanuel Najor: 155
WEST BLOOMFIELD
SCHOOL DISTRICT
• Jeffrey T. Stewart: 997
• Beth Danto Borson
(incumbent): 943
Natalie McKee: 378
Kristie Marie Killough-Ali: 128
Source: individual school districts