Dinu Lipatti , a musical embodiment - A short tribute

Dinu Lipatti lived but a brief and incandescent life of thirty two years. Born in 1917; succumbed to Leukemia in 1950 , taking along with him a prodigious talent, a gift, an unsurpassed mastery over the Piano and not the least; the tremendous affection of his passionate audience, who flocked to hear him every time his thin body took to stage to weave his magic upon his favorite instrument ...

Unorthodox, frail, unbounded endurance on stage - his mastery, meticulous preparation and scrupulous interpretation of the piano compositions of Chopin, Tchaikovsky and Beethoven among others , held listeners and critics spellbound during his short and intense career as an artist. In particular, The Waltzes and Etudes of Chopin came alive under the supple, nimble and divine fingers of Lippati. And as if by a tryst of destiny, It was his disposition to record more and perform less on stage ; probably because his unstable and deteriorating health left him incapable of playing live at a stretch beyond a length of time. However, this proved a boon to ages. Whatever recordings are left of Lippati are enough for any Pianophile to recognize the originality and genius of the Man. Today, I received my Lipatti's 1946 recording of Chopin's fourteen Waltzes - the last recordings before life ebbed away from his diseased body. My turntable just finished looping through the fourteenth Waltz, the crescendo of Chopin's mastery ; and I am left awash in the pristine notes of Lipatti's rendition of them..

I cannot better end my small tribute to Dinu Lipatti than by agreeing with Karajan , one of the greatest contemporary conductors who said " ...When Lippati plays, it no longer the sound of the piano, but music in its purest form....." Nothing can be truer than this.

God bless......