WEBVTT 00:00:02.000 --> 00:00:14.000 Maurice Levy: You were. You were talking about Herman Recht and Mort Rosenbaum, who had more or less taken over the administration of the of the concert series. And this is back in the early 50s. 00:00:14.000 --> 00:00:40.000 Belle Rubenstein: And, uh, Herman Recht had a wife whom I knew had known very well, Esther. And she. Teamed up with them and I called them the Evil Trio. And did they give me a terrible time. 00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:53.000 Levy: Well, what were what was the difference in in in in your opinions over, over who did. Well who selected the the artists. Did the committee do the selecting? 00:00:53.000 --> 00:01:03.000 Rubenstein: Oh wait. We used to get, um, they used to come in from New York to, to meet us. The representatives used to come in from New York to meet us. 00:01:03.000 --> 00:01:06.000 Levy: Those are the uh. That's is the agency in New York who represented the artist? 00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:25.000 Rubenstein: Sure. They come and meet us at. But when the. But but when the Rosenbaum and Recht took over. We didn't have any of that anymore. They took over. They did everything and it was so dreadful. You have no idea. 00:01:25.000 --> 00:01:27.000 Levy: In other words, they bypassed the committee. 00:01:27.000 --> 00:01:28.000 Rubenstein: They did. 00:01:28.000 --> 00:01:31.000 Levy: They cut the committee out of out of many of the decisions you used to make. 00:01:31.000 --> 00:01:55.000 Rubenstein: And the. And. And I remember that. Um. Uh, I once went. Oh, and I once went to New York. Oh, I knew the, uh, you know, the, uh, the secretary, Miss Ellingsworth, who used to come from New York, she was in. 00:01:55.000 --> 00:01:57.000 Levy: Uh, she was in the agency. 00:01:57.000 --> 00:02:04.000 Rubenstein: But she was in, uh, you know, this, uh. Oh. What was his, uh, what was the, uh. 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:06.000 Levy: You mean Assurach? 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:07.000 Rubenstein: Assurach. 00:02:07.000 --> 00:02:08.000 Levy: Right. 00:02:08.000 --> 00:04:06.000 Rubenstein: She was in his office. She was the secretary. She was a big, big secretary there. And she used to come to Pittsburgh to meet with us. And she would introduce some of the the new artists that were on, on, uh, ready to come here. And whom we had. We hadn't met. And we and she came to she wanted us to introduce this artist and that artist, which was great. And Miss Ellingsworth and I became good friends and. So I happen to be in New York one one day and I always called her up. And she's she says, I want you to hear this. Uh, uh, she says, a town hall. I there's a new artist, uh, giving a program in town hall. Uh, and she sent over two tickets for me. So I don't know whom I invited anyway. And there was this, a black girl. And she gave a most. She reminded me of Marian Anderson, and Marian Anderson was in the audience at that time. And I thought, oh, boy, you know, this is she's just giving this concert. This is the time for us to grab the the artist to come to Pittsburgh. That was the idea. So I come running home. But that evening, the our committee was having a, uh, he was having a meeting. And he had not told me about it. Who was. 00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:08.000 Levy: He? Morton Rosenbaum? 00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:32.000 Rubenstein: Recht and Rosenbaum. They were there was a meeting at that. Know anything about it? They didn't call me. And I said, and I told Herman Recht about this concert. Oh, it was, um. What's her name? She was, I know. She is now in the Metropolitan, as. 00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:33.000 Levy: You were anxious about that. 00:04:33.000 --> 00:04:40.000 Rubenstein: About. We should grab her immediately. So I tell Rosenbaum, uh, the rest about her. 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:42.000 Levy: Wasn't Leontyne Price, was it? 00:04:42.000 --> 00:04:54.000 Rubenstein: No, no, no, it was, um. She she was more after Leontyne Price. She was more, uh, recent. Um. 00:04:54.000 --> 00:04:56.000 Levy: Shirley Verrett. No. 00:04:56.000 --> 00:04:58.000 Rubenstein: No no no. 00:04:58.000 --> 00:05:29.000 Levy: Shirley. Rubenstein: No. Isn't that funny? I know, anyway, uh, so he says. Oh, yeah, and he didn't do anything about it. And of course, in the meanwhile, she was getting all kinds of attention. And she is now in the Metropolitan. And that's when I, you know, anything I wanted was not interesting. Not interesting. Oh, he was dreadful. He was just dreadful. 00:05:29.000 --> 00:05:38.000 Levy: Now you had you had this. Before we go back to the artist, you were talking about Herman Passamaneck. And you mentioned that an incident with Pete Seeger. 00:05:38.000 --> 00:05:40.000 Rubenstein: Oh, yeah. 00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:53.000 Levy: Was that occurs when Passamaneck was still the executive director. Yeah. Right. And they had they had engaged Pete Seeger to come to Pittsburgh. Pete Seeger, the folk singer. Yeah. And what happened what did what do you remember? Well. 00:05:53.000 --> 00:05:57.000 Rubenstein: He didn't uh, they didn't, uh, have him. 00:05:57.000 --> 00:05:58.000 Levy: You mean the Y didn't. 00:05:58.000 --> 00:06:16.000 Rubenstein: The Y didn't have him. They. And one of the. Um. Let's see. Uh, what's her name? 00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:19.000 Levy: And one of the members of the committee, then. 00:06:19.000 --> 00:06:20.000 Rubenstein: The mother of one of. 00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:28.000 Levy: The mother of one of the members, was was active and she was anti anti left wing. Is that it left wing. 00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:29.000 Rubenstein: And so anyway. 00:06:29.000 --> 00:06:33.000 Levy: She instigated Passamaneck to withdraw the invitation. Yeah. 00:06:33.000 --> 00:07:12.000 Rubenstein: Yeah. And I was fit to be tied I came I came storming into Passamaneck. I said, how can you do that sort of thing? You're you're a bigot. I call them all kinds of names. And he said he couldn't help it. He was talked into doing that. They used pressure on him. They used pressure and he didn't do it. And he was sorry because Passamaneck was a very fine man. Very fine. But I remember that I carried on high and of course, a lot of good it did. 00:07:12.000 --> 00:07:27.000 Levy: Many people felt embarrassed. Many people who belonged to the Y board felt embarrassed by that. Of course, I recall that incident. Of course. Didn't he end up going to Carnegie Music Hall? I don't know, or no. He ended up with one of the churches or something like that. Yeah. 00:07:27.000 --> 00:07:31.000 Rubenstein: And later on, I guess 00:07:31.000 --> 00:07:34.000 Levy: He came back. So he's been back to Pittsburgh? Several. Oh, yeah. 00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:37.000 Rubenstein: But that's that incident. Um, that's. 00:07:37.000 --> 00:07:46.000 Levy: One of the most famous incidents in the history of the Y Music Society. Yeah. In terms of public, a public display of dissension. 00:07:46.000 --> 00:08:13.000 Rubenstein: Yeah, I was terrible. A lot of stuff. But with the with the. Uh, Rosenbaum. And. Recht. That's, uh. That was just awful. Just awful. And and it lasted too darn long, too. 00:08:13.000 --> 00:08:17.000 Levy: So here are some other names. Uh, Mischa Elman 19.. 00:08:17.000 --> 00:08:20.000 Rubenstein: Oh, yeah. That's, uh. 00:08:20.000 --> 00:08:33.000 Levy: I know that you met many of these people at receptions afterwards. Yeah. Didn't you, because of your position on the committee. And, of course, we have mentioned your husband, who was very active on the committee itself. 00:08:33.000 --> 00:08:35.000 Rubenstein: He used to turn pages for 17 hours. 00:08:35.000 --> 00:08:40.000 Levy: His turn pages. He was a violinist. Yeah. 00:08:40.000 --> 00:08:45.000 Rubenstein: And he was, uh, they asked him to turn pages for some of the artists. Yes. 00:08:45.000 --> 00:08:47.000 Levy: Marjorie Lawrence, the soprano. 00:08:47.000 --> 00:08:53.000 Rubenstein: Oh, yes. Yeah. Uh, did she come in a wheelchair then? Yeah. 00:08:53.000 --> 00:08:55.000 Levy: 45, 46. Was she in the wheelchair. 00:08:55.000 --> 00:08:58.000 Rubenstein: She was in the wheelchair. 00:08:58.000 --> 00:09:15.000 Levy: Forget the sight of them. And. Igor Gori, the bar baritone. He was known on the radio for the scene many times. Uh, is this a local, uh, artist? Helen Kwalwasser. 00:09:15.000 --> 00:09:16.000 Rubenstein: Oh, yes. 00:09:16.000 --> 00:09:19.000 Levy: Is that related to the ones in Pittsburgh? Yeah. Is she a Pittsburgher? 00:09:19.000 --> 00:09:39.000 Rubenstein: Yeah. Well, she, um. Uh. Yeah, I think they came from somewhere. Yes, she was a she was, um. Uh. Her her. Her family were were here. Yeah. 00:09:39.000 --> 00:09:43.000 Levy: And she'd probably gone. Gone away to school? Yes. 00:09:43.000 --> 00:09:45.000 Rubenstein: She was, uh a local. 00:09:45.000 --> 00:09:54.000 Levy: Yeah, here's here's. Here's a little note on the program, ladies, as a courtesy to those behind you, will you kindly remove your hat? 00:09:54.000 --> 00:09:56.000 Rubenstein: Oh, really? 00:09:56.000 --> 00:09:59.000 Levy: That's the kind of thing they used to put in the old silent movies. 00:09:59.000 --> 00:10:00.000 Rubenstein: That's right. 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:04.000 Levy: They put it up on the screen and Benno Moiseiwitsch. 00:10:04.000 --> 00:10:12.000 Rubenstein: Oh, yeah. Moiseiwitsch. She was very good. And who else? Let's see. And. 00:10:12.000 --> 00:10:21.000 Levy: And then you became the chairman of subscriptions. Uh, for the uh Y Music Society in 1949. 00:10:21.000 --> 00:10:22.000 Rubenstein: Oh. Did I? 00:10:22.000 --> 00:10:29.000 Levy: Yeah. Well, what what did you were in charge then of maintaining the membership list? The people who belong. 00:10:29.000 --> 00:11:08.000 Rubenstein: Well, you know, it so happened that, uh, I had more. You know, we used to contact. We, uh, we used to have, uh, sheets with the names on, and, uh, and we each had, uh, several names to call constantly, and I had the most, uh, names of all. And I contacted them more people than the rest. Uh. And, uh, who's the other one? Um. Character. 00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:16.000 Levy: That was when Mrs. Ozerov was chairman. Yeah. Richard [Half?] was associate chairman. Yeah. 00:11:16.000 --> 00:11:18.000 Rubenstein: And who else was on that committee? 00:11:18.000 --> 00:11:26.000 Levy: Helen Rao was the chairman of patrons and donors. Yeah. And Emanuel. Mrs. Emanuel Friede was the secretary. Oh, yeah. 00:11:26.000 --> 00:11:36.000 Rubenstein: Oh, my. Very fine people. Who else was on that committee? Give me a name. 00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:44.000 Levy: Uh, you were telling us that, uh, when you met the Dame Myra Hess, the world famous pianist? Yes. What happened? 00:11:44.000 --> 00:12:22.000 Rubenstein: Well, she, uh. Uh, she was very lovely, by the way. You know, she was Jewish. Mhm. I found out later. Uh oh. Uh, so when I met her, uh, I. I just put my hand out and she said, oh, I'm sorry, I don't shake hands. She says. I. Um, please forgive me. I just I just don't shake hands, you know, to preserve her hands, you know, because. 00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:24.000 Levy: Because you play the piano. 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:27.000 Rubenstein: Yeah. Levy: I'm sure some people squeezed them hard or whatever. 00:12:27.000 --> 00:12:40.000 Rubenstein: Sure, sure. So. But. Later on. You know, the. Uh, on Mt. Lebanon, they had, uh, a series. 00:12:40.000 --> 00:12:41.000 Levy: Music for Mt Lebanon. 00:12:41.000 --> 00:13:32.000 Rubenstein: Yeah, right. And they followed us. They they brought all the artists. After they came. They would ask them the following year. They would ask them. And, um, there was, uh, what was his name? Something like Oswald. The. The chairman of their committee. Uh, he he has since died anyway. Um. So one evening. Oh, Myra Hess was the artist at Mount Lebanon, and the the chairman invited us and invited the Bakaleinikoffs. 00:13:32.000 --> 00:13:36.000 Levy: Bakaleinikoff was the associate conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony. 00:13:36.000 --> 00:13:47.000 Rubenstein: Very good friend of mine. And, uh, let's see. Uh, and, uh. Invited Donald Steinfirst. 00:13:47.000 --> 00:13:52.000 Levy: Steinfirst was the music critic for the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. All right. 00:13:52.000 --> 00:14:05.000 Rubenstein: And I was invited. And, um. Let's see. Oh, um. I think. 00:14:05.000 --> 00:14:09.000 Uh uh um. 00:14:09.000 --> 00:14:30.000 Rubenstein: Somebody else. Anyway, so we all went to the to Mount Lebanon. And you know, the kind of audience they have there. You know, it's the kind that, you know, you have to be. You must be seen to go to, uh, you know. 00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:33.000 Levy: You think It was more of a social thing than it was. Yes, it was a musical. 00:14:33.000 --> 00:14:35.000 Rubenstein: And the, uh, the. Well, there's. 00:14:35.000 --> 00:14:41.000 Levy: A little bit of that at the Y, too, a little bit. Is it a little bit. Yeah. Yeah. 00:14:41.000 --> 00:16:04.000 Rubenstein: Well, anyway. Oh, now. But in those days it wasn't anything like that. Okay. Uh, anyway, um. Let's see. And they all they made a big fuss over the the the ushers, the were all dressed up and uh, anyway it was a it's an entirely different audience entirely. So we sat in the audience and. I thought, oh, they're not going to they're not going to appreciate Myra Hess here. Or whatever. And I'm sitting in the audience and a couple is in back of me and the. Uh. I hear her say, uh oh, now she's going to play, uh. Hayden. And I thought, huh? That's exciting. That's the type that they are. Anyway. I felt that that that that's, uh, that's, uh, program was. Beyond. Oh, and Myras playing. She's sitting, playing, and she looks to the audience as if to say, isn't this beautiful? She had that kind of attitude, you know, and had that. 00:16:04.000 --> 00:16:06.000 Levy: Kind of platform and. 00:16:06.000 --> 00:16:49.000 Rubenstein: And the and the way she played and she was playing and I felt that she was just. This was all wasted. Honestly, I just felt that in the audience, you know, you feel an audience, you know? Anyway, I know that the artist feels an audience. Absolutely. So. Later. So then afterwards, then the they had a big reception in the country club there for the artist. And, um. Myra Hess was. 00:16:49.000 --> 00:16:54.000 Levy: So you were telling us about the reception at the end of the concert and the music, and. 00:16:54.000 --> 00:17:00.000 Rubenstein: The chairman got up and he introduced. Oh, Lewando was there. 00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:03.000 Levy: Ralph Lewando, who was the music critic for the Pittsburgh Press? 00:17:03.000 --> 00:17:57.000 Rubenstein: Yeah, he was there too. So and he, the chairman got up and he introduced us as. Sir. You know, he introduced us by name and so on. Made a big fuss and. And Myra was there at the head table and. Uh, one of our committee members. Uh, was taking her home to stay with her overnight. And then I heard the following day that Myra has stipulated absolutely never, never to invite her to play in Mount Lebanon. 00:17:57.000 --> 00:18:06.000 Levy: See. Here are some other ones here. Here's, uh, Solomon, the pianist. He was, uh, we call that name. He had [?]. You don't recall? 00:18:06.000 --> 00:18:12.000 Rubenstein: No, Solomon. Do you have the do you have the program? 00:18:12.000 --> 00:18:16.000 Levy: The program here. Here's the program. Okay. 00:18:16.000 --> 00:18:20.000 Rubenstein: Oh, you've got all that. My goodness. 00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:27.000 So on. Um. 00:18:27.000 --> 00:18:29.000 Rubenstein: I don't remember him. 00:18:29.000 --> 00:18:35.000 Levy: Okay. We have enough. We have other people. Italtile. The bass baritone. Yeah. 00:18:35.000 --> 00:18:37.000 Rubenstein: Yeah. 00:18:37.000 --> 00:18:44.000 Levy: I'll just mention a few names here. Maybe. Yeah. Uh, I think this is Miss Victoria de Los Angeles. 00:18:44.000 --> 00:18:49.000 Rubenstein: Oh, do I oh, she was gorgeous. She was wonderful. 00:18:49.000 --> 00:18:50.000 Levy: Did you meet her? 00:18:50.000 --> 00:19:02.000 Rubenstein: Yes. Yeah. Victoria. Oh, yeah. She was beautiful. And she sang magnificently. Yeah, we had her back a couple of times. 00:19:02.000 --> 00:19:04.000 Levy: Um, she had a very long career. 00:19:04.000 --> 00:19:09.000 Rubenstein: Uh huh. Yeah. Oh, yeah. I think she's still singing. 00:19:09.000 --> 00:19:22.000 Levy: Uh, and then here's your friend Bakaleinikoff. The Bakaleinikoff Sinfonietta. Oh, yeah. Aldo [Perryso?]. the the cello. So he was the first cello for the the principal for the symphony. Yeah. 00:19:22.000 --> 00:19:27.000 Rubenstein: Well, you know, he went out to he quit the symphony, and 00:19:27.000 --> 00:19:28.000 Levy: He had a solo career. Yes. 00:19:28.000 --> 00:19:29.000 Rubenstein: He did. Yes. 00:19:29.000 --> 00:19:30.000 Levy: He's teaching now, I think. 00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:34.000 Rubenstein: I think so, yes, I think I know where he's teaching. 00:19:34.000 --> 00:19:41.000 Levy: He said some music institute or university. Yeah, yeah. And here, here's a concert. I remember William Warfield. 00:19:41.000 --> 00:19:48.000 Rubenstein: Oh, that was beautiful. Yeah, it was wonderful. He died, didn't he. 00:19:48.000 --> 00:19:50.000 Levy: I don't recall, yes. 00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:52.000 Rubenstein: I think he did. 00:19:52.000 --> 00:20:01.000 Levy: Yeah. And here, here was a young Pittsburgh pianist. I didn't know her, but I knew of Irene lit. 00:20:01.000 --> 00:20:02.000 Rubenstein: Wait, what? 00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:04.000 Levy: Irene lit. 00:20:04.000 --> 00:20:06.000 Rubenstein: Oh, sure. 00:20:06.000 --> 00:20:07.000 Levy: She was a Pittsburgh. 00:20:07.000 --> 00:20:18.000 Rubenstein: Yeah. Yeah, she was good. What happened to her? Oh, of course. 00:20:18.000 --> 00:20:23.000 Levy: And here, here's the young one who died young. And that was Michael Rabbit. Oh, he was. 00:20:23.000 --> 00:20:24.000 Rubenstein: And he was. 00:20:24.000 --> 00:20:27.000 Levy: Very 10 or 12 years old when he came to the Y. 00:20:27.000 --> 00:20:30.000 Rubenstein: Oh, he was wonderful. And he. 00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:31.000 Levy: Died young. 00:20:31.000 --> 00:20:34.000 Rubenstein: Yes. He did. What was that, an accident? 00:20:34.000 --> 00:20:43.000 Levy: No, I don't think so, I think. Well, I don't recall, but I remember he he was a he was a sensation. He was, he was. And he had. 00:20:43.000 --> 00:20:47.000 Rubenstein: A great, uh, career. And, uh. 00:20:47.000 --> 00:20:59.000 Levy: But I don't think he really made it, though. I think he tailed off. He appeared on places like the Telephone Hour. Remember the telephone? Yeah, that was on Monday nights. Yeah, but, uh, but. 00:20:59.000 --> 00:21:05.000 Rubenstein: He died young. Uh, I don't know what, uh, how far he had gone. 00:21:05.000 --> 00:21:08.000 Levy: Good. George. London the great. 00:21:08.000 --> 00:21:34.000 Rubenstein: Oh, George. Oh, yeah. We had a wonderful time with him. We had a reception. We had a reception afterwards. He was very, very charming and very outgoing. Oh, I think we had a reception with him afterwards. A for him. And. He was very charming. I remember him very well. 00:21:34.000 --> 00:21:37.000 Levy: That's Leonard Rose, the cellist. 00:21:37.000 --> 00:21:39.000 Rubenstein: Yeah. Very good. 00:21:39.000 --> 00:21:43.000 Levy: Paul Badura-Skoda. Dennis. 00:21:43.000 --> 00:21:44.000 Rubenstein: Yeah. 00:21:44.000 --> 00:21:55.000 Levy: Uh. Now we're getting into back into the 70s. Now, this is already past your your tenure, but I'm sure you attended these concerts. 00:21:55.000 --> 00:21:57.000 Rubenstein: Uh oh. Sure. Well, I was still on the committee. Yeah. 00:21:57.000 --> 00:21:59.000 Levy: Kyung-Wha Chung. 00:21:59.000 --> 00:22:00.000 Rubenstein: Here. 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:03.000 Levy: The Korean violinist Chung. 00:22:03.000 --> 00:22:04.000 Rubenstein: You know. 00:22:04.000 --> 00:22:17.000 Levy: Him? It's a it's a she. But she had she had a brother, Myung Whun Chung. And it was easy to get their names mixed up. Different was a K and an M and Pincus Zuckerman, I remember. 00:22:17.000 --> 00:22:21.000 Rubenstein: Oh, yeah. You know, I was. 00:22:21.000 --> 00:22:27.000 Levy: Remember when he came with his wife? Yeah. Uh, Eugenia, when she was a flutist. You remember that? 00:22:27.000 --> 00:22:29.000 Rubenstein: Well, they're divorced, you know. 00:22:29.000 --> 00:22:31.000 Levy: Yeah. He married the actress. 00:22:31.000 --> 00:23:07.000 Rubenstein: And married somebody I didn't have. And I, you know, at that time, I didn't. He was. He had a beard. And I have a thing against beards. I can't stand them. And I didn't like him. Uh, the. And Eugenia still on the on the Kuralt, uh, program. She always brings a great musicians and talks about them. Do you listen to Sunday morning? 00:23:07.000 --> 00:23:12.000 Levy: Oh, sure. Uh, it's. You mean the Saint Paul Sunday morning? 00:23:12.000 --> 00:23:13.000 Rubenstein: No, no. 00:23:13.000 --> 00:23:14.000 Levy: Which one? 00:23:14.000 --> 00:23:21.000 Rubenstein: Kuralt. Uh, 9:00 Sunday mornings on, uh. Oh. 00:23:21.000 --> 00:23:23.000 Levy: On QED? 00:23:23.000 --> 00:23:25.000 Rubenstein: Yeah, yeah. 00:23:25.000 --> 00:23:33.000 Levy: I remember on channel two. Oh. You're talking. Oh, you're talking about TV, T.V.. Are you talking about Charles Kuralt? Yeah. 00:23:33.000 --> 00:23:35.000 Rubenstein: Well, do you listen to him? No, I. 00:23:35.000 --> 00:23:38.000 Levy: Don't I don't I listen to the radio on Saturday mornings. Oh. 00:23:38.000 --> 00:24:15.000 Rubenstein: Well, anyway, I listened to him on Sunday mornings, and Eugenia is on his very often. And she talks about musicians and she's lovely and she plays a flute very well. And, uh, I didn't like Pincus because he divorced her, and I didn't like him. Then he married some old actress. Yeah, a year older than he and I just. I didn't like him. But, uh, he he's doing very well now. He's playing beautifully, and. 00:24:15.000 --> 00:24:50.000 Levy: Well here. Here's a few we missed there Isaac Stern. Well, I remember when he came, uh, when he came. Uh, um. Yeah. I remember when he came and he substituted, uh, for somebody at the last minute. And he came on the stage. Yeah. You recall that incident? Yeah. Where, where after the program was over, he said, well, rather than me walking back and forth and you applauding and I doing an encore, and then you'll applaud and I'll come back. He says, I'll, I'll do two encores and say goodbye. 00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:51.000 Rubenstein: Yeah, well. 00:24:51.000 --> 00:24:53.000 Levy: It was a very personable man. 00:24:53.000 --> 00:26:12.000 Rubenstein: Well, I'll tell you about Isaac Stern. So one morning Passamaneck. Calls up. Calls me up. And he says, there's a and this was on Saturday morning. And he says, there's a young fellow wants to play to for the committee and. And the. He's giving a program in Aliquippa tonight, and, uh, and he wants to be heard. So he says, I'm calling the committee. Whoever can come. We all rushed down there to the Y. And on the third floor, you know, there's a that was, uh, there was a piano there. And there were several of us. And. And here, this young, uh, 23 year old. He was ugly. He had pustular skin, a very bad skin. And this. And he. And he had the same accompanist as as. There. What's his name? Serkin. 00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:14.000 Levy: The [?] 00:26:14.000 --> 00:26:48.000 Rubenstein: Uh, no. Um. Uh, Isaac Stern's accompanist, um, who? He's had him all his life. Zircon. Something like that. Anyway, that was, uh. So this, um. Are we to know who it was? And there is about 23 years old and he was to me. He was very, uh, ugly. You know, he he was not very attractive. His face was pustular. And so. And he starts. 00:26:48.000 --> 00:26:49.000 Levy: Post-adolescent skin and. 00:26:49.000 --> 00:27:28.000 Rubenstein: He starts to play. Of course, he played beautifully like an angel. And. We sign them up for the following season for $300. That was before he gave his town hall recital in New York. That was before that. And that was Isaac Stern. And then. Then shortly after that he gave his recital in Town Hall and, of course, the raves in New York. And that started him out on. 00:27:28.000 --> 00:27:36.000 Levy: Well, that brings that brings up the point. Uh, do you recall anything else about Stern or is that he came back several times after that? 00:27:36.000 --> 00:28:19.000 Rubenstein: Oh, yes. Yes, he came back. He was, uh, uh, and he he was. And then, of course, I, I bought all his actions and, uh, his, uh, what he has done, he, he saved Town Hall in New York, Carnegie Hall and, and, uh, and he's very, uh, very, uh, outgoing. And he's, he's doing he was doing so much good work in the, uh, for the Israel. And he has he sponsored many young people and, and their careers. And he was. 00:28:19.000 --> 00:28:20.000 Levy: A very responsible person. 00:28:20.000 --> 00:29:20.000 Rubenstein: I have a great, great respect for him, for what he's done. And, uh, I knew that he was married to a. Uh. He was married to a someone. Was she? She was a she was a dancer in, in a in a in a ballet. And that didn't last very long. And then he married a lovely, lovely, beautiful gal. I think she was a from Israel, a from Israel and, uh. I met her. She was. I met her at Steinfirsts house. She's. She's very attractive. And she is doing a lot of philanthropic work around, you know, all over and a very fine. And. And I remember that Isaac Stern every time he came to Pittsburgh. To wherever, you know, either, uh, Heinz Hall or the Y. He was a very good friend of Donald Steinfirst. And he'd be he'd stay over there and they. And they would play gin rummy all all night. And they were very, very good friends. And the. And they always had a great time in Pittsburgh. Okay.