From Buchenwald to Carnegie Hall

Conservatory Days

In September 1932, after two exhausting and unforgettable months of private lessons with Professor Drzewiecki, I sat for my examination to enter the State Conservatory of Music, Professor Drzewiecki prepared the program that I played in front of the musical jury at the Conservatory. When I passed and was accepted into the fourth year of the nine-year program, I was on top of the world! Not only had I been accepted into the fourth year right off the bat, but I had also already played with the Warsaw Philharmonic—a full concerto, not just a kiddie concert! I thought I wasthe greatest pianist in the universe. However, myhigh spirits faded during myfirstdays at the Conservatory , as I walked around and listened outside the practice studios. These kids were good, very good. This wasnot funny! It was obvious that I was going to have to work hard to keep up. My ego and competitive spirit were immediately engaged by the challenges presented by this great school. Not only did the top talents of Poland vie to attend, but many of the top talents from the rest of Europe 13 ConsenuatonyDays 14 Old World were there as welL Chopin, Paderewski, and Arthur Rubinstein had studied there. I decided I'd better sit down at the piano and really start working, which is what I did. I buckled down, and in my first year I got straight A's and did two years worth of study, so I moved directly into the program's sixth year. There was a light, reassuring moment at the beginning. One of my first days at the Conservatory, a man named Joseph, a caretaker who used to open the pianos, looked at me closely and said, "I remember you! I opened a piano for you when you were just a stinker and had bangs and short pants! Youplayed your first recital here." It was nice to be remembered among so many. Since my Conservatory studies were in addition to my regular schoolwork, things started getting hectic. I was going to school Tuesday through Sunday at a gymnasium (secondary school that prepares students for university) and then attended the Conservatory after my regular classes every day except Sunday. My parents decided it wastoo much and found another private gymnasium,one of the best in the city, that had Sunday off. Having neither school nor Conservatory on Sunday gave me a little more time to breathe. My mother worried about me running around too much and always catching colds, so she would slip me a sandwich in the afternoon. "You need strength," she would say,"this is good for you. Eat it, but don't tell your father." Why not? Because it was a ham sandwich! I grew musically by leaps and bounds. I took classes in harmony (two levels), music theory, solfeggio (sight singing, or readingmusic by singing it), and basic musical theory—reading and analyzingmusical forms. The Conservatory had three courses of three years each—low, medium, and high—for a total of nine years of study. After I entered at the fourth-yearlevel and then passed straight into the sixth, I spent the last three years in the Conservatory's final phase. I continued my studies with Professor Drzewieckiby taking lessons with him at the Conservatory twice a week, and eventually I became one of his favorite students. The students used to compete Conservatory Days 15 to run errands for him, and I always seemed to be the one who ended up bringing him his cigarettes, although that didn't mean he made it any easier on me. In 1937, 1938, and 1939—the seventh, eighth, and ninth years of my programof studies—I won first prize in the piano competition arranged by the Ministry of Culture. As a consequence, I wasplaced on scholarship, and the ministrysent me a check forfiftyzlotys each month. Scholarships to the Conservatory were based on talent, not financial need. I never knew how much my tuition cost my parents. Since it was a state conservatory, it probably wasn't too expensive. We were fairly well off,but it was still a good feeling to know that my dad didn't have to pay for my musical education anymore. I also never knew how much my father paid Mr. Goldberg—that was considered none of my business. My parents kept us out of the financial side of things. As soon...