Oscar Levant was a one-of-a-kind person with many great gifts. “There's a fine line between genius and insanity. I have erased this line.” ― Oscar Levant. But I say he was a genius. And a very funny one!
Poor guy, he was really a mess. His entire life was a struggle with self-doubt and inner demons. He had terrible OCD, was addicted to all kinds of drugs, and was a self-poisoner through massive amounts of caffeine and nicotine -- just a nervous wreck. He was also spectacularly intelligent, and tremendously witty as well as extremely generous and kind. There is an excellent biography on him called "A Talent For Genius."
I agree with everything you said about him. Thanks for mentioning the book. I didn’t know there were any books on him. I’ve seen him in films but my clearest recollection is seeing him for the very first time as a guest on The Tonight Show with Jack Paar. I was only a young kid but I was fascinated by his talent and wit and my heart went out to him as you could see with his nervous manner and facial ticks he had been a very troubled man. He’s always been very special to me.
Unfortunately I don’t know the whole story. I realize that he’s not well and pretty much forcing himself to play. Can someone explain how much he was supposed to play before exiting? I’m assuming he just couldn’t mentally take it anymore and just left. Correct?
The next section of music was very fast and very demanding double 5ths and 6ths up and down the keyboard for 2 pages before returning to the beautiful love theme. I felt for him, too.
The next section of music was very fast and very demanding double 5ths and 6ths up and down the keyboard for 2 pages before returning to the beautiful love theme. I felt for him, too.
The next section of music was very fast and very demanding double 5ths and 6ths up and down the keyboard for 2 pages before returning to the beautiful love theme. I felt for him, too.
The next section of music was very fast and very demanding double 5ths and 6ths up and down the keyboard for 2 pages before returning to the beautiful love theme. I felt for him, too.
The next section of music was very fast and very demanding double 5ths and 6ths up and down the keyboard for 2 pages before returning to the beautiful love theme. I felt for him, too.
