Still on the Beat

By Jeremy Caplan

When Gyorgy Sandor talks about the piano, it's as if an oracle were speaking. "It's not in the fingers. It's in the muscles of the body," he whispers cryptically about the secret of his technique. Sandor, who draws on a repertoire of works that numbers more than a thousand, is known around the world for his wizardry at the keyboard. Last year he played to packed houses at Cairo's Manasterly Palace, Seoul's Arts Center and London's Barbican Hall, to name a few. This week he's on his way to Rome's Teatro Ghione, and from there to Singapore's Symphony Hall for recitals. His rigorous performance schedule has forced him to curtail some of his old hobbies, such as mountain climbing, skiing and tennis. But having just celebrated his 91st birthday, he's not complaining.

Across town from Sandor's Manhattan apartment, Robert Mann, 83, fiddles away in preparation for his upcoming tour. Mann's 51 years as first violinist in the renowned Juilliard Quartet now seem like a musical warm-up for the multifaceted career he has pursued since he retired from the group in 1997. At an upcoming concert that typifies his new approach to performing, Mann will conduct, play chamber music, perform on violin and viola and debut his own composition--all on the same program. "When you love your art, it's easy to keep going," he says. "There's always more repertoire."

Mann and Sandor are connecting with a long tradition of classical artists who have performed and taught well into their golden years. For centuries, classical music has been an art form that reveres its old masters, those gifted few like Vladimir Horowitz, Yehudi Menuhin and Pablo Casals whose performances, like fine wine, improve with age. And as musicians train their muscles for ever longer careers, an unprecedented number of older talents reign on the concert scene. While prodigies as young as 6 draw crowds with their youthful showmanship, many of music's eldest statesmen are over 80--and still playing their best.

Not only do these vital virtuosos continue to perform, but most also teach, providing a critical link to a celebrated musical past. Bass player Homer Mensch, 89, learned orchestra playing from conducting greats Arturo Toscanini and Leonard Bernstein. Sandor grew up studying piano at Budapest's Liszt Academy with Bela Bartok, one of the 20th century's greatest composers. "[Bartok] listened to you and then played whatever you were trying to play," says Sandor of his teacher. "Technique is a difficult thing to put into words."

Philadelphia's Curtis Institute of Music, one of the country's most prestigious conservatories, has nearly 50 alumni over 70 who still teach and perform on concert tours. "When Isaac Stern turned 70, we told him he was old enough to teach at Curtis," jokes the school's director, Gary Graffman, who at 75 remains a concert pianist.

"I don't know a single pianist whose playing has gotten worse because of his age," Sandor says, insisting that advancing years alone don't end a career. He says a relaxed way of playing can minimize the physical demands placed on muscles. But Sandor hasn't given up on musical fireworks and flash. His programs include everything from dark, difficult Beethoven sonatas (like Opus 111) to dazzling Schumann fantasies.

Mann, on the other hand, thanks modern medicine and healthy practicing for the longevity of his career. He says he may be the only professional violinist still performing after undergoing two rotator-cuff surgeries. The great Jascha Heifetz ended his concert career when tendon weakness in his right arm prevented him from bowing properly. These days, medical specialists have myriad techniques for keeping performers in playing shape even as their bodies age and muscles weaken. Musicians with dystonia, for example, who often suffer from muscle spasms, now receive experimental new movement and drug therapies.

Violin virtuoso Louise Behrend, 87, maintains a studio for 30 students, mentoring kids more than 80 years her junior. "What you don't use, you lose," she says, explaining why her hands are nearly always hovering over her violin's fingerboard. "Playing violin is one of the few activities that use your entire being--your mind, body and emotions," she notes.

"People say, 'You're crazy. You should slow down,'" Behrend remarks. "But why retire? What I love more than anything is teaching and playing the violin." Legendary lyric bass Daniel Ferro, 82, concurs. "I couldn't think of retiring," says Ferro, who still has a booming voice. "I would be bored to tears. I'll probably die at the keyboard."

As for Sandor, he's nearing the achievement of the legendary Mieczyslaw Horszowski, who continued to perform at the piano after his 100th birthday. Horszowski's mother had studied with a pupil of Frederic Chopin, and she gave her son his first lessons in 1895, when he was 3. In Horszowski's 98th year of musicmaking, people marveled at his longevity and were even more impressed by his artistry. Sandor explains Horszowski's endurance with the confidence of an insider. "I tell people that the first 90 years are hard," he says. "After that, it's easy."