One of the most poignant and precious moments of my life was when a dying Rudolf Firkusny cancelled a national appearance on PBS, that was honoring the music of Czech composer, Janacek whose compositions Firkusny has both premiered and promoted. It was a huge showcase for him. But, he was weeks from dying of bone cancer. He said that he wanted to play his last concert surrounded by friends, (Dave Young, Marion Robinson, Luly Hay and others,) and where yours truly cared for the piano. We had been friends for more than twenty years at the time. Once he had come to my defense when I was in a little professional trouble and the Atlanta music critic had it in for me - he was a true friend.
That evening was one of his best performances - it was truly awesome and there is a recording of it somewhere (one of my recording engineer friends has it.) When he existed the stage for the very last time, this usually very reserved man, looked at me with tears in his eyes and said, "Marion, part of that applause is for you, you know." He was referencing my piano work, I had just rebuilt the hall's piano. He actually hugged me. When he did I could see how terribly frail he was under his tux. The Lord Blesses us with moments and memories capable of creating sweet tears, if our hearts are open to Him and others. - Maestro - May you repose in Christ's Divine Light.
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