By far the most famous, and infamous, piano player that ever lived was the flamboyant Liberace. This King of Pianos came from a humble background to be behind a tremendous wealth and fortune. From this youth to his old age, Liberace kept an air of grace, exuberance, and sophistication about him wherever he went.
Long before he ever played any of his famous mirrored or jewel encrusted pianos, Liberace was born to an Italian father and a Polish mother in West Allis, Wisconsin. The family was quite musically talented, with his father, Salvatore Liberace playing the French horn in the Milwaukee Philharmonic, his mother, Frances Liberace playing the piano, and two of three siblings also showing musical prowess. As a child, Walter Valentino Liberace, would often watch and listen to his parents playing their instruments of choice, but falling in love with pianos.
He was offered a scholarship to the College of Music in Wisconsin by a family friend who visited their home and was impressed by his sheer talent. Liberlace grabbed the offer and studied at the college. He also received private tutions from Florence Bettray Kelly, who was known as the protege of celebrated Moritz Rosenthal. He finished his classical training at an early age of fourteen years and went on to give his solo debut performance at the Chicago Symphony.
He took the night club route and performed at some of the most famous clubs in the country like the Persian Room at the renowned Plaza Hotel in New York City. He preferred to be known by his last name only and started appearing with the gold cadelbra which ultimately became his trademark. Another seven years later he was playing his infamous piano having already returned a star.
In the 1950s Liberace began making movies in Hollywood, and soon he was sought out for a television series. He won two Emmy awards for it and the show was a hit. It was broadcast all over the world on both television and radio transmissions. In the midst of all his television commitment, Liberace continued touring and playing sold out performances in Carnegie Hall and Madison Square Garden.
The 1960s and 1970s saw Liberace dragging pianos all over the world, as he played capacity crowds in Europe and Australia. Also during this time, he began penning his autobiography and his famous cookbook, “Liberace Cooks.” Always philanthropic, Liberace created the Liberace Foundation that supports the Performing and Creative Arts through scholarship programs. The ever-busy piano player took home three consecutive Contemporary Keyboard Magazine “Pop Keyboard Artist of the Year” awards in addition to starting his own Las Vegas museum.
He continued his musical voyage in 1980s and played all the nominated songs perfectly at the 1982 Academy Awards. He worked tirelessly and kept drawing fans to different venues including Radio City Music Hall.
Shortly before his 68th birthday, the King of Pianos passed away in the comfort of his Palm Springs home. No one has yet to fill his shoes or sit at his rhinestone encrusted pianos since his passing and the world wonders will there ever be another Liberace?
Article Source: http://www.artsymmetry.com
Emanuel Daffy is the chief editor for F pianos, the #1 source on the internet for information about pianos, For more articles on pianos why not visit: www.azpianos.com/articles
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