[Trademark Tartarov]

Antonei Sergejvitch Tartarov alias Jean-Jacques Hauser

THE STORY OF THE GREAT AND UNKNOWN VIRTUOSO
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The great concert

The program

For several weeks big posters announced an exclusive concert. Settled in many strategic points of Switzerland and its surrounding countries, they drew the attention of the passers-by due to their rare characteristics: big format, golden letters over a black background and a unique program.

The connoisseurs, aware of the required skills to play Skrjabin, Ravel, Bartok and Prokofiev pieces, full of difficult passages, considered Tartarov as a great virtuoso even before having listened to him.

The exclusive chance of attending to the premiere of original pieces by Mozart, Beethoven and Liszt, helped to convoke the audience to this unmissable occasion.

Also Prokofiev's second sonata - still unknown - aroused many interest.

That night's finale also awoke many discussions in the music world: improvisations over musical themes proposed by the audience, a practice that was already forgotten by pianists, and that was almost a provocation to the current traditions of that time.

 

      
Poster of the concert        Program of the concert

 

The hall program was a booklet full of information and pictures:

  • Tartarov's curriculum written by Arno Fischer (which was really an ingenious invention by Hannes Keller)
  • The exotic and charming performer's picture (it was obviously Jean-Jacques Hauser, the pianist, who was totally unrecognizable thanks to sophisticated makeup tricks made by Max Heiland, Zurich's theater makeup artist)
  • The pianist's hands photograph
  • An excerpt of Beethoven's sonata rebuilt by Tartarov (manuscript)
  • Tartarov's logo which would represent his persona in the future


                 

The most important part was the analytic presentation made by Raymond Littman, a musicologist, who was really André Manz an organist, and a friend. Camouflaged as an introvert professor, he was on the stage that night, giving Tartarov the musical motifs chosen by the audience for him to improvise.

As a proficient scholar, Raymond Littman resolved fluently this delicate task, presenting his very personal version written according to the professional praxis, without leaving out some ironic expressions, sometimes making a parody of those ready-made phrases which are often used by critics in embarrassing situations.

These precious insights were taken very seriously by the melomaniacs that filled the music hall… information that surely helped to assimilate Tartarov's performance, specially the recently discovered pieces.

This original text written by Raymond Littman is available in the German page.

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© | http://www.tartarov.ch/eng/story | The story of the great and unknown virtuoso - p. 2