Yet with so much talent, even Levant’s failures, look like successes. Levant would always gripe about his limitations as a pianist, but in the mid-1940s he was the highest paid concert hall artist in the United States, receiving almost $5,000 per recital, more than even Horowitz or Rubinstein charged. By the same token, he mocked his writing talent, but his books were bestsellers—and still have devoted reader today. (They were, in fact, my first introduction to Levant.) Or consider his talent as songwriter, which he pursued with halfhearted ambitions as an occasional sideline, yet Levant produced the beloved jazz standard “Blame it On My Youth,” performed by everyone from Nat King Cole to Keith Jarrett.
He was one of my favorites on the Jack Paar show when I was in high school (the best late-night TV show ever). Here he is with Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra. This is a great performance. Ormandy was a great Tchaikovsky conductor and Byron Janis told me once that he was the greatest orchestral he ever played under. He said it was because Ormandy actually enjoyed accompanying. That’s on display here. This is Levant’s interpretation and Ormandy accompanies that.
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