Virtuoso who managed to break the rules (7 photos)

If a person really wants to fulfill his dream, then he will overcome almost any obstacle on the way to this goal.





The main wealth for a musician is his hands. After all, it is impossible to create an intricate melody from simple sounds without them. Therefore, the loss of his right hand during the war for the Austrian virtuoso pianist Paul Wittgenstein (1887-1961) was tantamount not only to the end of his career, but also his life.



The family was quite musical. Johannes Brahms, Clara Schumann, and Richard Strauss visited the Wittgensteins. The boy learned to play the piano from famous teachers Malvina Bre and Theodor Leschetizky.





After being wounded, the pianist almost immediately tried to return to duty: while still lying in the hospital, he drew keys on the board and practiced “playing” for hours, but now only with one hand.



Paul recovered, returned to Vienna and tried to regain his career. Naturally, for the majority he remained only a weak cripple who could be pitied. But playing with one hand again? This is impossible.



Months of continuous training yielded results. In 1916, the pianist resumed his concert activities, despite his family’s offer of financial support and development of a new direction. The musician selected his repertoire himself, and wrote some pieces specifically to be performed with his left hand. And then Paul began to commission works from the leading composers of his time - Brithen, Hindemith, Prokofiev.



The most famous commission was a left-handed concerto by the French composer Maurice Ravel. For several years Paul was engaged in teaching and concert activities. In 1938, he emigrated to the United States through Switzerland, not accepting the deal with the Nazis and refusing to support the regime. Where he lived until the end of his life, teaching piano.

The musician once said the following about himself:

If I climbed a high mountain and saw that I still couldn’t get to the very top, I would go down and try on the other side.



The example of combining hard work, talent, stubbornness and focus on results in this person proves that in life, if not everything, then almost everything is possible.