Victor Borge

[Richard Moody]

> " I found that in a precarious situation, a smile
> is the shortest distance between people. When one needs to reach out for
> sympathy or a link with people, what better way is there?"
>
> Jim Bryant (FL)

I saw a Victor Borge performance on TV, (I never saw him live, alas) where
he was commenting on all the awards he had gotten (recently in Sweden) and
he was mentioning them in a tongue in cheek way like what a great man he
was, and out came, "so I guess you can call me  a great    Dane."    The way
the laughter followed was just as funny.  He was a Great Man.  And human
kind is a little greater because of him.
    As a pianist I always wondered how good he really was. Certainly the
duets on too small a bench showed amazing virtuosity. It takes virtuosity of
expression of playing to achieve animation.  Borge was a great musical
caricaturist, not a rare talent, but he was a rare consumate master of that
talent because, at will he could pull it off time after time, performance
after performance. The essence of caricature is portraying the most with the
least.
    Victor Borge was always giving the least little parts of great piano
pieces. You always wanted to hear more.   What would the complete Greig
Concerto by Borge sound like? Or Bach or Chopin?  Had he recorded "Rhapsody
on a Theme by Paganni", or "My Favorite Chopin" I suppose the music critics
would have lamented, "Alas, Borge has gone comercial".  But he never sold
out, he was always the comedian and stayed true to his art, the comedian
performing live---there he was always sold out, standing room only.  And he
left the audiences standing in applause.

---ric