Mr. H

Vladimir Horowitz got his groove back on Lake Kezar.

Fireside stories color our lakes like dri ing pre-dawn mists.

Vladimir Horowitz, by many accounts the greatest pianist since Liszt, came in secret to Quisisana Resort on Lake Kezar in Lovell for nearly a month during his self-imposed 12 years of silence. He and his Steinway occupied a rustic cottage named Quartet (three bedrooms and a parlor for his piano shipped from New

York—or Boston, according to some reports) where he could hear himself think. e whole operation was so undercover that his biographer Glenn Plaskin (Horowitz, William Morrow, $29.95), a classically trained pianist himself, is surprised to learn this.

“Honestly, I have no idea that Horowitz visited the state of Maine in 1962.”

“He always had his piano own into wherever he was performing. One time it was dangling outside his townhouse window [on East 94th Street in Manhattan] on a hoist–a great picture... He always had grey sole own into wherever he was performing. He loved that kind of sh. He also brought along all his own pots and pans. Secondly, he only performed at 4 p.m. at was the best time of day for him. e piano that came to Maine exists today–as a rotating exhibit that visited Steinway dealers across the country to entice sales.

What We Saw

Sixty-one years later, Judy Holbrook

OUTDOORS Camps

Hurlbut remembers.

“I worked as a waitress at ‘Quisi’ during the summer of ’62. If free from work details, all of us on the sta would quietly listen nearby on the rare occasions when Mr. Horowitz played on his piano in the woods. He seemed shy about having anyone listen. We guessed he was a perfectionist.”

As for what Quisisana Resort was like back then, it was like what it is today: a world-class lake retreat with cottages for guests who share a love of music. A number of the senior sta are graduates or students at e Juilliard School or the New England Conservatory of Music. No matter your experience level, you have to hear Quisisana in order to see it.

“I’d guess Mr. H. might have been there July or early August [accompanied by his wife Wanda Toscanini Horowitz, daughter of his friend, the world-famous conductor Arturo Toscanini],” Hurlbut says. “While at Quisi working three meals all seven days of the week for three months, I was never sure of dates. I never served Mr. Horowitz. My station was farthest from the kitchen, closest to the lake. He either sat with the family or ate early, sitting closer to the kitchen.”

Tasting Sound

With its blue views of the lake, even the dining room at “Quisi” drew applause. “ e chef, sous-chef and French pastry chefs were excellent,” Hurlbut says.

One day word raced through camp that a test pressing of a new Horowitz recording for Columbia Masterworks had arrived from New York, featuring works for solo piano by Chopin, Schumann, Rachmanino , and Liszt.

“Before the sta was invited to hear the recording, he listened to it in private rst. en about 15 to 20 sta members sat in the dining room while Mr. H. lingered near the door with his back to us. He le as soon as the last note was played, not waiting for applause, which we gave with enthusiasm. I do not remember if he smoked or not, then or at all. Many of the rest of us did back then, so to see him with a cigarette would have gone unnoticed.”

Dirty Dancing

So there were two worlds in this 1962 movie, guests and sta . What was it like for those “downstairs”? Were you allowed to use some of the camp’s boats to go out on the lake?

(Continued on page 24) town of Lubec. It’s adjacent to Quoddy State Park with a 5 minute walk to West Quoddy Light. Guests can enjoy the cultural and nautical heritage of Maine’s Bold Coast, and Passamaquoddy Bay.

Travelers from all over the world visit Downeast Maine for its natural beauty and relaxed quality of life. You can plan your stay at West Quoddy Station for a comfortable itinerary. Visit lighthouses, sight and photograph seals and eagles, go on a whale watch, hike, birdwatch, picnic or enjoy the vistas from one of our decks. There are opportunities for art, music, photography and yoga. West Quoddy Station offers many ways to create your personal Quoddy Vacation.

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“ e sta at Quisi were allowed to use the watercra ,” Hurlbut says. “We could take the canoes and rowboats out if the guests weren’t using them. ere was a small sailboat which we could use if accompanied by one of the owners’ sons or beach crew. One of the sta once ran the sailboat into the dock.

“We could also water-ski o the point. Guests enjoyed watching us.

Campfire Nights

Iremember several times when our sta , camp counselors on the lake, and wait sta from other lodges around the lake rented a houseboat for parties in the evenings.

“ ere was a public beach nearby, where on many evenings we’d all gather to party after work. e highlight of these beach parties was to get a watermelon, [then] soak it all day with gin as the refreshment. While Quisi guests were sunbathing on the Quisi Point beach, sta met for swimming at the public beach in the a ernoons between serving lunch and dinner.

Salad Days

“Nineteen sixty-two was my third and last summer of waitressing. A er Labor Day, I headed back to the University of New Hampshire for my nal year.” It was the eve of the Cuban Missile Crisis. “ ree of the six waitresses didn’t return. Coincidentally, all six of us from di erent states belonged to Congregational churches and nicknamed ourselves the Congo Club.”

Any romances?

“Marian, a waitress from the previous two summers and a friend of mine from UNH, did have a steady who was working at Hampton Beach and came to visit her in Center Lovell weekly. ey just celebrated their 60th. I didn’t have a steady boyfriend, but dated guys from Severance Lodge, located elsewhere on the lake. Severance had an all-male waitsta . Many evenings found the four of us—Betty, me, and two of the Quisi busboys (all of us college students)—playing bridge on the Lodge porch.”

A subversive game. Where was home for you back then?

“My parents had a 50-acre farm in Hinsdale, New Hampshire, with one of those acres in Massachusetts. e Connecticut River bordered the entire western property.”

Were you musically inclined?

“In junior high school, I played trumpet in the marching band and French horn in the orchestra the four years I attended Northeld School for Girls [now part of Northeld Mount Hermon]. e waitresses and busboys at Quisi were not professionally musical. We did put on sections from musicals for the guests on Saturday evenings: West Side Story, e Sound of Music. I don’t remember if Mr H. ever attended any of those fun evenings. e sta with Juilliard connections performed on Fridays. He might have attended those, I’m not sure. I de nitely enjoyed classical music and appreciated that Mr. H. was there.

“I don’t know what piece he might have been working on. With tongue in cheek, I’d like to say maybe ‘ e Quisi Rag’ or ‘Frolicking on the Shores of Lake Kezar,’ but I’m afraid he was far too conservative and ac-