Music: Veteran

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On the evening of Nov. 17, 1891 a sharp-eyed Pole with an incredible stack of red-gold hair walked onto the stage of Manhattan's Carnegie Hall. He bowed suavely, sat down at the piano and struck the opening chords of Saint-Saens' G Minor Piano Concerto. Leading the attendant orchestra was Manhattan's cool, deliberate Walter Damrosch, then a young man of 29.

Ignace Jan Paderewski's U. S. debut was no sensation. A stormy crossing from England on a small steamer had upset his stomach. The unexpected news that he was supposed to play six...