I recall an occasion in New York where Princess Cantacuzène received just such a reduced, diluted circle and Enesco played for them. Although by this time he was severely stooped, his performance of the Geistertrio had a size and vitality of spirit that matched Beethoven’s. It demonstrated a very important mystery of violin playing – that vision can overcome technical disability. The number of violinists who play beautifully with faulty left hands is legion, but because they have something to convey they find ways to convey it. That was not Enesco’s case, of course: he exemplified the related truth that conviction and inspiration, once possessed, remain. Having known the elation of communicating through the violin, Enesco, although crippled and with his hearing slightly affected, could yet give a performance hardly to be surpassed; just as an old man no longer capable of the act of love may understand love better and better convey its meaning than an ignorant lusty youth. << less