Until his early 20s, Andre Kostelanetz never allowed a Tin Pan Alley tune to get into his rigidly classical musical diet. Born in St. Petersburg 49 years ago, he studied piano at the conservatory, became an assistant conductor at the Mariinsky Theater before he was 20. But during the civil strife of the early '20s, Kostelanetz grew restless, set out for the U.S.
On the way, he stopped off in a Warsaw record shop, got an earful of U.S. popular songs of the day. Kostelanetz has forgotten what the tunes were, but he remembers...
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