In last Sunday’s (9/4) Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Mackenzie Carpenter writes, “It started life in 1927, billed in a newspaper ad as ‘a Temple of Cinema’ dedicated to ‘the advancement of the art of silent drama.’ Forty-three years later, the faded rococo movie palace that had been Loew’s Penn Theatre—the largest in the state, seating 4,000 people—was rescued from the wrecking ball by one of Pittsburgh’s solid citizens and became Heinz Hall for the Performing Arts, where the art was anything but silent. On Saturday, the hall celebrates its 40th anniversary as home of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and host, over the years, to world-renowned musical artists, from Luciano Pavarotti to Bruce Springsteen to Leonard Bernstein … Jack Heinz was the second son of Howard C. Heinz, whose own father, H.J. Heinz, had founded the ketchup empire in the 19th century. … As head of the Allegheny Conference, he and other leaders plotted the city’s comeback after decades of decline. ‘He’d call me and say, ‘Sy, I just got into town, I got some fish, come over and have lunch,’ ’ recalled Seymour Rosen, former PSO general manager. ‘We’d go for a swim, have lunch, talk about chamber music and then some. He was hands on. If we needed something, I knew I could ultimately get to Jack Heinz.’ ”
Posted September 12, 2011
