David Dubal.

So much hype surrounding this colossal giant; the legendary foremost scholar of piano history - having now spent a considerable time with him, the figure is larger than life. Cynical, arrogant, haughty, cocky, pessimistic, insulting, racist, offensive, and otherwise rude - and without a doubt, next to Lowenthal, the single most brilliant intellectual I've met at Juilliard.

A lot of people are put off by Dubal - understandably; aside from being prone to making gigantic generalizations and insulting statements ("Schubert had no idea what he was doing" "All old men over the age of 70 should be required to get botox"), Dubal is downright rude. A lot of people are automatically put off by a cocky know-it-all; without ever really getting know if he actually knows it all or not. Most assume that he doesn't. Well....Dubal knows it all.

Today was the fourth time I played for his evening division audience of rich, octogenerian socialites - the most supportive audience I've ever played for. Next to me, an 80-year old woman whispers "I hate this guy! He's such a dumb asshole! I only come for the piano playing!".
Heh. Woman; you're in the presence of genius and you don't even know it.