On December 2, 1950, Dinu Lipatti ceased to suffer; he has entered the Kingdom of Peace to which his soul aspired, finally finding rest and the end of his long martyrdom. For us, his death is a catastrophe. We measure all that we have lost and see only through mourning's veil what we have received. The death of young, beautiful people, intoxicated with life and rich with all its gifts, strikes us with shock, and time is needed so as to learn how to “tromper la violence de la douleur par le souvenir de la joie” [trick the violence of pain with the memory of joy].

George Enescu saw Dinu grow up; I came to know him as an adolescent. What a picture the two of us could paint of him.

George Enescu foresaw his gifts, seeing them appear in their original freshness and, from then on, understood what we could expect of this small boy already marked by his destiny.

When Dinu arrived in Paris, he was an accomplished pianist—shaped by the admirable Mademoiselle Florica Musicescu, whom he worshipped—and a true composer, armed by Mihail Jora with solid technique. But his conscience was such that, far from being satisfied with all that he had already accomplished, he worried only about what he believed he did not yet know.

His appearance revealed him entirely. The peaceful, pale face, the mellow gaze, so ardent, so gentle, so serious, the beautiful white hands, all testified to the delicacy and the power of his soul. He gave off an extraordinary purity because he had kept intact the gaiety and the seriousness of childhood. How I would like to remember everything that he said to me over the course of the years, whether we spoke of music or just chatted. His words were never dogmatic nor complicated, so even when they emanated from the most secret parts of himself, they maintained a certain childlike simplicity. They always had the resonance of the authentic.

His heart considered nothing to be beneath consideration. When he approached, the simplest objects and the humblest people took on new value through the attention he gave them.