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Vladimir Horowitz

 

(born Oct. 1, 1903, Berdichev, Russia — died Nov. 5, 1989, New York, N.Y., U.S.) Russian pianist. He attended the Kiev Conservatory and made his debut in 1921. His stunning technique gained him a large international reputation, and he became an inveterate touring performer, giving 100 concerts a year in the U.S. alone. In 1933 he married Arturo Toscanini's daughter, Wanda. Always susceptible to nervous strain, in 1953 he decided to quit public performance; his return to the concert stage in 1965 was attended by great publicity. He favoured the works of Romantics such as Robert Schumann, Frédéric Chopin, Franz Liszt, and his friend Sergey Rachmaninoff. He continued to perform into his 80s.

For more information on Vladimir Horowitz, visit Britannica.com.

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Music Encyclopedia: Vladimir Horowitz
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(b Kiev, 1 Oct 1904; d New York, 5 Nov 1989). American pianist of Ukrainian birth. He appeared in Russia from 1922 and made his London and New York débuts in 1928. In 1940 he settled in the USA, becoming a citizen in 1944. He continued to perform until the early 1970s, with several breaks through ill-health, and played again in the USSR in 1986. He was admired for his legendary technique, with immaculate control of articulation and dynamics, uncanny speed and force, individual tone and a curious combination of urbanity and power; he was at his best in Schumann, Liszt and the late Romantics.



Biography: Vladimir Horowitz
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American pianist Vladimir Horowitz (1904-1989) was among the last performers in the 19th-century grand-virtuoso tradition. While his phenomenal technique sometimes overwhelmed the music, the power and energy of his playing were unsurpassed.

During his lifetime, Vladimir Horowitz was recognized as the greatest piano virtuoso of the 20th century. Michael Walsh noted in an 1986 report "At his peak Horowitz had it all, heightened and amplified by a daredevil recklessness that infused every performance with an exhilarating, unabashed theatricality. … [He was] this most extraordinary of artists." Vladimir Horowitz's birth occurred in 1904 in Russia. He began to study piano with his mother at around age three. Within a few years he was seriously studying the instrument and by his late teens had already composed several songs. Other members of the family were also musical, especially Horowitz's sister, Regina, who also became a concert pianist, and an uncle who had studied composition with Scriabin and who arranged for Horowitz's concerts before the pianist left Russia.

Although Horowitz revealed talent at an early age, he was not considered a prodigy. He enrolled in the Kiev Conservatory in 1912, first studying with his mother's teacher, Vladimir Puchalsky, then Sergei Tarnowsky in 1915, and, finally, Felix Blumenfeld, a student of Anton Rubinstein, in 1919. Horowitz credited the last mentioned for his flat-fingered technique which resulted in a semi-staccato attack and produced a brilliant tone. Blumenfeld was to be Horowitz's last teacher, although he would have occasional lessons with Cartot in France. Throughout his conservatory years Horowitz usually practiced less than four hours a day, and this rather inefficiently, at least from a technical standpoint, preferring to play through operatic literature rather than work at the progressive lessons and exercises familiar to most pianists. From the beginning his intention had been to pursue a dual career as composer-pianist in the tradition of Liszt and Rachmaninoff. The Bolshevik takeover of Kiev in 1920, however, put an end to this plan, forcing him to concentrate on concerts as an efficient means to deriving an income. In the 1920's Horowitz gave 100 performances and earned a reputation as an explosive pianist capable of breaking piano strings with his thundering style.

During this period Horowitz met the famous German pianist Arthur Schnabel, who advised him to leave Russia, and shortly thereafter, in 1923, he found the means to do so through Alexander Merovich, his first manager. Horowitz's first European tour, as arranged by Merovich, included performances in Berlin and Paris; neither city accepted him without reservation. The rising anti-Semitism in Germany discouraged a Jewish musician who, moreover, did not play German music and who played in a romantic, high-flown style unacceptable to the German ideals of precision and strict adherence to the score. The French were as unreceptive to Horowitz's programming as the Germans, again preferring to hear music of their own composers.

Horowitz's New York debut took place on January 12, 1928, at Carnegie Hall, with Sir Thomas Beecham conducting the New York Philharmonic in the Tchaikovsky piano concerto. Although the passion and agility of Horowitz's playing amazed critics, the performance as a whole suffered from irreconcilable differences in interpretation and tempo between conductor and soloist.

A meeting with Rachmaninoff a few days before his New York debut marked the beginning of a friendship that would continue until Rachmaninoff's death in 1943. Equally important was his introduction to Toscanini in April 1932. In addition to the many fruitful collaborations that would take place between the two, Horowitz became further acquainted with Toscanini's daughter, whom he married in 1933.

The sensational qualities of Horowitz's playing soon established him at the forefront of the American concert scene. He found it increasingly difficult, however, to mediate between the public's and his manager's demands for brilliant showpieces and the more solid musicality of those around him, especially his father-in-law and mentor, Toscanini. This, along with the daily grind of a hectic concert schedule, a nervous constitution, and other personal problems, necessitated three extended absences from the stage and, partially, from recording. These occurred during the years 1936-1939, 1953-1965, and 1969-1973. Horowitz also became less interested in performing outside the United States, where he acquired citizenship in 1945. Between the years 1939 and 1986 he made only one tour of Europe, playing three London concerts in October 1951 and two recitals in Paris the following month. In 1986 he began a tour with a return to the Soviet Union - his first visit since leaving there 60 years before - for performances in Moscow and Leningrad in April. He then continued on to Hamburg, Berlin, and London.

Horowitz was undoubtedly one of the great pianists of the era and was compared to Franz Liszt in his total command of the instrument. He was most comfortable with Romantic works, especially Liszt and Rachmaninoff, and admitted a dislike for modern music that exploits the percussive, rather than lyrical, capabilities of the piano. Of the composers who can be admitted stylistically to the 20th century, Horowitz played only Debussy, Ravel, Scriabin, Prokofiev, and Barber. Acknowledging his affinity for their music, Prokofiev requested that Horowitz give the American premiers of his sonatas 6-8 (the War Sonatas), and Barber wrote the fourth movement fugue to his Sonata, Op. 26 at the pianist's request for "something very flashy, but with content." In later years Horowitz tended away from these early moderns.

Among his many recordings, several deserve mention. Liszt's Sonata in B Minor, recorded in 1932 for RCA, shows Horowitz at the peak of his powers, especially in the clarity, evenness, and speed of his scale passages and octaves. A collaboration with Toscanini and the NBC Symphony Orchestra in a 1940 recording of Brahms' second piano concerto for RCA demonstrated the benefit of Horowitz's yielding control to the more solid formal instincts of the conductor. This recording also received praise for the comparatively life-like quality of the sound. Many consider Horowitz to be the foremost interpreter of Rachmaninoff, and especially of his third piano concerto. The first of Horowitz's three renditions of the work, a 1930 recording with Albert Coates and the London Symphony, is perhaps the preferred. Outside his usual repertory, Horowitz championed the works of two pre-Romantic composers, Muzio Clementi and Domenico Scarlatti, on two albums for RCA and Columbia, respectively.

Horowitz limited his teaching to only a few of the most talented prospects and later acknowledged only Byron Janis, Ronald Turini, and Gary Graffman as having studied with him. While Janis was typical in describing the difficulty of working with the strong personality of Horowitz, he ascribed his regard for pedaling according to varying acoustical situations to Horowitz's teaching. In 1995 and 1996, The Private Collection I & II were released based upon the private tapes owned by Horowitz.

Horowitz died of a heart attack on November 5, 1989 in New York City. "At his best, " wrote Joah von Rhein in the Chicago Tribune, "Horowitz had a thunderous sonority and demonic daring that literally nobody in the world could match."

Further Reading

The most complete account of Horowitz's life is Glen Plaskin's Horowitz (1983). Thoroughly researched, meticulously documented, eminently readable, and impartial, it is a model of biographical writing. An abridged version of Chapter 10, describing Horowitz's introduction to the Toscanini family, appears in Musical America (March 1983). Shorter biographies are included in Harold Schonberg's The Great Pianists (1963) and in Wilson Lyle's A Dictionary of Pianists (1985). The May 5, 1986, issue of Time contains biographical material plus a description of his April 1986 return to Russia. The June 8, 1997 Jerusalem Post also had a fine feature on him, "The Fairy Tale Life of Vladimir Horowitz."

 
Columbia Encyclopedia: Vladimir Horowitz
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Horowitz, Vladimir (hôr'ōwĭts), 1904-89, Russian-American virtuoso pianist, b. Kiev. Horowitz studied at the Kiev Conservatory. After a Russian debut at the age of 17, he appeared with overwhelming success in Berlin and Paris in 1924 and made his American debut with the New York Philharmonic in 1928. Possessing remarkable technical virtuosity, he soon became one of the most popular pianists in the United States. Unlike contemporary pianists, he was willing to interpret the music independently of the composer. In 1933 he married the daughter of Arturo Toscanini and settled (1940) in New York City. Horowitz gave few recitals after 1953.

Bibliography

See biography by H. C. Schonberg (1992).

Quotes By: Vladimir Horowitz
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Quotes:

"I must tell you I take terrible risks. Because my playing is very clear, when I make a mistake you hear it. If you want me to play only the notes without any specific dynamics, I will never make one mistake. Never be afraid to dare."

Artist: Vladimir Horowitz
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Vladimir Horowitz
  • Period: Modern (1910-1949)
  • Country: Russia/USA
  • Born: October 01, 1903 in Kiev, Ukraine
  • Died: November 05, 1989 in New York, NY
  • Genres: Keyboard Music

Biography

A pianist of legendary fame and stature, Vladimir Horowitz was born in Kiev, Ukraine. His mother, herself a professional pianist, provided his first instruction at the piano and was the first to recognize his extraordinary talents; he studied further at the Kiev Conservatory. His first public appearance was a recital in Kiev on May 30, 1920, and in 1922 he gave a series of 15 concerts in Kharkov for which he was paid in food and clothing. Although Russia was still reeling from the revolution of 1917, Horowitz fashioned successful concert tours in major cities such as Moscow, Leningrad, and Kiev -- marking the beginning of a performing career of unflagging and spectacular success.

His first international appearance came with his 1926 trip to Berlin, soon after which followed concerts in Paris, London, and New York. Further appearances in the United States solidified his reputation as an exceptional virtuoso, and the country which was to become his adopted home embraced him warmly. He was invited to the White House to play for President Hoover in 1931, and in 1933 he married Wanda Toscanini -- the daughter of the famous conductor Arturo Toscanini, who would soon conduct Horowitz and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra in performances of the Beethoven piano concertos. Horowitz permanently settled in the United States in 1940 and achieved citizenship in 1944.

Wanda Toscanini assumed a gentle stewardship of her new husband, who was in fragile physical and emotional health. Often seized with an irrational fear of failure, Horowitz found the life of touring threatening to his equilibrium. He withdrew from the concert stage for several periods during his life, and made only rare appearances after 1970. When Horowitz did schedule a concert, it often took the persuasive powers of his wife and friends to keep him from canceling at the last minute. His nagging, and often overpowering, insecurity led him to seek shock therapy in 1973, but though he seemed to achieve some benefit from treatment, he was never free of anxiety when playing in public. The one exception to this trend was when he appeared as accompanist to another artist, which he often did with baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, and violinist Isaac Stern. Because of his long absences from the concert stage, Horowitz's popularity was largely sustained by his recordings.

Perhaps the most significant single event in Horowitz's long career was his long-overdue return to the Soviet Union (his first since his departure in the 1920s) for a series of concerts in 1986. The resulting tour became a major political event, coinciding as it did with an era of new understanding between the United States and the Soviet Union, and it resonated powerfully with Soviet audiences. Revitalized by the Soviet tour, Horwowitz signed a new contract with Sony; the contract included provisions for recording him at home on his favorite piano. He made his last such recording on November 1, 1989; on November 5 he died of a massive heart attack.

As a performer, Horowitz had huge resources of speed and power, and a clean articulation. His performances were brilliant, exciting, and often mystifying to those who found his technique enigmatic (he played, for instance, with unusually straight fingers, laying them nearly flat on the keys). Though his performances were frequently criticized for their willfulness and self-indulgent nature, there was an undeniable charisma to his playing that endeared him to most everyone who heard him. ~ AMG, All Music Guide

Discography

The Historic Return: Carnegie Hall 1965; The 1966 Concerts

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The Historic Return: Carnegie Hall 1965; The 1966 Concerts

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Horowitz Plays Chopin, Vol. 3

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Horowitz Plays Clementi

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Horowitz Plays Schumann

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Early Romantics

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Early Romantics

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Favorite Chopin, Vol. 2

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Horowitz: Brahms & Beethoven (Horowitz Collection)

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The Complete Masterwork Recordings, 1962-1973 [Box Set]

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Schumann: Kinderszenen

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Horowitz: Schubert & Mozart (Horowitz Collection)

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Horowitz Plays Mussorgsky, Scriabin, Prokofiev, and others

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Horowitz Plays Beethoven, Scarlatti, Chopin

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The Legendary 1968 TV Concert

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The Legendary 1968 TV Concert

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Horowitz plays Schumann

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The Celebrated Scarlatti Recordings

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The Celebrated Scarlatti Recordings

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Horowitz in London

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Recordings 1930-1951

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Late Russian Romantics

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Late Russian Romantics

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Horowitz: A Baroque & Classical Recital

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Horowitz: A Baroque & Classical Recital

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Mozart: Piano Sonatas, K.281, K.330, K.333, K.485, K.540

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Horowitz: The Studio Recordings 1962-1963

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Horowitz: The Studio Recordings 1962-1963

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Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos. 14 "Moonlight", 21 "Waldstein", 57 "Appassionata"

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Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos. 14 "Moonlight", 21 "Waldstein", 57 "Appassionata"

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The Early Recordings

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Horowitz in London

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Vladimir Horowitz On Radio, With Toscanini And Walter

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Horowitz-Solo Recordings 1928-36

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Horowitz at the Met

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Tchaikovsky: Concerto No.1/Beethoven: Concerto No. 5 "Emperor"

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Horowitz: The Private Collection, Vol. 2

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Wladimir Horowitz

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Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 33; Piano Sonata No. 13

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Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition/By the Water/Tchaikovsky: Concerto No. 1

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Brahms: Concerto No.2/Intermezzo, Op.117/Schubert: Impromptu/Liszt; AuBord D'Une Source/Sonetto No.104/Hungarian Rhap

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Horowitz Plays Chopin, Vol. 1

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Prokofiev: Sonata No.7/Toccata, Op.11/Barber: Sonata, Op.26/Kabalevsky: Sonata No.3/Fauré: Nocturne No.13/Poulenc: Pr

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Beethoven: Sonatas

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Beethoven: Sonatas

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Liszt: Sonata In B/Ballade No.2/Consolation No.3/Funérailles/Mephisto Waltz No.1

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Favorite Encores

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Favorite Chopin

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Mozart: Piano Sonata KV.281, 330 & 333

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The Studio Recordings, New York 1985

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Horowitz

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Horowitz: The Private Collection, Vol. 1

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Rachmaninoff: Concerto No. 3

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Horowitz Plays Rachmaninoff

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Horowitz Encores

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Horowitz at Home

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Horowitz: The Last Recording

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Portrait Of Vladimir Horowitz

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Horowitz Plays Scriabin

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Horowitz: Discovered Treasures

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The Piano Library: Vladimir Horowitz

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Vladimir Horowitz At The Hollywood Bowl

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Beethoven: Sonata in F minor ("Appassionata"), Op. 57; Sonata in D, Op. 10, No. 3

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Beethoven: Sonata in F minor ("Appassionata"), Op. 57; Sonata in D, Op. 10, No. 3

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Vladimir Horowitz

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Horowitz Plays Chopin, Vol. 2

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Horowitz Plays Chopin, Vol. 2

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Vladimir Horowitz 1926

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Vladimir Horowitz Plays The Russian Composers

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Vladimir Horowitz Plays Chopin & Liszt

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Vladimir Horowitz: The European Solo Recordings, Vol. 1

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Horowitz The Poet

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Horowitz in Moscow

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Vladimir Horowitz (Magic Talent)

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Liszt: Sonata for piano in Bm; Chopin: Scherzos No4

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Tchaikovsky & Brahms: Piano Concertos

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Vladimir Horowitz

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Vladimir Horowitz 3

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Vladimir Horowitz: The Indispensable

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Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 23 (The 1945 Concert at the Hollywood Bowl)

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Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 23 (The 1945 Concert at the Hollywood Bowl)

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Horowitz in Moscow

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Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No.3/Sonata No.2

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Horowitz at the Met

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Twentieth Century Music

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Vladimir Horowitz 2

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Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1; Sergey Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 3

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Brahms: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 2; Dmitri Kabalevsky: Piano Sonate No. 2

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Tchaikovsky & Rachmaninov: Piano Concertos

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Vladimir Horowitz

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Three Live Brahms Concerto Performances

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Vladimir Horowitz [SACD]

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The Early Recordings, 1932-1936

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The Early Recordings, 1932-1936

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Classical Piano Recital

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Vladimir Horowitz plays Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1/Brahm's Piano Concerto No. 2

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Chopin

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A Reminiscence

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A Horowitz Recital

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Vladimir Horowitz Plays Scriabin

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Chopin: Piano Music

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Original Jacket Collection: Vladimir Horowitz

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The Romantic & Impressionist Era

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The Romantic & Impressionist Era

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Mussorgsky: Tableaux d'une Exposition; Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 3

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Horowitz Plays Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Haydn, Scarlatti and others

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Horowitz Interprets Tchaikovsky, etc.

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Vladimir Horowitz: Piano

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Horowitz Plays Kabalevsky, Debussy, Moszkowski, Prokofiev

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Horowitz Performs Chopin

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Horowitz Rediscovered

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The Boston Recital

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The Magic of Horowitz [CDs+DVD]

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Horowitz Plays Chopin: Ballades, Préludes, Nocturnes

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Horowitz Plays Scarlatti

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Horowitz Live and Unedited [includes Bonus DVD]

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Horowitz plays Bach, Scarlatti, Mozart

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Schumann: Kreisleriana; Wieck-Variations; Toccata

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Schubert: Impromptus; Beethoven: Sonate "Pathétique"

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Horowitz Plays Haydn

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Beethoven: Great Piano Sonatas

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In the Hands of the Master

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Horowitz Plays Rachmaninov & Liszt

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Horowitz Plays Chopin: Mazurkas; Waltzes; Nocturnes

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Horowitz Plays Chopin: Sonata No. 2; Polonaises

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Horowitz Plays Scriabin

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Schumann: Kinderszenen; Fantaisie Op. 17; Arabeske

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Complete Recordings on Deutsche Grammophon [Box Set]

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Horowitz Performs Scarlatti & Liszt

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Rarities

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Legendary RCA Recordings: Vladimir Horowitz

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Favorite Encores

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Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3; Piano Sonata No. 2

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A Reminiscence

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Favorite Chopin

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Beethoven: Piano Sonatas Nos. 14 "Moonlight", 21 "Waldstein", 23 "Appassionata"

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Beethoven: The Appassionata, Moonlight and Waldstein Piano Sonatas

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The Best of Vladimir Horowitz

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Chopin: Valse, Polonaise

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Moussorgsky, Scriabin & Clementi

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Leningrad - 1986

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Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2; Symphony No. 1

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Liszt: Piano Sonata in B minor; Funérailles

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Horowitz at the Met

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Horowitz on Tour, 1979-1980

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Vladimir Horowitz Plays Scarlatti

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Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1; Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1

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Vladimir Horowitz Live at Carnegie Hall

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Pictures at an Exhibition and Other Favourites

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Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5; PIano Sonata Op. 27/2; Czerny: Rode Variations Op. 33

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Steinway Legends: Vladimir Horowitz

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Horowitz plays Chopin

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Horowitz in London

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The Studio Recordings - New York 1985

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The Studio Recordings - New York 1985

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Horowitz Plays Chopin

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Vladimir Horowitz: The complete solo European recordings, 1930-1936

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Favorite Beethoven Sonatas

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Favorite Beethoven Sonatas

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Horowitz In Concert 1967, 1968

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The Romantic Era

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Chopin: Piano Works

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The Great Pianists: Vladimir Horowitz, Vol. 7

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Horowitz in London

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Horowitz In Hamburg: The Last Concert

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Horowitz in Hamburg: The Last Concert

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Horowitz in Hamburg: The Last Concert

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The Essential Vladimir Horowitz

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Vladimir Horowitz at Carnegie Hall - The Private Collection

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Wikipedia: Vladimir Horowitz
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Horowitz

Vladimir Samoylovich Horowitz (Russian: Владимир Самойлович Горовиц, Vladimir Samojlovič Gorovits; Ukrainian: Володимир Самійлович Горовиць, Volodymyr Samiylovich Horovyts)  (October 1, 1903 – November 5, 1989)[1] was a Russian-American classical pianist and minor composer. His technique and use of tone color and the excitement of his playing were and remain legendary.[2] He is widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century.[3]

Contents

Life and early career

Horowitz was born in Kiev in the Russian Empire[1] (now the capital of Ukraine) into the assimilated Jewish family of Samuil Horowitz and Sophia Bodik, the youngest of four children. Samuil Horowitz was a well-to-do electrical engineer and the distributor of electric motors for several German manufacturers. Horowitz's grandfather Joachim was a merchant (and an arts-supporter), belonging to the 1st Guild. This status gave exemption from having to reside in the Pale of Settlement. Horowitz was born in 1903, but in order to make him appear too young for military service so as not to risk damaging his hands, his father took a year off his son's age by claiming he was born in 1904. The 1904 date appeared in many reference works during the pianist's lifetime.

Horowitz received piano instruction from an early age, initially from his mother, who was herself a pianist. In 1912 he entered the Kiev Conservatory, where he was taught by Vladimir Puchalsky, Sergei Tarnowsky, and Felix Blumenfeld. He performed Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor at his graduation in 1919. His first solo recital was performed in Kharkiv in 1920.

Horowitz's fame grew, and he soon began to tour Russia where he was often paid with bread, butter and chocolate rather than money, due to the country's economic hardships.[4] During the 1922–1923 season, he performed 23 concerts of eleven different programs in Leningrad alone.[4] Despite his early success as a pianist, Horowitz maintained that he wanted to be a composer, and only undertook a career as a pianist to help his family, who had lost their possessions in the Russian Revolution.[5]

In December, 1925, Horowitz crossed the border into the West, ostensibly to study with Artur Schnabel. Privately intending not to return, the pianist had stuffed American dollars and British pound notes into his shoes to finance his initial concerts.[6]

Career in the West

On January 2, 1926, Horowitz made his first appearance outside his home country, in Berlin. He later played in Paris, London and New York City. Horowitz was selected by Soviet authorities to represent Ukraine in the inaugural 1927 Chopin Piano Competition: however the pianist had decided to stay in the West and thus did not participate.[7]

Horowitz gave his United States debut on January 12, 1928, in Carnegie Hall. He played Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 under the direction of Sir Thomas Beecham, who was also making his U.S. debut. Horowitz later commented that he and Beecham had divergent ideas regarding tempos, and that Beecham was conducting the score "from memory and he didn't know" the piece.[8] Horowitz's success with the audience was phenomenal. Olin Downes, writing for the New York Times, was critical about the metric tug of war between conductor and soloist, but Downes credited the pianist with both a beautiful singing tone in the second movement and a tremendous technique in the finale, referring to Horowitz's playing as a "tornado unleashed from the steppes".[9] In this debut performance, Horowitz demonstrated a marked ability to excite his audience, an ability he maintained for his entire career.

Horowitz at his 1968 Television Concert

As Downes commented, "it has been years since a pianist created such a furor with an audience in this city." In his review of Horowitz's solo recital, Downes characterized the pianist's playing as showing "most if not all the traits of a great interpreter."[10] In 1933, he played for the first time with the conductor Arturo Toscanini in a performance of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 The Emperor. Horowitz and Toscanini went on to perform together many times, on stage and in recordings. Horowitz settled in the U. S. in 1939, and became an American citizen in 1944.

Despite rapturous receptions at recitals, Horowitz became increasingly unsure of his abilities as a pianist. On several occasions, the pianist had to be pushed onto the stage.[4] Several times, he withdrew from public performances - during 1936 to 1938, 1953 to 1965, 1969 to 1974, and 1983 to 1985. After his comeback in 1965 he gave solo recitals only rarely. He made his television debut on September 22, 1968, in a concert televised by CBS from Carnegie Hall.

Recordings

Horowitz at the time of his first recordings.

In 1926, Horowitz performed on several piano rolls at the Welte-Mignon studios in Freiburg, Germany. His first recordings were made in the United States in 1928 for RCA Victor. Because of the economic impact of the Great Depression, RCA Victor agreed to allow its recording artists' European-produced recordings to be made by HMV, RCA's London based affiliate. Horowitz's first European recording, in 1930, was of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 with Albert Coates and the London Symphony Orchestra, the world premiere recording of that piece. Through 1936, Horowitz continued to make recordings for HMV of solo piano repertoire, including his famous 1932 account of Franz Liszt's Sonata in B minor. Beginning in 1940, Horowitz's recording activity was again concentrated in the US. That year, he recorded Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2, and in 1941, the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1, both with the NBC Symphony Orchestra under Toscanini. In 1959, RCA issued the live 1943 performance of the Tchaikovsky concerto with Horowitz and Toscanini; it is generally considered superior to the commercial recording, and it was selected for the Grammy Hall of Fame. During Horowitz's second retirement, which began in 1953, he made a series of recordings in his New York townhouse, including LPs of Scriabin and Clementi. Horowitz's first stereo recording, made in 1959, was devoted to Beethoven piano sonatas.

In 1962, Horowitz embarked on a series of highly acclaimed recordings for Columbia Records. The most famous among them are his 1965 return concert at Carnegie Hall and a 1968 recording from his television special, Vladimir Horowitz: a Concert at Carnegie Hall, televised by CBS. Horowitz also continued to make studio recordings, including a 1969 recording of Kreisleriana by Robert Schumann, which was awarded the Prix Mondial du Disque.

In 1975, Horowitz returned to RCA Victor, and made a series of live recordings until 1982. He signed with Deutsche Grammophon in 1985, and made both studio and live recordings until 1989, including his only recording of the Piano Concerto No. 23 (Mozart). Four filmed documents were made during this time, including the telecast of his April 20, 1986 Moscow recital. His final recording, for Sony Classical, was completed four days before his death and consisted of repertoire he had never previously recorded.

All of Horowitz's recordings have been issued on Compact Disc, some several times. In the years following Horowitz’s death, several CDs were issued containing previously unreleased material. These included selections from several Carnegie Hall recitals recorded privately for Horowitz from 1945–1951.

Students

Beginning in 1944, Horowitz began working with a select group of young pianists. First among these was Byron Janis, who studied with Horowitz until 1948. Janis described his relationship to Horowitz during that period as that of a surrogate son, and he often traveled with Horowitz and his wife during concert tours. During his second retirement he worked with more pianists, including Gary Graffman (1953–1955), Coleman Blumfield (1956–1958), Ronald Turini (1957–1963), Alexander Fiorillo (1950–1962) and Ivan Davis (1961–1962). Horowitz returned to coaching in the 1980s, working with Murray Perahia, who already had an established career, and Eduardus Halim. By this time, Horowitz was concerned that a pianist studying with him might be regarded as a Horowitz clone, so the sessions were not publicized and Horowitz insisted "I am not teaching you. I give you tips." Late in his career, Horowitz only endorsed Janis, Graffman, and Turini as pupils, although he admitted a number of pianists had played for him.

Personal life

In 1933, in a civil ceremony, Horowitz married Toscanini's daughter Wanda. Horowitz was Jewish and Wanda Catholic, but this was not an issue, as neither was observant. As Wanda knew no Russian and Horowitz knew very little Italian, their primary language became French. They had one child, Sonia Toscanini Horowitz (1934–1975). It has never been determined whether her death, from a drug overdose, was accidental or a suicide.[1]

Despite his marriage, there were persistent rumors of his homosexuality.[4] Arthur Rubinstein said of Horowitz that "Everyone knew and accepted him as a homosexual..."[11] David Dubal wrote that in his years with Horowitz, there was no evidence that the octogenarian was sexually active, but that "there was no doubt he was powerfully attracted to the male body and was most likely often sexually frustrated throughout his life."[12] Dubal observed that Horowitz sublimated a strong instinctual sexuality into a powerful erotic undercurrent which was communicated in his piano playing.[13] Horowitz, who denied being homosexual,[14] once joked "There are three kinds of pianists: Jewish pianists, homosexual pianists, and bad pianists."[15]

In the 1940s, Horowitz began seeing a psychiatrist in an attempt to alter his sexual orientation.[16] In the 1960s and again in the 1970s, the pianist underwent electroshock treatment for depression.[17]

In 1982, Horowitz began using prescribed anti-depressant medications; there are reports that he was drinking alcohol as well.[1] Consequently, his playing underwent a perceptible decline during this period.[1] The pianist’s 1983 performances in the United States and Japan were marred by memory lapses and a loss of physical control. (At the latter, one Japanese critic likened Horowitz to a "precious antique vase that is cracked.") He stopped playing in public for the next two years.

The last years

Horowitz at his 1986 Moscow recital.
Horowitz receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan (presenting it to him).

By 1985, Horowitz, no longer taking medication or drinking alcohol, returned to concertizing and recording and was back on form. His first post-retirement appearence was not on stage, but in the documentary film Vladimir Horowitz: The Last Romantic. In many of his later performances, the octogenarian pianist substituted finesse and coloration for bravura, although he was still capable of remarkable technical feats. Many critics, including Harold C. Schonberg and Richard Dyer, felt that his post-1985 performances and recordings were the best of his later years.

In 1986, Horowitz returned to the Soviet Union to give recitals in Moscow and Leningrad. In the new atmosphere of communication and understanding between the USSR and the USA, these concerts were seen as events of some political, as well as musical, significance. The Moscow concert, which was internationally televised, was released on a compact disc entitled Horowitz in Moscow, which reigned at the top of Billboard's Classical music charts for over a year. The concert was also released on VHS, and eventually on DVD. He then redeemed himself to the Japanese with a second tour there, which was a triumph. That year, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor bestowed by the United States, by President Ronald Reagan. His final tour took place in Europe in the spring of 1987. A video recording of one of his last public recitals, Horowitz in Vienna, was released in 1991. His final recital, in Hamburg, Germany, took place on June 21, 1987. He continued to record for the remainder of his life.

Vladimir Horowitz died on November 5, 1989 in New York of a heart attack, aged 86. He was buried in the Toscanini family tomb in the Cimitero Monumentale, Milan, Italy.

Repertoire, technique, and performance style

Horowitz is best known for his performances of the Romantic piano repertoire. His first recording of the Liszt Sonata in 1932 is still considered by some aficionados[18] to be the definitive reading of that piece, after over 75 years and over 100 performances committed to disc by other pianists. Other pieces with which he was closely associated were Scriabin's Etude in D-sharp minor, Op. 8, No. 12 , Chopin's Ballade No. 1 in G minor, and many Rachmaninoff miniatures, including Polka de W.R.. Horowitz was acclaimed for his recordings of the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3, and his performance before Rachmaninoff awed the composer, who proclaimed "he swallowed it whole. He had the courage, the intensity, the daring." Horowitz was also well known for his performances of quieter, more intimate works including Schumann's Kinderszenen, Scarlatti sonatas, and several Mozart and Haydn sonatas.

During World War II, Horowitz championed contemporary Russian music, giving the American premieres of Prokofiev's Piano Sonatas Nos. 6, 7 and 8 (the so-called "War Sonatas") and Kabalevsky's Piano Sonatas Nos. 2 and 3. Horowitz also premiered the Piano Sonata and Excursions of Samuel Barber.

He was well known for his famous hair-raising transcriptions of several of Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsodies. The Second Rhapsody was recorded in 1953, during Horowitz's 25th anniversary concert at Carnegie Hall, and he stated that it was the most difficult of his transcriptions.[1] Horowitz's other transcriptions of note include his composition Variations on a Theme from Carmen by Georges Bizet and Stars and Stripes Forever by John Philip Sousa. The latter became a favourite with audiences, who would anticipate its performance as an encore. Transcriptions aside, Horowitz was not opposed to altering the text of compositions to improve what he considered “unpianistic” writing or structural clumsiness. In 1940, with the composer’s consent, Horowitz created his own performance edition of Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Sonata from the 1913 original and 1931 revised versions, which pianists including Ruth Laredo and Helene Grimaud[19] subsequently used. He substantially rewrote Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition to make the work more effective on the grounds that Mussorgsky was not a pianist and did not understand the possibilities of the instrument. Horowitz also altered short passages in certain works, such as substituting interlocking octaves for chromatic scales in Chopin’s Scherzo in B Minor. This was in marked contrast to many pianists of the post–19th-century era, who considered the composer’s text sacrosanct. Living composers whose works Horowitz played (among them Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, and Poulenc) invariably praised Horowitz's performances of their work - even when he did take liberties with their scores.

Horowitz's interpretations were well received by concert audiences, but not by some critics. Virgil Thomson was famous for his consistent criticism of Horowitz as a "master of distortion and exaggeration" in his reviews appearing in the New York Herald Tribune. Horowitz claimed to take Thomson's remarks as complimentary, since Michelangelo and El Greco were also "masters of distortion."[20] In the 1980 edition of Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Michael Steinberg wrote that Horowitz "illustrates that an astounding instrumental gift carries no guarantee about musical understanding." New York Times music critic Harold C. Schonberg countered that reviewers such as Thomson and Steinberg were unfamiliar with 19th-century performance practices that informed Horowitz's musical approach. In addition, many famous pianists, amongst them Shura Cherkassky, Earl Wild, Lazar Berman, John Browning, Van Cliburn, Maurizio Pollini, Murray Perahia and Yefim Bronfman held Horowitz in high regard and expressed their admiration for him.[21]

Horowitz's performing style frequently involved vast dynamic contrasts, with overwhelming double-fortissimos followed by sudden delicate pianissimos. He was able to produce an extraordinary volume of sound from the piano, without producing a harsh tone. He could elicit an exceptionally wide range of tonal color from the piano, and his taut, precise, and exciting attack was noticeable even in his renditions of technically undemanding pieces such as the Chopin Mazurkas. He is also famous for his octave technique; he could play precise passages in octaves extraordinarily fast. When asked by the pianist Tedd Joselson how he practiced octaves, Horowitz gave a demonstration and Joselson reported, "He practiced them exactly as we were all taught to do."[1] Sergei Rachmaninoff himself commented that Horowitz played contrary to how they had been taught, yet somehow with Horowitz it worked.[citation needed] Music critic and biographer Harvey Sachs submitted that Horowitz may have been "the beneficiary - and perhaps also the victim - of an extraordinary central nervous system and an equally great sensitivity to tone colour".[22] Oscar Levant, in his book, "The Memoirs of an Amnesiac", wrote that Horowitz's octaves were "brilliant, accurate and etched out like bullets." He asked Horowitz, "whether he shipped them ahead or carried them with him on tour".

Horowitz's hand position was unusual in that the palm was often below the level of the key surface. He frequently played chords with straight fingers, and the little finger of his right hand was often curled up until it needed to play a note; to Harold C. Schonberg, “it was like a strike of a cobra.”[1] For all the aural excitement of his playing, Horowitz rarely raised his hands higher than the piano's fallboard. His body was immobile, and his face seldom reflected anything other than intense concentration. Horowitz preferred performing on Sunday afternoons, as he felt the audience would be more well rested and attentive than during a weekday evening.

Awards and recognitions

Grammy Award for Best Classical Performance – Instrumental Soloist or Soloists (with or without orchestra)


Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (with orchestra)

  • 1979 Golden Jubilee Concert, Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3 (RCA CLR1 2633)
  • 1989 Horowitz Plays Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 23 (Deutsche Grammophon 423287)

Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (without orchestra)

  • 1963 Columbia Records Presents Vladimir Horowitz
  • 1964 The Sound of Horowitz
  • 1965 Vladimir Horowitz plays Beethoven, Debussy, Chopin
  • 1966 Horowitz at Carnegie Hall - An Historic Return
  • 1972 Horowitz Plays Rachmaninoff (Etudes-Tableaux Piano Music; Sonatas) (Columbia M-30464)
  • 1973 Horowitz Plays Chopin (Columbia M-30643)
  • 1974 Horowitz Plays Scriabin (Columbia M-31620)
  • 1977 The Horowitz Concerts 1975/76 (RCA ARL1-1766)
  • 1979 The Horowitz Concerts 1977/78 (RCA ARL1-2548)
  • 1980 The Horowitz Concerts 1978/79 (RCA ARL1-3433)
  • 1982 The Horowitz Concerts 1979/80 (RCA ARL1-3775)
  • 1988 Horowitz in Moscow (Deutsche Grammophon 419499)
  • 1991 The Last Recording (Sony SK 45818)
  • 1993 Horowitz Discovered Treasures: Chopin, Liszt, Scarlatti, Scriabin, Clementi (Sony 48093)


Grammy Award for Best Classical Album:

Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, 1990

Prix Mondial du Disque

Miscellaneous awards

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Schonberg, 1992
  2. ^ Dubal, 1989
  3. ^ Time. Michael Walsh, The Greatest Pianist of All?, July 21, 2008. Retrieved on June 3, 2009.
  4. ^ a b c d Plaskin, 1983, pp. 52, 56, 353, 338–7.
  5. ^ Horowitz, Titan of the Piano, Dies - The New York Times
  6. ^ Horowitz interview with Charles Kuralt, CBS News Sunday Morning
  7. ^ Moshevich, Sofia (2004). Dmitri Shostakovich, Pianist. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. pp. 49. ISBN 0773525815. http://books.google.com/books?id=6phqd3BvJwIC&pg=PA49&vq=horowitz&dq=%22Dmitri+Shostakovich,+Pianist%22&sig=9qMftIuSbC0WD9FI-2Kd6UYo408. 
  8. ^ Videotapes interview, 1982, intemission feature from London recital
  9. ^ Olin Downes, New York Times, January 13, 1928
  10. ^ Olin Downes, New York Times, February 21, 1928
  11. ^ Plaskin, 1983, p. 162
  12. ^ Dubal, 1991, p. 16. "During the years I knew him, there were no signs of any sex life and very little talk on the subject. I personally doubt that he was capable of loving a man emotionally, but there was no doubt he was powerfully attracted to the male body and was most likely often sexually frustrated throughout his life."
  13. ^ Dubal, 1991, pp. 16–17.
  14. ^ Dubal, 1991, p. 251.
  15. ^ "The Great White (Jewish, Gay) Way". http://www.forward.com/articles/4342/. 
  16. ^ Plaskin, Glenn (1983). Biography of Vladimir Horowitz Quill ISBN 0-688-02656-7 Page 215 "In December 1940, Horowitz had begun psychoanalysis with an eminent psychiatrist, Dr. Lawrence Kubie, a strict Freudian who was attempting to exorcise the homosexual element from Horowitz."
  17. ^ Plaskin, Glenn (1983). Biography of Vladimir Horowitz Quill ISBN 0-688-02656-7 Pages 338, 387, 389
  18. ^ See, e.g., Joachim Kaiser and Klaus Bennert, Grosse Pianisten in Unserer Zeit (1997)
  19. ^ Chopin, Rachmaninoff: Piano Sonatas at Barnes and Noble
  20. ^ Plaskin, Glenn (1983). Biography of Vladimir Horowitz. UK: Macdonald. ISBN 0356091791
  21. ^ Dubal, 1993
  22. ^ Harvey Sachs, "Virtuoso", Thames and Hudson, 1982
  23. ^ "The Horowitz Papers in the Irving S. Gilmore Music Library of Yale University". http://webtext.library.yale.edu/xml2html/Music/vh-d.htm. Retrieved 13 September 2009. 
  24. ^ Anthony Tommasini, Horowitz at 85: Still Playing Free, The New York Times, Sunday, September 25, 1988

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