Vladimir Horowitz

Vladimir Horowitz (ru: ???????? ?????????? ???????) (OS 18 September, NS October 1, 1903 – November 5, 1989) was a classical pianist. His use of colors, technique and the excitement of his playing are thought by many to be unrivalled, and his performances of works as diverse as those of Domenico Scarlatti and Alexander Scriabin were equally legendary. Detractors are quick to point out that his output is uniformly mannered (termed Horowitzian), and often too much so to be true to the composer's intentions. Even so, he has a huge and passionate following and is widely considered by many to be the very greatest pianist of the 20th Century.

Life and career

Horowitz himself said that he was born in Kiev in Ukraine, but some sources have given Berdichev as a birthplace. His cousin Natasha Saitzoff, in a 1991 interview, stated that all four children were born in Kiev, corroborating his story. He was born in 1903, but in order to make Vladimir 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. This fictitious birth year is still found in some reference sources, but authoritative sources now list his correct year of birth as 1903. Horowitz had piano lessons from an early age, initially from his mother, who was herself a professional pianist. In 1912 he entered the Kiev Conservatory, leaving in 1919, and playing the Piano Concerto No. 3 of Rachmaninoff at his graduation. His first solo recital followed in 1920.

Related Topics:
Kiev - Ukraine - Berdichev - 1991 - 1904 - Piano - 1912 - 1919 - Piano Concerto No. 3 - Rachmaninoff - 1920

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His star rapidly rose – he soon began to tour Russia (where he was often paid with bread, butter and liquor rather than money due to the country's economic hardships), and in 1926 made his first appearance outside his home country, in Berlin. He later played in Paris, London and New York City, and it was in the United States that he eventually settled in 1940. He became a United States citizen in 1944.

Related Topics:
Russia - 1926 - Berlin - Paris - London - New York City - United States - 1940 - 1944

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Career in the US

In 1932 he played for the first time with the conductor Arturo Toscanini in a performance of Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 (the Emperor concerto). The two went on to appear together many times, both on stage and on record. In 1933, Horowitz married Wanda Toscanini, the conductor's daughter.

Related Topics:
1932 - Conductor - Arturo Toscanini - Beethoven's - Piano Concerto No. 5 - 1933 - Wanda Toscanini

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Despite receiving rapturous receptions at his recitals, Horowitz became increasingly unsure of his abilities as a pianist. Several times he withdrew from public performances, and it is said that on several occasions, the only thing that stopped him from cancelling recitals at the last moment was the persuasiveness of his wife. After 1970 he gave solo recitals only rarely.

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Horowitz made many recordings, starting in 1928 upon his arrival in the United States and ending right before his death in 1989. His early recordings were made for EMI, the most notable of which is his 1930 recording of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 with Albert Coates and the London Symphony Orchestra, the first known recording of that piece. In the 1940s and 1950s, Horowitz recorded for RCA Victor. During this period, he made his first recording of the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1, under Toscanini. After 1953, when Horowitz went into retirement, he made a number of acclaimed recordings at home, including discs of Alexander Scriabin and Muzio Clementi.

Related Topics:
1928 - 1989 - EMI - 1930 - Albert Coates - London Symphony Orchestra - 1940s - 1950s - RCA Victor - Tchaikovsky - Piano Concerto No. 1 - 1953 - Alexander Scriabin - Muzio Clementi

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In 1962, Horowitz began recording for Columbia Records, and it is these recordings which are among the most well known. The most famous among them is his 1965 return concert at Carnegie Hall and his 1968 performance from his television special, Horowitz on TV, featuring Scriabin's Etude Op. 8 No. 12 and Horowitz's own Variations on a Theme from Bizet's Carmen, the most famous of his piano transcriptions along with the Stars and Stripes Forever. From 1965 until 1982, all of Horowitz's recordings were done live.

Related Topics:
1962 - Columbia Records - 1965 - Carnegie Hall - 1968 - Etude Op. 8 No. 12 - 1982

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The last years

After another brief retirement from 1982 until 1985 (he was playing in a drugged state and as a result, memory lapses and loss of physical control occurred during his tour of America and Japan), Horowitz returned to recording and occasional concertizing. In 1986, Horowitz made a return to the Soviet Union to give a series of concerts 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 was recorded and released, entitled Horowitz in Moscow.

Related Topics:
1982 - 1985 - 1986 - Soviet Union - Moscow - Leningrad

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Vladimir Horowitz died in New York of a heart attack. He was buried in the Toscanini family tomb in Cimitero Monumentale, Milan, Italy. His body was rumored to have been buried along with a book of Hanon's piano exercises, because according to Horowitz, "I never want to do anything without warming up; that includes dying." Horowitz was 86.

Related Topics:
New York - Heart attack - Cimitero Monumentale - Milan - Italy

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Despite his marriage, there is considerable independent evidence that Horowitz was gay.

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He is credited with the ambiguous aphorism: "There are three kinds of pianists: Jewish pianists, homosexual pianists, and bad pianists".

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It is believed he underwent treatment in the 1950s in a futile attempt to alter his sexual orientation.

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