Horowitz, Vladimir, Maestro

Biography

Born Vladimir Gorowitz, the renowned concert pianist changed his surname with his Berlin debut in 1926. He came from a family of musicians that included his mother, sister and brother; his father was an engineer. He began his training at the age of three, later studying piano and composition at the Kiev Conservatory. After the revolution in 1917, Vladimir supported the family by playing the piano for food, clothing, and money. Following successful concert seasons in 1922-1924, he left the Soviet Union in 1925 on a student visa, not to return for 61 years. Mr. Horowitz settled permanently in the United States in 1940, with his wife Wanda, whom he had married in 1934. She was the daughter of conductor Arturo Toscanini. Their only child, Sonya, died in 1975. Horowitz was known for the romantic temperament of his performances, and no less so for the frailty of his nerves. He travelled with his personal piano from his Manhattan apartment, and with his own cook. He quit playing in public four times, from 1936-1938, 1953-1965, 1968-1974, and 1983-1985. The longest of these respites ended with a comeback concert in Carnegie Hall on 9 May 1965, which was greeted with a thunderous standing ovation, and which was later released as a two-record set by Columbia Masterworks. Mr. Horowitz was awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Reagan in 1986. [Compiled from sources and references recorded on CMS]

Bibliography

1989

The New York Times. 6 November 1989 [obituary]

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