Vladimir Samuel Horowitz (18 September (1 October) 1903, Kyiv, Russian Empire - 5 November 1989, New York, USA) was a Ukrainian and American pianist of Jewish descent. One of the greatest pianists in the history of music.
Biography.
He was born on 18 September (1 October) 1903 in Kyiv, in the family of a well-known, authoritative and wealthy Kyiv engineer Samuel Horowitz. The family had lived in Kyiv since the 1850s. The basis for their wealthy life was the activity of the pianist's grandfather, a Kyiv merchant of the 1st Guild, Joachim Horowitz, a well-known philanthropist.
Volodymyr made his first steps in music with the help of his mother, Sofia Horowitz (Sonia Bodyk), who studied at the Kyiv Music School for 8 years in the class of the school's director, an outstanding piano teacher Volodymyr Vatslavovych Pukhalskyi, to whom she brought her 10-year-old son Volodymyr in January 1913.
During his 7 years of study - first at the school and then at the conservatory - Horowitz repeatedly performed in the so-called "public concerts", which attracted only the most talented students. In 1917, the family lost their property, so Volodymyr had to play concerts and continue studying to support his family. In 1920, he became a student of the legendary Felix Blumenfeld. In the same year, he graduated from the conservatoire.
Until 1925, he gave concerts in the cities of Soviet Russia (USSR). He was a huge success.
Together with violinist Nathan Milstein, he performed in Moscow and Petrograd with first-class orchestras.
From October 1924 to January 1925, he gave about 20 concerts in Leningrad, where he played 155 pieces.
In 1925 he went on tour to Europe, where he quickly gained popularity as a concert pianist.
Since 1928 he has lived in the United States (in 1944 he received American citizenship).
In 1933, he married Wanda Toscanini, the daughter of the famous conductor Arturo Toscanini. He had only one daughter, Sonya, who died in 1975.
V. Horowitz actively performed almost all his life (with breaks in 1953-1965 and 1975-1981). There was a break in his activity for 12 years, so his return in 1965 caused a great stir (tickets were sold out in two hours).
Volodymyr Horowitz's repertoire was extremely wide - from works by D. Scarlatti to S. Prokofiev, and his own transcriptions of popular works also took a significant place in the repertoire. Horowitz's playing was distinguished by brilliant virtuosity and phenomenal technique.
The relationship between the pianist and the Soviet authorities was tragic. After his emigration, the Soviet authorities repeatedly threatened him; in the 1930s, his brother and father died in Soviet concentration camps, and his father was called an "enemy of the people". The musician's sister, a pianist and teacher Regina Horowitz, was the wife of the famous Ukrainian Soviet economist Ovsiy Liberman. Volodymyr Horowitz visited the USSR only in 1986, after a 61-year break (he gave concerts in Moscow and Leningrad with triumphant success). But even then, he did not find any of his relatives, as everyone had already died by then.
He continued his work until his death.
He died on 5 November 1989. He was buried in the family crypt in Milan.
Students.
From 1937 to 1962, Horowitz had seven students: Nico Kaufman (Horowitz's only student during his stay in Europe), Byron Janis, Harry Graffman, Coleman Blumfield, Ronald Turin, Alexander Fiorillo, and Ivan Davis. In the 80s, he gave lessons to the already established pianists Murray Peraia and Edward Halim.
Characteristics of his work
A representative of the romantic style of performance (works by Franz Liszt, including his own transcriptions, W. Mozart, F. Chopin, Russian composers, etc.) He was called the "King of Kings of pianists", "the last great romantic". In D. Rabinowitz's fundamental work "Performer and Style", V. Horowitz is ranked among the "giants of Romantic pianism", to which the author refers to F. Liszt, S. Rachmaninoff, and V. Horowitz.
Honours and awards
At the end of his life, Horowitz received the highest American award, the Medal of Freedom.
From 1962 to 1989, he received 25 Grammy Awards.
Since 1995, the International Competition for Young Pianists in memory of Vladimir Horowitz has been held periodically in Kyiv.
Tribute to the memory
Since 1995, the International Competition for Young Pianists in memory of Volodymyr Horowitz has been held in Kyiv.
In 1999, a memorial plaque was installed (bronze) and in 2016, a plaque was restored (granite) in Kyiv.
In Kyiv, in November 2019, one of the new streets in the Holosiivskyi district (Teremky neighbourhood) was named after Volodymyr Horovytsia (the project name of the street is Project 12968, it runs from Rodyny Kistiakivskoho Street to Kiltseva Road). The street has not yet been built.
