Few pianists in history have inspired as much fascination as Vladimir Horowitz.
He was not only a dazzling virtuoso, but also a deeply complex figure whose life offstage was often as dramatic as his performances.
Fans and scholars alike continue to ask questions about his childhood, his teachers, his artistry, and his turbulent personal life.
Vladimir Horowitz
When did he start playing piano? Why did he leave Russia, and when did he finally return? Which composers did he love most, and why did he insist on playing with flat fingers?
Today, we’re looking at what Google says are fifteen of the most frequently asked questions about pianist Vladimir Horowitz.
When did Horowitz start playing piano?
Vladimir Horowitz was born in 1903 and began playing piano at the age of six.
Who did Horowitz study with?
Horowitz’s first teacher was his mother, Sophia.
He entered the Kiev Conservatory in 1910. His teachers there included Vladimir Puchalsky, Sergei Tarnowsky, and Felix Blumenfeld.
Vladimir’s uncle was friends with composer Alexander Scriabin. In 1913, his uncle arranged for ten-year-old Vladimir to perform for Scriabin, who called him extremely talented.
Why did Horowitz leave Russia?
Vladimir Horowitz
Unfortunately, the start of Horowitz’s career coincided with the Russian revolutions between 1917 and 1923. His family lost everything in the resulting political instability.
During that time, he was often paid by concert presenters in bread, butter, and chocolate.
In 1925, when he left Russia to study with Artur Schnabel in Germany, he left knowing he wouldn’t return.
Who was Horowitz’s favourite composer?
In a 1929 interview, Horowitz claimed that his favourites were Chopin, Brahms, and Liszt.
However, in the 1985 documentary The Last Romantic, Horowitz claimed that his favourite composer was Mozart. That said, he never specialised in Mozart or played a lot of his music.
He also mentioned Rachmaninoff, Chopin, and Scriabin as favourites.
It seems that he didn’t really have a single favourite composer, and that his favourites changed over the decades.
Why did Horowitz play with flat fingers?
Vladimir Horowitz
Piano students are always told to keep their fingers in a relaxed curve while playing. So how did Horowitz get away with playing with such flat fingers?
Did Horowitz Really Play the Piano with Flat Fingers?
In this video, Robert Estrin from Living Pianos describes why Horowitz played with flat fingers. His theory is that it helps create tonal colors more easily…and Horowitz was famous for the colours he could create.
What do you think?
Who was Horowitz’s wife?
Wanda Toscanini and Vladimir Horowitz
Wanda Toscanini was the daughter of conductor Arturo Toscanini, music director of the New York Philharmonic between 1928 and 1936.
In the early 1930s, Vladimir and Wanda met briefly at a party in Italy. Later, when Horowitz came to New York to play Beethoven’s Fifth Piano Concerto with the New York Philharmonic in 1933, Wanda came to the performance.
At the after-party, Horowitz played a Chopin mazurka. Wanda was bewitched. They married eight months later in December.
Why was Horowitz depressed?
Vladimir Horowitz struggled with intense depression and anxiety that could keep him off the stage for years at a time.
There were a number of reasons why.
First, his performance anxiety was so debilitating that he would sometimes need to be physically dragged onstage from his dressing room and pushed onstage.
Second, he was always wrestling with his sexuality. He was a gay man, and he married Wanda more to be the son-in-law of the world’s greatest conductor than because he was attracted to her. He had a number of affairs with men over the course of his life. It is believed that he attempted to change his sexuality during psychiatrist appointments in the 1940s.
Third, even aside from his sexuality, his personal life was not always easy, and various stressors and circumstances could trigger depressive flares. Although he was completely dependent on Wanda, their relationship could be icy. The couple had intermittent money issues due to the stretches of time he was unable to perform. In 1975, his daughter Sonia died young, possibly by suicide. He also struggled with the side effects of the drugs that had been prescribed for his depression.
Why did Horowitz stop playing?
Vladimir Horowitz in 1931
Horowitz had to take a number of breaks from concertizing over the course of his career due to mental health issues.
- He withdrew from the stage between 1936 and 1938.
- His longest break happened between 1953 and 1965. He marked his return to the stage in 1965 with a Carnegie Hall recital that became legendary.
- He left the stage again between 1969 and 1974.
- His final break came between 1983 and 1985. After that, he returned to the stage with a noticeable new purpose and energy.
Where did Horowitz live?
Around 1940, Vladimir Horowitz bought a townhouse in New York City at 14 East 94th Street. This home was where portions of the documentary The Last Romantic were filmed. He lived there until the end of his life.
Vladimir Horowitz having fun with his piano at home (1985).
In 1969, he bought a country house in New Milford, Connecticut.
How did Horowitz’s daughter die?
The Horowitzes had one child, Sonia Horowitz, who was born in 1934.
In 1957, at the age of twenty-two, she was in a horrific motor scooter accident in Italy. She suffered from a traumatic brain injury and became unable to work.
She died of an overdose in 1975 at the age of forty. It is unclear whether it was deliberate or an accident.
What did Horowitz think about Rubinstein?
According to author Harold Schoenberg’s biography, Horowitz: His Life and Music, Horowitz once said about Arthur Rubinstein:
I liked him as a pianist. He was a good musician and had a fantastic repertoire. He never had a great technique, but certain things he played well. I heard him play some of the Chopin etudes, the easier ones, with great panache, and I told him I had never heard them played better. He said, “Do you mean it?” and I said, “Yes, I do mean it.”
For his part, Rubinstein believed he was the better musician, while Horowitz was the better technician.
What did Horowitz say about Art Tatum?
According to legend, Horowitz once said about jazz pianist Art Tatum:
“If Art Tatum took up classical music seriously, I’d quit my job the next day.”
The quote became famous.
Art Tatum playing “Tea for Two”
Horowitz trying to play “Tea for Two”
What did Horowitz write?
Horowitz wrote a number of short pieces and arrangements.
A few of the most famous are:
Variations on a Theme from Bizet’s Carmen
Danse excentrique
Stars and Stripes Forever
When did Horowitz return to Russia?
Vladimir Horowitz returned to Russia in 1986, sixty-four years after he fled the Russian Revolution.
His visit coincided with a Cold War attempt to soften Russian-American relationships.
Horowitz gave a famous recital at the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory in April 1986. It was broadcast across the Soviet Union.
Horowitz’s Moscow recital
Where did Horowitz die?
Vladimir Horowitz
Horowitz died at his New York home of a heart attack on 5 November 1989. His death was quick. His wife recounted that he was sitting upright, then collapsed to the floor.
Conclusion
Vladimir Horowitz’s life was as dramatic as his playing. Brilliant as a diamond, he left behind not only legendary recordings but also a trail of stories and questions that – judging by the number of Google searches about him – still fascinate audiences today.
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