Vladimir Horowitz

Vladimir Horowitz was a Soviet and American pianist of Jewish origin, widely considered one of the greatest pianists in the history of music. Born in Kiev in 1903, he studied at the Kiev Conservatory under Vladimir Pukhalsky, Sergei Tarnovsky, and Felix Blumenfeld. Although he initially wished to be a composer, the economic hardships following the 1917 Revolution forced him to pursue a career as a concert pianist to support his family, touring the Soviet Union extensively in the early 1920s.

In 1925, Horowitz left the USSR for Germany, ostensibly to study, but he soon established a major reputation in Europe as a brilliant virtuoso, particularly after a sensational performance of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 in Hamburg. He made his American debut at Carnegie Hall in 1928 and settled permanently in the United States in 1939, becoming a citizen in 1944. He was one of the highest-paid pianists of his time and maintained a close friendship with Sergei Rachmaninoff.

Horowitz's career was marked by several long withdrawals from the concert stage, most notably a twelve-year hiatus from 1953 to 1965. His return to Carnegie Hall in 1965 was a historic event. Known as the "Last Romantic," he possessed legendary technique and a unique tonal palette, specializing in the works of Liszt, Chopin, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, and Mozart. In 1986, he made a highly publicized return to the Soviet Union for concerts in Moscow and Leningrad after a sixty-year absence.

He received numerous accolades, including the National Medal of Arts and more than twenty Grammy Awards, a record for a classical musician. Horowitz continued to record until his death in New York in 1989. He is buried in the family tomb of his father-in-law, conductor Arturo Toscanini, in Milan.

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