Among the pianistic personalities of the 20^th century is Vladimir Horowitz. His interpretations, which are original, contested by some people, but, certainly, adored by most of them, represent a reference model in the discography of the world.

A very personal manner of playing the piano

After graduating the Kiev Conservatory, under Felix Blumenfeld’s guidance, in 1920, Horowitz performed his first solo recital in his native land, and in 1925, he had his first international appearance, in Berlin. Three years later, in January 1928, he made his debut on the stage of Carnegie Hall in New York.

His success among the public was phenomenal. In the articles published in the newspapers and magazines of those times, his interpretation was compared to an unleashed tornado and it was written that it had been years since a pianist awoke such feelings among the New York audience.

 Horowitz’s career covered numerous phases of maximum concertistic density, on one side, and long retirements from the music world, mostly caused by his precarious health, but also by psychic tiredness, on the other side. Twenty-five years after his American debut, Horowitz refused to appear in public for twelve years, period in which he recorded many scores in a recording studio installed right in his house, by the Columbia recording label.

His special ability to adapt to different musical genres, as well as to distinct stylistic spaces, allowed Vladimir Horowitz to approach an extremely varied repertoire, starting with Scarlatti’s works and ending with those belonging to composers contemporary with him - Prokofiev, Debussy, Scriabin, Poulenc, Kabalevsky and Barber.

One of the most controversial pianist of the last century ...

... Horowitz, who is worshiped but also contested, the possessor of an absolutely impressing technique, was never satisfied with the sole display of his virtuosity, so he doubled it with a deep understanding of the sound semantics, as he himself declared:

"Manual skill by itself has repulsed me since my youth. It doesn’t mean anything to me. In some people’s opinion, the great art of piano means playing fast and loud. In my opinion, it consists of playing fluidly, with introspection, and without losing track of the rigorous architecture of the whole."

On 7^th November, 2014, we commemorate 25 years since the legendary pianist Vladimir Horowitz’s passing away. On this occasion, Radio Romania Music dedicates the Calendar Pages column of the Arpeggio programme to him, starting at 10:00. The programme includes miniatures by Domenico Scarlatti, Frédéric Chopin, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Alexander Scriabin, Sergei Rachmaninoff and Vladimir Horowitz.