This Week in Classical Music: September 30, 2024. The Pianists. Last week we complained that there were too many composers of note; this time the situation is reversed: only Paul Dukas of The Sorcerer's Apprentice fame has a birthday in the next seven days. One of the few French Jewish composers, he was born on October 1st of 1865 in Paris. (And our apologies to the fans of Sir Charles Villiers Stanford, we know you are there).
The pianists are faring much better. Vladimir Horowitz was born on October 1st of 1903 in Kiev, the Russian Empire (now Kyiv, Ukraine) into a well-off Jewish family. At nine, Horowitz entered the Kiev Conservatory where he studied with Felix Blumenfeld, among others. He made his solo debut in 1920; around that time, he met the violinist Nathan Milstein, who was the same age and showed great talent. They played together in concerts (Vladimir’s sister Regina was Milstein’s accompanist). Both Horowitz and Milstein left Russia in 1925; Vladimir went first to Berlin and then to the US. His debut, on January 12th of 1928, when he played Tchaikovsky’s First piano concerto faster than the conductor Thomas Beecham would have it and dazzled the public with his technique, became legendary. That was the beginning of one of the most brilliant pianistic careers of the 20th century, even though Horowitz interrupted it four times, first from 1936 to 1938, then from 1953 to 1965, his longest absence from the concert stage, and again in 1969–74 and 1983–85. Altogether, he was away from the public for a long 21 years. That didn’t prevent him from becoming both a celebrity and one of the most interesting pianists of the century.
Horowitz was known to make small alterations to the score. One example is Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition: Horowitz felt that the composer, who wasn’t a pianist, didn’t use the instrument to its fullest extent. He added double octaves to some of Chopin’s pieces. But the real surprise was Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Sonata. Nobody would accuse Rachmaninov, one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century, of not knowing how to use the instrument. The sonata had two versions by then, the original, from 1930, and a reworking made in 1931. In 1940, Horowitz suggested some changes and Rachmaninov, who was in awe of Horowitz the pianist, consented to the alteration. Here it is, in Horowitz’s version, performed live in 1968 in Carnegie Hall. Horowitz always performed on his own Steinways, especially voiced by the maker. You can hear how, at around 12:25, in the middle of the second movement, a string breaks – on his own piano. After playing several more bars, Horowitz pauses (to applause) and waits for the technician to come on stage and remove the string. He then continues. Very often live recordings, despite some missed notes, are more exciting than ones made in a studio. This time the excitement reached a whole new level.
Vera Gornostayeva, a highly regarded Soviet/Russian pianist and pedagogue was born on October 1st of 1929 in Moscow. Alexander Slobodyanik, Pavel Egorov, Eteri Andjaparidze, Ivo Pogorelich, Sergei Babayan, Vassily Primakov, Lukas Geniušas, Vadym Kholodenko, Stanislav Khristenko, and others were her students.
Finally, Edwin Fischer, the Swiss pianist considered one of the greatest interpreters of Bach, was born in Basel on October 6th of 1886.
Three Pianists, 2024
This Week in Classical Music: September 30, 2024. The Pianists. Last week we complained that there were too many composers of note; this time the situation is reversed: only Paul Dukas of The Sorcerer's Apprentice fame has a birthday in the next seven days. One of the few French
Jewish composers, he was born on October 1st of 1865 in Paris. (And our apologies to the fans of Sir Charles Villiers Stanford, we know you are there).
The pianists are faring much better. Vladimir Horowitz was born on October 1st of 1903 in Kiev, the Russian Empire (now Kyiv, Ukraine) into a well-off Jewish family. At nine, Horowitz entered the Kiev Conservatory where he studied with Felix Blumenfeld, among others. He made his solo debut in 1920; around that time, he met the violinist Nathan Milstein, who was the same age and showed great talent. They played together in concerts (Vladimir’s sister Regina was Milstein’s accompanist). Both Horowitz and Milstein left Russia in 1925; Vladimir went first to Berlin and then to the US. His debut, on January 12th of 1928, when he played Tchaikovsky’s First piano concerto faster than the conductor Thomas Beecham would have it and dazzled the public with his technique, became legendary. That was the beginning of one of the most brilliant pianistic careers of the 20th century, even though Horowitz interrupted it four times, first from 1936 to 1938, then from 1953 to 1965, his longest absence from the concert stage, and again in 1969–74 and 1983–85. Altogether, he was away from the public for a long 21 years. That didn’t prevent him from becoming both a celebrity and one of the most interesting pianists of the century.
Horowitz was known to make small alterations to the score. One example is Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition: Horowitz felt that the composer, who wasn’t a pianist, didn’t use the instrument to its fullest extent. He added double octaves to some of Chopin’s pieces. But the real surprise was Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Sonata. Nobody would accuse Rachmaninov, one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century, of not knowing how to use the instrument. The sonata had two versions by then, the original, from 1930, and a reworking made in 1931. In 1940, Horowitz suggested some changes and Rachmaninov, who was in awe of Horowitz the pianist, consented to the alteration. Here it is, in Horowitz’s version, performed live in 1968 in Carnegie Hall. Horowitz always performed on his own Steinways, especially voiced by the maker. You can hear how, at around 12:25, in the middle of the second movement, a string breaks – on his own piano. After playing several more bars, Horowitz pauses (to applause) and waits for the technician to come on stage and remove the string. He then continues. Very often live recordings, despite some missed notes, are more exciting than ones made in a studio. This time the excitement reached a whole new level.
Vera Gornostayeva, a highly regarded Soviet/Russian pianist and pedagogue was born on October 1st of 1929 in Moscow. Alexander Slobodyanik, Pavel Egorov, Eteri Andjaparidze, Ivo Pogorelich, Sergei Babayan, Vassily Primakov, Lukas Geniušas, Vadym Kholodenko, Stanislav Khristenko, and others were her students.
Finally, Edwin Fischer, the Swiss pianist considered one of the greatest interpreters of Bach, was born in Basel on October 6th of 1886.