Vladimir Horowitz was born on October 1, 1903 in the Ukraine. He took
his first piano lessons from his mother Sophie at the age of five but
seemed to show more interest in composing than playing the piano until
he was twelve. In 1912 Horowitz began studying at the Kiev Conservatory
where his piano professors were Sergei Tarnovsky and Felix Blumenfeld.
In 1914 he met and played for Alexander Scriabin, and in 1919 he left
the conservatory, performing Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 3 at his
graduation.
Horowitz made his solo debut recital in Kiev in 1920 and in two years
was performing in concerts throughout Russia. However, he left for Western
Europe in the Autumn of 1925, making his solo debut in Berlin in 1926.
Later that year he was given the chance to play Tchaikovsky's Piano
Concerto No. 1 with the Hamburg Philharmonic at only one hour and a
half's notice. The standing ovation that greeted this performance did
much to establish Horowitz's reputation in Germany and in the major
musical capitals of Europe.
In 1928 Horowitz made his New York debut in the Tchaikovsky Concerto
with the New York Philharmonic under Sir Thomas Beecham, followed by
a solo recital and an extensive American tour. The same year he played
Rachmaninov´s Piano Concerto No. 3 for the composer. The two great
pianists remained close friends until Rachmaninov´s death in 1943.
In 1930 Horowitz made the first of his three recordings of Rachmaninov´s
Piano Concerto No. 3 with Albert Coates conducting the London Symphony
Orchestra.
By now Vladimir Horowitz had played with almost every one of the world's
greatest conductors except for Arturo Toscanini. But in October 1932
Toscanini approached Horowitz on the recommendation of Adolf Busch to
play the "Emperor" Concerto as part of a Beethoven cycle Toscanini
proposed to give in Carnegie Hall with the New York Philharmonic. The
great Italian conductor immediately warmed to Horowitz's playing and
this was the beginning of a long-standing collaboration between the
two artists both in concert and on record. On December 21, 1933 Horowitz
married Toscanini's daughter, Wanda.
With the outbreak of World War II in 1939, the Toscanini and Horowitz
families left for America and Vladimir Horowitz did not perform again
in Europe until 1951. In 1943 Horowitz's performance of Tchaikovsky's
Piano Concerto No. 1 with Toscanini at Carnegie Hall helped raise over
$10 million for the war effort. Horowitz became an American citizen
in 1945.
During this time he gave the American premieres of Prokofiev's Sonatas
Nos. 6, 7 and 8 and did much to champion the music of Samuel Barber
and Dmitri Kabalevsky.
In 1953 Vladimir Horowitz retired from giving concerts. He continued
making recordings, signing an exclusive contract with CBS Masterworks
in 1962. On May 9, 1965 he created a sensation with his "Historic
Return" concert, the beginning of an extraordinarily productive
period in Horowitz's career. In 1968 he gave a one-hour "Television
Concert" on CBS.
He continued recording for CBS Masterworks until 1973, when he returned
to RCA.
In 1978 he marked the Golden Jubilee of his American debut by giving
his first concerto performance for a quarter century in Rachmaninov's
Piano Concerto No. 3 with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under
Eugene Ormandy. In the same year he performed at the White House for
President and Mrs. Carter. In 1982 Horowitz gave his first recital in
London for thirty-one years "at the invitation of Prince Charles".
The television broadcasts of this recital for Europe and the United
States were to become the basis for SONY CLASSICAL´s Horowitz
in London on VHS and Laser Disc.
In 1986 Horowitz returned to Russia for the first time for sixty years,
giving concerts to rapturous audiences in Moscow and Leningrad.
In 1989 Horowitz recorded Haydn's Piano Sonata in E flat, Liszt´s
Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen and Isolde's Liebestod transcription,
and a selection of music by Chopin for Sony Classical. The Last Recording
went on to win the Grammy for the best solo classical album for 1991,
one of 15 Grammys awarded to Horowitz's CBS and Sony recordings.
On November 5, 1989 Vladimir Horowitz died at home of a heart attack.
He was buried in the Toscanini family tomb at the Cimitario Monumentale
in Milan.
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