Vladimir Horowitz

Born in Kyiv, Ukraine – then part of the Russian Empire - on October 1, 1903, Vladimir Horowitz was a classical pianist and composer based in America. He is best known for his romantic piano repertoire. As the winner of no less than 20 Grammy Awards and the recipient of a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, it is safe to say that the Vladimir Horowitz is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest piano players of the 20th century. During the early part of his career, he remained in his native Russia, often being paid in food for his concert appearances, such was the state of the Russian economy at that time. He began his career in the west when he emigrated to West Berlin in 1925 and, within three years, was making his debut at the Carnegie Hall in New York, which proved to be the springboard for his successful international career. With a recording career that dates back to the 1920s, he is featured on more than 400 releases including Piano Music of Chopin and Liszt (1948), Vladimir Horowitz: A Concert at Carnegie Hall (1968), New Recordings of Chopin (1974), Horowitz (The Last Romantic) (1985), and many others. During his career, he withdrew from public performances several times including long stretches between 1953 to 1965 and 1969 to 1974. His last recital was recorded on June 21, 1987. Vladimir Horowitz died from a heart in New York on November 5, 1989, at the age of 86. He left behind an extraordinary legacy of recorded work, much of it recorded on Columbia Records. To this day, aficionados of classical music claim his interpretation of Liszt’s “Sonata in B Minor” is the definitive recording of the piece with over a hundred subsequent recordings by different artists failing to come up to the standard Horowitz set in 1932.

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