Evenings with Horowitz : a personal portrait / David Dubal.
| Author/creator | Dubal, David |
| Format | Book |
| Publication Info | Secaucus, NJ : Carol Publishing Group, 1991. |
| Description | xxvi, 321 pages, 16 pages of plates : illustrations, portraits ; 24 cm |
| Subjects |
| Series | Robert Morris collection Robert Morris collection. UNAUTHORIZED |
| Contents | Chronology -- The first twenty-two years -- Horowitz conquers the world -- An early retirement -- The triumphant return -- The second coming -- My first visit with the maestro -- The greatest paws in the world -- Horowitz decides to visit Juilliard -- Horowitz and Schumann merge -- Getting the right tempo -- "I like to improvise" -- The cocktail pianist -- Horowitz talks music -- From darkness to light -- New Year's eve -- Hanging by a thread -- Reconciliation -- The perfect encore -- Off to Russia -- The concert heard around the world -- Back home -- A presidential invitation -- A recital in the White House -- "I'm a good American" -- Mozart in my life -- The search for the perfect cadenza -- The arm-wrestling champ -- The bow-tie award -- The Rubinstein rivalry -- Listening with trepidation -- Rachmaninoff [Rachmaninov]: the Horowitz icon -- An old age -- Horowitz and rock-and-roll -- Paderewski: the noblest spirit of them all -- Brahms: the little B -- Horowitz and I dine alone -- Scaling the ivory tower -- Murray Perahia plays for Horowitz -- The composer comes first -- Andras Schiff visits East Ninety-fourth street -- The five hundred dollar bet -- The 500,000th piano -- After the gala -- Horowitz teaches -- The Birthday party: Horowitz at eighty-five -- The end of a friendship -- The passing of the maestro -- Afterword: an appreciation -- Horowitz on compact disk: a discography. |
| Abstract | Vladimir Horowitz (1903-1989) was the Merlin of the keyboard. His name spelled keyboard virtuosity for sixty-five years of our century. Not since Liszt and Paderewski has any pianist created such a legend. When he condescended to perform, lines formed days in advance. The highest paid concert artist in history, Horowitz won twenty-three Grammy Awards and sold more records than any other classical artist. The recording of his Moscow Recital in 1986 alone has been on the Billboard charts for five straight years. Horowitz set unique standards of artistry; to be compared with him is every young pianist's dream. Yet the real man was an enigma. For years, he would mysteriously disappear from the concert stage. What he thought, what he did, was unknown. The book details a special friendship between two musicians. The author first came into Horowitz's life when they collaborated on a series of radio interviews which won the coveted Peabody Award. Later, the author became a weekly guest at the Horowitz home. The book is a vivid account of their mutual passion for music and the piano. It reflects the struggles and triumphs of the Maestro, a flaming genius who was also insecure and fearful of old age and the loss of his powers. Though a man both tortured and isolated in his last years, he traveled the globe in a succession of unprecedented musical triumphs from Moscow to Tokyo. In this entertaining and accessible memoir, the author is seen prodding Horowitz on, offering him new ideas, delighting him with stories of the great composers, pampering him, disagreeing with him, bringing young pianists to learn from him, and always sitting in amazement when Horowitz played for him. The book covers a lifetime of musical wisdom and contains countless anecdotes of the musical world. Horowitz discusses his friendship and rivalry with Arthur Rubinstein, his love for the great Rachmaninoff [Rachmaninov], his esteem for the noble Paderewski, and his respect for his father-in-law, Arturo Toscanini. For fifty-six years, Horowitz was married to the iron-willed and formidable Wanda Toscanini. Horowitz reveals the agony and the ecstasy of a pianist's career, his love and awe for the great composers whose music he played. The author supplies the reader with critical appraisals of Horowitz as well as an invaluable discography highlighting Horowitz's greatest recordings. |
| General note | A Birch Lane Press book. |
| Bibliography note | Includes discography (pages 287-309) and index. |
| LCCN | 91030377 |
| ISBN | 1559720948 : |
Availability
| Library | Location | Call Number | Status | Item Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Music | Closed Stacks - Ask at Circulation Desk | ML417.H8 D8 1991 | ✔ Available | Place Hold |
| Music | Music Stacks | ML417.H8 D8 1991 | ✔ Available | Place Hold |