The Classical Music Minute

Vladimir Horowitz & The Russian Empire

March 28, 2022 Steven Hobé, Composer & Host Season 1 Episode 48
The Classical Music Minute
Vladimir Horowitz & The Russian Empire
Show Notes Transcript

Description
Vladimir Horowitz is considered one of the greatest pianists of all time. What is less known is that Horowitz was born in Kiev, the capital of modern-day Ukraine and at the time this was part of the Russian Empire. Join me, as we take a minute to get the scoop!

Fun Fact
Horowitz was acclaimed for his recordings of the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3, and his performance before Rachmaninoff awed the composer, who proclaimed "he swallowed it whole. He had the courage, the intensity, the daring."

About Steven
Steven is a Canadian composer living in Toronto. He creates a range of works, with an emphasis on the short-form genre—his muse being to offer the listener both the darker and more satiric shades of human existence. If you're interested, please check out his website for more.

A Note To Music Students et al.
All recordings and sheet music are available on my site. I encourage you to take a look and play through some. Give me a shout if you have any questions.

Got a topic? Pop me off an email at: TCMMPodcast@Gmail.com 

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Vladimir Horowitz is considered to be one of the greatest pianists of all time. 

What is less known is that Horowitz was born in Kiev, the capital of modern-day Ukraine and at the time this was part of the Russian Empire. 

Horowitz was initially taught by his mother and then entered the Kiev Conservatory. He played his first solo recital in Kharkiv in 1920, and soon went on tour, being paid in bread, butter and chocolate due to the economic hardship of the Civil War. 

Yet, Horowitz was always drawn to being a composer and says he was only a pianist only to help his family, who had lost their possessions in the Russian Revolution. Eventually, Horowitz left for the West never intending to return. 

However, in 1986, Horowitz returned to the Soviet Union giving recitals in Moscow and Leningrad. These concerts were seen as events of political, as well as musical, significance. 

Today, Ukrainian artists and musicians are acutely aware of the once domineering Russian Empire, especially now as they face Vladimir Putin as he tries to turn back history.