Vladimir Horowitz was one of the greatest and most electrifying pianists of the twentieth century, renowned for his dazzling virtuosity, thunderous power, and the extraordinary range of color he drew from the instrument. Born in Kyiv in the Russian Empire, he trained as a pianist and emerged as a sensation in the early 1920s before leaving the Soviet Union, never to return for more than sixty years.
Bursting onto the Western stage, Horowitz astonished audiences with his technical command and the sheer excitement of his playing. He settled eventually in the United States and married the daughter of the conductor Arturo Toscanini, with whom he made celebrated recordings.
His career was marked by both triumph and turmoil. A nervous, sensitive man, Horowitz withdrew from public performance for long stretches — once for twelve years — battling stage fright and depression, only to return to ecstatic acclaim each time. His repertoire ranged from the Romantic warhorses of Liszt and Rachmaninoff to Scarlatti and Scriabin, all played with unmistakable personality.
In 1986, in one of the most moving episodes of his career, the elderly Horowitz returned to perform in Moscow for the first time since his youth, an emotional homecoming captured on film and watched around the world. He continued recording almost until his death in New York in 1989, a living link to the golden age of the piano.