Vladimir Samoilovich Horowitz

Born on Sept. 18 (Oct. 1), 1904, in Kiev. American pianist.

Horowitz studied with V. V. Pukhal’skii, S. Tarnovskii, and F. M. Blumenfel’d in the Kiev Conservatory. After his graduation in 1921 he gave concerts in various cities in the USSR. In 1925 he moved abroad, and in 1928 he moved to New York. During 1936–38 and 1953–64 he gave no concerts because of illness and lived mainly in Switzerland; be made many recordings without appearing in public. In 1965 he returned, with great success, to the concert stage. Horowitz is one of the world’s outstanding pianists. His playing is distinguished by spontaneous dynamism and exceptional virtuosity. He is famous for his renditions of the concerti of P. I. Tchaikovsky, S. V. Rachmaninoff, and S. S. Prokofiev and the works of F. Liszt and for his virtuoso transcriptions, some of which (including Dance of Death by C. Saint-Saëns) Horowitz transcribed in his own exceptional virtuoso manner. He has written a piano fantasy based on themes from Bizet’s opera Carmen, as well as a number of paraphrases and transcriptions.