Word: horowitz
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...with everything Horowitz does, the event was staged for maximum effect. It almost seemed as if he had refrained from playing with any orchestra for the past 25 years just to create the tension that was now so palpable. Accompanying him was the New York Philharmonic, with which he had made his American debut in 1928 and observed his 25th anniversary...
...work was the romantic, bravura Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor by Rachmaninoff, who had personally blessed Horowitz' interpretation with the words, "He swallowed it whole." Horowitz had insisted on the Philadelphia Orchestra's Eugene Ormandy as the conductor; Ormandy had accompanied Rachmaninoff himself in the concerto. Tickets were awesomely priced: $75 for the orchestra, $250 for the first-tier box seats. But just try to find one. And anyway the concert was a benefit and all $168,000 of the gross -Horowitz and Ormandy donated their services-would go into the orchestra's coffers...
...lights dimmed, Horowitz seemed to spring from the wings. Smiling all the while, he advanced to the edge of the stage apron, gestured to the left and right, saluted the balcony, sat down, fiddled with the bench, tugged at his cuffs, and then nodded to Ormandy that the festivities could proceed...
What makes Horowitz the most exciting pianist in the world is not readily apparent from the look of him. Handsome? Hardly. His ears are too big, and his nose and chin much too long. The explanation came, as it always does, when he began to play. Leaning to his left and glancing toward the orchestra, he filled the hall with the simple, folkish melody that opens the concerto. That is one aspect of the Horowitz magic: rich, full tone even in moments of quiet. The rest of his sorcery was soon at work. The concerto's immense hurdles (lightning...
Beautiful sound and color are what Horowitz is really all about. Form and a unifying tempo matter less to him, and there were dallyings and wanderings in the second and third movements that would have been considered eccentric in any other pianist. The performance was marvelously spontaneous and without calculation. It was markedly freer than the way Horowitz used to play the work, but in its own way it was breathtaking, certifying that one of the most unpredictable musicians of our time is still not set in his musical habits. Probably he never will...