What a heartbreaker of an album.
For his whole life, Vladimir Horowitz had a persistent irrational fear of failure. This caused him untold grief. One of the consequences was is lead him to consistently and erratically cancel concerts at the last minute. He was very sensitive and emotional his whole life.
As a young boy he had to flee his native russia in the 1920s. He spent most of his life in exile from his beloved home land. In 1986, under the treat of 'repatriation' he returned to Russia, amidst deep cold war tension, for a series of unforgettably emotional charged performances. If you can imagine the pressure and fear heaped on this already fragile artist, he pours it ALL into this performance.
The gratitude in the applause at the end of this song is killer. This great russian Pianist has returned to russia and plays Russian compositions, especially this one. like they have never heard before. His appearance behind the iron curtain is a signal of a new era, of the opening of the door to the west. It's crazy. it makes me want to cry. Crank it for full effect.
(oh by the way I'm UTTERLY sick of the Fifties now, so that's all over... for now.)
Today's Song of the Day is "Etude in D Sharp Minor, Op. 8, No. 12: Patetico" composed by Alexander Scriabin in 1894, performed here by Vladimir Horowitz off his 1986 Album 'Horowitz in Moscow.'
Crazy Fact: In 1903, Scriabin abandoned his wife and their four children and embarked on a European journey with a young admirer, Tatyana Schloezer. jer-ry! jer-ry! jer-ry!
njoy
No comments:
Post a Comment