Horowitz’s stringent requirements

When Vladimir Horowitz performed in Japan:

…. a kitchen had to be built in his suite because he insists that all his meals – fish or chicken only – be taken there. The electrical wiring ran afoul of Tokyo fire laws, requiring new wallpaper and a special floor.

Several critics suggested in a music journal that the money might have been better spent to help victims of a recent earthquake in northern Japan.

”You should grumble at the management, not me,” the pianist replied when told of these remarks. ”I didn’t even know the prices until I got here.”

Clyde Haberman, “3,500 Japanese Applaud Horowtiz for 14 Minutes”, The New York Times, June 13, 1983, https://www.nytimes.com/1983/06/13/arts/3500-japanese-applaud-horowitz-for-14-minutes.html, accessed 22 June 2020.

Posted

in

by

Greg

Tags:

Featured Content

Alleluia! Sing to Jesus (Hyfrydol) – SATB, brass, and organ
Title: Alleluia! Sing to Jesus (Hyfrydol) Composer: Rowland Prichard; arr. Greg Smith Text: Rev 5:9; William C. Dix Instrumentation: SATB, brass (hrn, tpt, 2 tb), and organ Product medium: PDF score and parts Samples:
Abstraction V
Title: Abstraction V Composer: Greg Smith Instrumentation: Cello and piano Product medium: PDF score and part SAMPLES:
Mozart’s musical aesthetics
Mozart’s comments on the musical style of his piano concertos (K. 413-415) portray his underlying aesthetic principle that music should be clear and accessible: I still have 2 concertos to write to complete my subscription concerts. – These concertos are a happy medium between what’s too difficult and too easy – they are Brilliant – […]
Art isn’t your pet
"Art isn't your pet – it's your kid.  It grows up and talks back to you."  Joss Whedon, screenwriter
Forgive (Tchaikovsky)
Title: Forgive ( Прости!) (opus 60, no. 11] Composer: Pytor Il'yich Tchaikovsky (arr. Greg Smith) Instrumentation: Cello and piano Product medium: PDF score and part Sample:
Underrated and overrated composers
“Polls of various musical personalities (but not me) in the Times about who’s underrated and who’s overrated.  Naturally Vivaldi is deemed overrated in the light of Bach.  Since everyone knows he’s overrated.  I’d have said he’s the most underrated of overrated composers.” Ned Rorem (2000) Lies: A Diary 1986-1999.  Cambridge: MA: Da Capo Press, p.82. […]
Teaching in Kabul
Emma Ayres, a violist and former ABC Classic FM radio presenter, discusses her experience in teaching in Kabul at the Afghanistan National Institute of Music. CP: You teach viola, cello, and violin as well? EA: A little bit of violin and a little bit of double bass, although I’m not a very good double bass […]
The career of a musician compared to other arts
The career of a musician out to be — it is, actually, and in many ways — different from the careers of artists in other fields of art.  All comparisons of the other arts with music are necessarily somewhat superficial.  The art of music needs, essentially, not much contact with social groups, or concern with […]
The soloist will get his way
Pianist Freddy Kempf on the recording process: Solo recording is the most indulgent type … it’s 90 per cent down to me. The producer can shout at me all he likes, but if I am set on doing it my way, there’s few people who can stop me! – Freddy Kempf, in an interview with […]
The spice of music
“Without music to decorate it, time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines or dates by which bills must be paid.” Frank Zappa, composer Cited at QuotationsBook.