Troubled by personal crises and allegedly episodes of addiction to anti-depressants and other substances, Horowitz had his ups and downs, and underwent electric shock therapy for depression in the 1940s. His US debut in 1928 propelled him straight to international stardom. Born in Kiev, Horowitz left the USSR in 1925 to study with Artur Schnabel in Berlin, but never returned. There was only one Horowitz: a pianist with a positively Himalayan range of expression, a virtuoso flair and a feverish visionary quality unlike any before or since. Too ill in his last recital to play the final Chopin waltz, he replaced it with Myra Hess’s transcription of Bach’s ‘Jesu, Joy Of Man’s Desiring’. Hampered first by the outbreak of World War II and then by the illness that was to kill him, Hodgkin’s disease, Lipatti forged a short career of about 15 years. Lipatti was born into a musical family in Bucharest the great George Enescu was his godfather and he studied with Cortot, among others. His playing displayed a profound sense of love for the music, a pure, focused, simple beauty which lets the works shine out unencumbered. The death of Dinu Lipatti at the age of only 33 robbed the world of one of its best-loved classical pianists. Although he was venerated for his playing of Brahms and Beethoven, one of his most celebrated recordings was of Grieg’s Lyric Pieces. His repertoire was less varied than his compatriot Richter’s, centring on the Viennese classics. It was only in 1955 that he was able to make his US debut, becoming one of the first Soviet artists permitted to travel to the west. During the years of hostilities he gave the world premiere of Prokofiev’s Piano Sonata No. His fame began to rise when he won the Ysaÿe International Festival’s Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels in 1938, but soon his career plans had to be put on hold due to the outbreak of war. Gilels’ special sound was all his own, deep and virtually orchestral in its range and richness.
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