Every order supports this station. The idea of Peterson and Horowitz comparing notes on pianistic difficulty seems right. They are two pianists whose skill has taken them to great musical heights in different genres. Horowitz is gone, but Oscar Peterson is still with us. As we celebrate Peterson's 75th birthday on August 15th, it's worth considering the question of mastery and music-making.
Musicianship requires an almost unimaginably subtle balance of skill and passion.
On another occasion one might feel more open to a highly polished, somewhat cold performance for those same reasons. As a listener who was once a classical musician, I tend to identify very strongly with pianists in all musical genres, as the piano was my instrument. Vladimir Horowitz was certainly in this category. This was nothing unusual, as the world was similarly hooked by his unbelievable control, his ability to extract every conceivable level of sonority from the instrument. But in thinking about it, I realized that my particular affection for Horowitz was made possible, in a way, by his high degree of accuracy.