Mieczyslaw Horszowski

I recently corresponded with an old piano teacher about a pianist who's an inside figure, although there are still plenty of his recordings in print. More to come...

TR: You list Mieczyslaw Horszowski in your bio, wasn't he at Curtis?

I've admired his warm tone for years and years, and wish there were more hours in the day to dig into his extensive recordings. I got to hear him live at Sanders Theatre, Harvard, long long time ago, probably early 1990s, and he was only 145 then, and he lived to be 189 right? So you worked with him when he was just a pup! I have this fantasy of him as an impish little Pole with a spicy wit and a dark side he had learned to keep in check, don't ask me why. He's got one of the great faces of all time, as if he was BORN to be an old man. I know he did a lot of interesting repertoire, too, and I need to get some more stuff, I'm a Martinu dude, there's one unterrated MOFO... but any stories or memories you have of MH I'm most interested....

Eugene Pridonoff: Yes, I studied with him during my Curtis years and he was certainly an interesting person. Very quiet, understated, and introverted. He was strictly business during lessons, did not get excited, and simply pointed out the compositional essence--fugal lines, counterpoint, thematic relationships, motifs, etc. He was very non-commital if he liked one's playing, and only once shook my hand after a lesson when I played Schubert's "Wanderer" Fantasy for him. Much to my frustration, Serkin was upset when he heard me play the same piece the next week when I overplayed it on a too harsh piano, trying to impress him after Horszowski's "praise". They were like night and day as teachers. Horszowski never talked about sound, emotion, or inspiration. Serkin was all about projection, conceptual unity, and communicating the essence of the music as a higher ideal.

I agree that MH's playing when he was in his 90's was amazing. What a sound!! It would bring you to your knees! I actually think he played better then than during the years when I studied with him and he would play a recital at Curtis in the 1960's when he was a pup as you say. We figured he was in his 70's then, but he was probably mid to late 60's. I don't know about a dark side or wit as he was very much to himself...