One of the greatest pianists of his generation serves a forgotten master of “la generazione dell’Ottanta” on this week’s “Music from Marlboro.”
But what generation is that, exactly?
Mieczyslaw Horszowski had one of the longest careers of any performing artist. A pupil of Theodor Leschetizky, who studied with Carl Czerny, who was a pupil of Beethoven, Horszowski played Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in public for the first time in 1901.
His first teacher was his mother, who herself had studied with Karol Mikuli, a pupil of Frederic Chopin. So Horszowski’s artistry was forged at the intersection of two great traditions.
He may have been small of stature, even in maturity, standing barely five feet tall – his limited reach ruled out some of the more virtuosic repertoire – but his performance history was more diverse than his discography might suggest.
Horszowski joined the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music in 1942 and remained there for over 50 years, giving his final lesson only a week before his death in 1993, one month shy of his 101st birthday. Among his pupils were Murray Perahia, Richard Goode, Peter Serkin and Cecile Licad.
He was distinguished by lineage, longevity and legacy, then. However, what made him truly exceptional as a performer was his ability to bring out the poetry in anything he touched. That certainly proves to be the case in his performance of the Piano Trio in A by Ildebrando Pizzetti, a romantic gem that somehow rolled off the musical map.
A contemporary of Ottorino Respighi, Alfredo Casella and Gian Francesco Malipiero, Pizzetti lived from 1880 to 1968. Collectively, they formed the so-called “Generation of the Eighties.” These artists of the post-Puccini era made their mark in the concert halls, as opposed to the opera houses – certainly a change of pace for Italy.
Pizzetti was probably best-known as an associate of Gabrielle d’Annunzio, providing incidental music for d’Annunzio’s plays, setting his libretto for the tragedy “Fedra,” and writing a musical setpiece for the silent film classic “Cabiria” (after a d’Annunzio screenplay).
The Piano Trio in A, written in 1925, is one of Pizzetti’s most autobiographical pieces. The work reflects the unexpected joy the composer felt at finding love again with the woman who would become his second wife (she’s represented by the violin; he by the cello), following the untimely death of his first. There is plenty of drama, lyricism and warmth throughout the 30-minute piece, which is very seldom performed.
Horszowski played it at the Marlboro Music Festival in 1968, with violinist Pina Carmirelli and cellist Leslie Parnas.
As if that isn’t enticement enough, the hour will begin with Horszowski and the Marlboro Festival Orchestra conducted by Felix Galimir in 1982 – the pianist a mere 90 years-old at the time – in the Keyboard Concerto No. 7 in G minor, BWV 1058, by Johann Sebastian Bach.
All hail Horszowski! Mieczyslaw Horszowski plays Bach and Pizzetti on the next “Music from Marlboro,” this Wednesday evening at 6:00 EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.
Marlboro School of Music and Festival: Official Page
PHOTO: Mieczyslaw Horszowski (center) with Marlboro co-founder Rudolf Serkin and an up-and-coming Ruth Laredo
