Evenings with Horowitz: A Personal Portrait

Book Description

Evenings with Horowitz details a special friendship between two musicians. The book is a vivid account of their mutual passion for music and the piano. It reflects the struggles and triumphs of Vladimir Horowitz, a flaming genius who was also insecure and fearful of old age and the loss of his powers. In his conversations with the author, the Maestro reveals the agony and the ecstasy of a pianist's career and his love and awe for the great composers whose music he played. "Dubal, broadcaster, concert pianist, and faculty member at Juilliard, draws upon his knowledgeable background to produce a fascinating portrait of the brilliant and electrifying pianist Vladimir Horowitz ... Discussions ensued on repertoire, stylistic interpretations, tastes of audiences, other famous pianists, favored composers, and even such non-musical topics as care of animals, modern-day presidents, and American youth. Dubal provides a rare and intimate glimpse of Horowitz and illustrates the precariousness of accommodating the temperament of a genius." - Library Journal

Customer Reviews:

Interesting friendship.......2006-12-05

This is not a complete Horowitz biography, and it does not pretend to be. I found it very readable and interesting. It says a lot about Horowitz' and his wife's personalities in later years. Of course it says a lot about the author's own personality as well, but I don't agree with one of the reviewers who say that the author seems "self-absorbed". I would rather use the word "sincere" or "self-exposing", when he discuss the breach in their relations.

An awful and self serving betrayal of a very important pianist.......2005-12-02

There is nothing much to say about this contemptible betrayal of a personal trust. This is an awful book that deserves to be avoided at all costs. Better you should pick up a copy of Harold Schonberg's "Horowitz - His Life and Music". I am certainly not the first or hundredth to find this book awful beyond belief. Please avoid it and turn to something other than this self-serving waste of trees.

Reveals as much about Dubal as Horowitz.......2005-05-12

How do you get nearly exclusive access to one of the most elusive and reclusive artists in the world? You put yourself in a very submissive position, you grovel, you kowtow to him. That's what author David Dubal did, through most of their relationship, and this book is an interesting look at that.

To be blunt about it, Horowitz--by Dubal's own reckoning--was spoiled, self-centered, and manipulative. He was also magnetic, fascinating and capable of great charm, although he seemed to use it mainly when he wanted to get something from Dubal. The two men used each other to a degree here--Dubal as a conduit to the outside world and Horowitz as profile-booster and fodder for his radio program on WNCN--but that's the only way relationships like these can happen, and we owe something to Dubal for lifting the curtain of what went on inside the maestro's house during the last years of his life. It's a glimpse we would not have had, had Dubal not ingratiated himself into the Horowitz's lives. This book isn't on a par with Joseph Horowitz's (no relation) fascinating study on Claudio Arrau, largely because JH and Arrau's conversations were more of a two-way street. Still, this is a fascinating book, dealing with a wide range of subjects, from Horowitz's views of Rubinstein and Rachmaninoff, to his feelings about his homeland, to his reverence for Mozart, whom he describes as "his Number One." We learn that wife Wanda managed every aspect of Horowitz's career except the artistic. NO ONE made artistic decisions for Horowitz, though if the author is to believed (if), Horowitz did take some repertoire suggestions from Dubal. We also learn, not surprisingly, that for all his culture Horowitz was a very limited man in many respects, unable to function even in simple ways in society without help, and ignorant of much of art outside his own realm.

As the book goes on, despite some touching and rewarding moments, we gradually see a resentment building and finally bubbling over because of the way both Vladimir and, even more, Wanda, tried to control and manipulate Dubal. Aside from a jacket blurb for a book, Horowitz never favored Dubal with any reciprocity for the favors Dubal did him. His self-centeredness can't be attributed merely to his being a "genius"; the pianist was reportedly fawned on non-stop as a small child before he even played a note, and grew up with a sense of entitlement. In short, he was spoiled rotten, though in fairness he did suffer hardships, mostly at the hands of Soviet authorities. Marrying Toscanini's daughter probably didn't help things, either. Horowitz could be so incapable of reaching out--or unwilling to reach out--to anyone, that his own daughter eventually committed suicide as a result of his indifference to her. Even his marriage to Wanda appeared passionless. Dubal discusses much-speculated homosexuality but concludes Horowitz was probably never intimate with members of either gender--his feelings and emotions poured out through the piano, and were meant for an audience of thousands, not an intimate one or two. (Ironic, then, that Dubal later bemoans the death of intimacy and the rise of mass-communion with audiences in the afterward of his book.)

"Evenings With Horowiz"--the 2004 edition, at least--comes with a compact disc awkwardly fastened with superduperglue onto the inside back cover. I practically had to rip the cover off to get the disc out. It contains about an hour's worth of conversations with Horowitz that Dubal used on his WNCN radio broadcasts. Horowitz is fascinating, though a little hard to understand at times; Dubal is infuriating as a narrator. Both here and on his "Golden Age of the Piano" DVD (which I've also reviewed) he talks s l o w l y a n d d e l i b e r a t e l y, as though he were addressing a kindergarten class. His six minute intro, before Horowitz starts talking, seems to go on for days. Being that he had his conversations with the maestro late at night, I wonder how Volodya stayed awake.

On a totally irrelevant side note, this book's cover has to be the ugliest I have ever seen. I could do better with a copy of Pagemaker and an hour of computer time. What art director "directed" this illegible feast of gaudy fonts?

Fascinating glimpse into the life of a great pianist.......2004-10-16

Other reviewers fault Dubal's self-absorption, and while I realize he is quite pleased with himself, I think the book is excellent - delightful to read, full of interesting stories about life with the monster maestro, and displaying the author's considerable musical erudition. There is much to be learned here. As for the ethical question -- when you have been a guest in a famous man's home for a period of years, do you then write a book exposing the flaws of your host? It seems to violate the norms of hospitality, but then, what norms of civil behavior have not been violated in our out of bounds culture? But if David Dubal had not written this book, we piano lovers would all be the poorer. I keep Evenings with Horowitz on a central bookshelf in my library, where I often refer to it -- not least for the valuable discography and insightful comments on Horowitz' recordings. I only wish Dubal had been a guest of Franz Liszt in the 19th century -- what a book that would have been!

Evenings With Horowitz: A Personal Portrait

Average customer rating:

Crescendo of Pomposity
Reveals as much about Dubal as Horowitz
For 30 pieces of silver...
Good thing someone thought to write this book...
Treasure trove

Evenings With Horowitz: A Personal Portrait
David Dubal
Manufacturer: Carol Publishing Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0806515139

Customer Reviews:

Crescendo of Pomposity.......2006-09-23

(Note: This review does not encounter Evenings with Horowitz until the latter paragraph; Dubal's Canon of Classical Music and Art of the Piano are taken into account in the former.)

I first came across the name David Dubal when my father gave me a copy of the Canon of Classical Music. An enjoyable, informative read, rather benign, though it showed signs of favoritism (an absurd thing to find in what is essentially marketed to be an encyclopedia). Nevertheless, in it I found a quick, easy reference guide to composers great and small. Interested to see what other work Dubal had done, I next read his Art of the Piano for the convenient cataloguing of famous pianists found therein. Again, it was enlightening, but I repeatedly found unnecessary commentary regarding whether Dubal "liked" a particular performer or not. It's fine to have stylistic preferences, but please save it for the Juilliard cafeteria. I would rather like to know which pianists gravitated to which composers, or who raised the bar technically. I would hate to think that someone will or won't listen to a Brendel or Michelangeli recording because of the author's preferences, which seem to orbit around a bizarre zeal for Horowitz. Not that Horowitz wasn't phenomenal, but Dubal dedicates an unfair amount of space to him in Art of the Piano.

In any case, we come to Horowitz, the actual subject of this review. It was in Evenings that my esteem for Dubal evaporated and my distaste precipitated. To put it bluntly, he is distractingly self-serving in this book. It is very hard to enjoy glimpses of Horowitz the person when Dubal insists on eclipsing him. But don't take it from me- Horowitz himself apparently said to Dubal "You know everything!", so farbeit from me to doubt him. It is not an enjoyable read; on the contrary, it is frustrating, and unnecessarily so. I would recommend this book only for the avid Horowitz fan who knows nothing about the Maestro's personal life. There are fascinating tidbits worth reading, but they are sadly buried. On the other hand, for those who are avid Dubal fans- your ship has come in.

Reveals as much about Dubal as Horowitz.......2005-05-12

How do you get nearly exclusive access to one of the most elusive and reclusive artists in the world? You put yourself in a very submissive position, you grovel, you kowtow to him. That's what author David Dubal did, through most of their relationship, and this book is an interesting look at that.

To be blunt about it, Horowitz--by Dubal's own reckoning--was spoiled, self-centered, and manipulative. He was also magnetic, fascinating and capable of great charm, although he seemed to use it mainly when he wanted to get something from Dubal. The two men used each other to a degree here--Dubal as a conduit to the outside world and Horowitz as profile-booster and fodder for his radio program on WNCN--but that's the only way relationships like these can happen, and we owe something to Dubal for lifting the curtain of what went on inside the maestro's house during the last years of his life. It's a glimpse we would not have had, had Dubal not ingratiated himself into the Horowitz's lives. This book isn't on a par with Joseph Horowitz's (no relation) fascinating study on Claudio Arrau, largely because JH and Arrau's conversations were more of a two-way street. Still, this is a fascinating book, dealing with a wide range of subjects, from Horowitz's views of Rubinstein and Rachmaninoff, to his feelings about his homeland, to his reverence for Mozart, whom he describes as "his Number One." We learn that wife Wanda managed every aspect of Horowitz's career except the artistic. NO ONE made artistic decisions for Horowitz, though if the author is to believed (if), Horowitz did take some repertoire suggestions from Dubal. We also learn, not surprisingly, that for all his culture Horowitz was a very limited man in many respects, unable to function even in simple ways in society without help, and ignorant of much of art outside his own realm.

As the book goes on, despite some touching and rewarding moments, we gradually see a resentment building and finally bubbling over because of the way both Vladimir and, even more, Wanda, tried to control and manipulate Dubal. Aside from a jacket blurb for a book, Horowitz never favored Dubal with any reciprocity for the favors Dubal did him. His self-centeredness can't be attributed merely to his being a "genius"; the pianist was reportedly fawned on non-stop as a small child before he even played a note, and grew up with a sense of entitlement. In short, he was spoiled rotten, though in fairness he did suffer many hardships, mostly at the hands of Soviet authorities. Later marrying Toscanini's daughter probably didn't help things, either. Horowitz could be so incapable of reaching out--or unwilling to reach out--to anyone, that his own daughter eventually committed suicide as a result of his indifference to her. Even his marriage to Wanda appeared passionless. Dubal discusses much-speculated homosexuality but concludes Horowitz was probably never intimate with members of either gender--his feelings and emotions poured out through the piano, and were meant for an audience of thousands, not an intimate one or two. (Ironic, then, that Dubal later bemoans the death of intimacy and the rise of mass-communion with audiences in the afterward of his book.)

For 30 pieces of silver..........2004-02-07

Many review have castigated the author for his enormous ego. Well, I had never heard of him before (or since) - probably the worst thing anyone could say. But I have heard of Horowitz. In fact I have over a dozen recordings of Vladimir Horowitz and consider him the last of the titans in an unbroken chain from Lizst, ending with Horowitz. The Eastern Europe / Russian school will never again be equalled in passion, dedication and technique. The flaws in this book, where to begin?

(1) The smarmy way the author ingratiates himself with the pianist ("I'm your friend") then write this rather gossipy non-biography of celebrities he has met or spoken with.
(2) The gossip - sex, relationships, the inner thoughts of people as if he were a mind reader.
(3) The name dropping..."Yehudi Menuhin...said to me" "I received a dinner invitation (from Mrs. Horowitz)" "the French tenor, Doda Conrad, once visited me..." Or, preposterously, after the author had played a Schumann piece Horowitz said it sounded difficult and wondered aloud if he could learn it. If he said that John Kerry is an expert on the hourly worker. Give me a break.
(4) The cursory nod toward the music. It was described well - beautiful, mesmerizing, brilliant, etc - but it was mostly surface. I was hoping for something more technical, something different.
(5) The rather short biographical information. Again, almost all surface.

Is there a definitive biography of Horowitz worth reading? Regardless, not reading one is almost preferable to reading this stuff.

Good thing someone thought to write this book..........2003-11-26

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and am surprised at people's reaction to David Dubal: Yes, he offers his opinions, but he is the book's author. If someone else had written this book we would have someone else's observations on Horowitz. The alternative is either a dry Question/Answer format or one of those ubiquitous co-authored biographies. While it is an account of Horowitz's life, it is, in part, Horowitz's life through the eyes and experiences of David Dubal; the title itself implies this. And, it's not as if Mr. Dubal is a neophyte with a passing interest in music: He is a professional pianist, a professor at Julliard, and a writer -- not bad credentials.

The people who blasted Dubal, but who claim to love Horowitz, should be grateful that someone had the musical knowledge, the affection for Horowitz, and he foresight to write such a book. To be axiomatic, if Dubal had not written his book, no such book would exist.

So, read this book, enjoy it, and be thankful that David Dubal wrote it.

Treasure trove.......2003-05-02

This entertaining book gives a small glimpse into the thoughts and habits of Horowitz in the last few years of his life. The conversations about composers and musicians are fascinating and Mr. Dubal has captured Horowitz's enthusiasm for and knowledge of composers and music admirably. Equally fascinating are the descriptions of the Horowitzes at home or dining out. This is a book to be dipped into and enjoyed.

A quick word about the author. Unfortunately, I do think that he inadvertently reveals himself as being rather unlikeable. Furthermore, his literary ability is questionable: I found the book to be poorly structured and written. Yes, he sometimes comes across as self-important and yes, if it weren't for Horowitz no one would ever have heard of Dubal, but the book is enormous fun and I have read and re-read it so many times that I may need to buy a new copy!

Average customer rating:
EVENINGS WITH HOROWITZ: A PERSONAL PORTRAIT.

Manufacturer: Robson Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000HLADSQ

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

The Modern Renaissance of Jewish Music: Events and Figures, Eastern Europe and America (Da Capo Press Music Reprint Series)

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The Modern Renaissance of Jewish Music: Events and Figures, Eastern Europe and America (Da Capo Press Music Reprint Series)
Albert Weisser
Manufacturer: Da Capo Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Music | Judaism | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0306762072

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