No taking risks, no greatness. Hear pianist Vladimir Horowitz:
For me, the intellect is always the guide but not the goal of the performance. Three things have to be coordinated and not one must stick out. Not too much intellect because it can become scholastic. Not too much heart because it can become schmaltz. Not too much technique because you become a mechanic. Always there should be a little mistake here and there - I am for it. The people who don’t do mistakes are cold like ice. It takes risk to make a mistake. If you don’t take risk, you are boring. These youngsters who win a competition are like the assembly line. Every trill is so perfect but everyone is the same and in 10 minutes you will be bored and go home. (Quoted from a copy in The Saunterer’s files of a page from a New York Times Magazine article. The article's title and date are missing; however, we believe the article appeared in the January 8, 1978, issue.)
For a brief biography of Vladimir Horowitz, click here. To hear Vladimir Horowitz playing Chopin’s Raindrop prelude, click here.
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