Wanda Giorgina Toscanini Horowitz (December 7, 1907 – August 21, 1998) was the daughter of the
conductorConducting is the act of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. Orchestras, choirs, concert bands and other musical ensembles often have conductors.-Nomenclature:...
Arturo ToscaniniArturo Toscanini was an Italian conductor. One of the most acclaimed musicians of the late 19th and 20th Centuries, he was renowned for his brilliant intensity, his restless perfectionism, his phenomenal ear for orchestral detail and sonority, and his photographic memory...
and the wife of
pianistA pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers....
Vladimir HorowitzVladimir Samoylovich Horowitz was an Russian-American classical pianist and minor composer. His technique, use of tone color and the excitement of his playing were and remain legendary...
.
As a child, Wanda studied piano and voice. She never pursued a professional music career, fearing she could never live up to her father's exacting standards. Despite this, she was one of the few people who was willing to stand up to her father.
You married an angel and a devil mixed together there, mrs. Horowitz.
No. He married an angel, and I married a devil.
Source: The Last Romantic, television documentary on Vladimir Horowitz
Wanda Giorgina Toscanini Horowitz (December 7, 1907 – August 21, 1998) was the daughter of the
conductorConducting is the act of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. Orchestras, choirs, concert bands and other musical ensembles often have conductors.-Nomenclature:...
Arturo ToscaniniArturo Toscanini was an Italian conductor. One of the most acclaimed musicians of the late 19th and 20th Centuries, he was renowned for his brilliant intensity, his restless perfectionism, his phenomenal ear for orchestral detail and sonority, and his photographic memory...
and the wife of
pianistA pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers....
Vladimir HorowitzVladimir Samoylovich Horowitz was an Russian-American classical pianist and minor composer. His technique, use of tone color and the excitement of his playing were and remain legendary...
.
As a child, Wanda studied piano and voice. She never pursued a professional music career, fearing she could never live up to her father's exacting standards. Despite this, she was one of the few people who was willing to stand up to her father. When Arturo Toscanini refused to speak with her sister, Wally, following her affair with a married man, it was Wanda who stood up to her father and insisted he reestablish contact.
At a Toscanini concert, she spotted the critic,
Virgil ThomsonVirgil Thomson was an American composer and critic from Kansas City, Missouri. He was instrumental in the development of the "American Sound" in classical music...
dozing during the performance. Knowing that Thomson frequently gave her father negative reviews, she approached him and announced, “I am Wanda Toscanini Horowitz, and I saw you sleep from the first note to the last. I hope you enjoyed the performance.”
Marriage to Vladimir Horowitz
She was equally direct with her husband, whom she had married in 1933. In the 1950s, when Horowitz was playing a Schubert sonata, she complained of the work’s length, which convinced the pianist to forego a repeat. She pointedly refused to accompany her husband for much of his 1983 tour, when he refused to accept that medications were adversely affecting his playing.
Wanda and Horowitz separated in 1948 during which time the pianist was struggling with his homosexuality. They reconciled in 1951. In the aftermath of Horowitz’s 1953 nervous breakdown, she remained by his side. While she took pride in being married to the legendary virtuoso, she also confided that it was, at times “a cross to bear.” However, others have implied that Wanda's stern personality, in part, led to Horowitz's breakdown.
Arthur RubinsteinArthur Rubinstein KBE was a Polish-born American pianist. He received international acclaim for his performances of the music of a variety of composers, and is widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the twentieth century.-Early life:Arthur Rubinstein was born on January 28, 1887, the...
stated that "Wanda was a very hard woman - hard as stone, and this was undoubtedly a factor that led to
Volodya'sVladimir Samoylovich Horowitz was an Russian-American classical pianist and minor composer. His technique, use of tone color and the excitement of his playing were and remain legendary...
collapse."
Wanda frequently referred to their daughter, Sonia (1934-1975), stating that Sonia's death was the greatest agony a mother could bear. More than a decade after Sonia's death, she was observed bursting into tears at the mention of Sonia's name.
Wanda held firmly liberal political views and was opposed to the Catholic Church’s position on birth control. She once referred to
Ronald ReaganRonald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States and the 33rd Governor of California .Born in Tampico, Illinois, Reagan moved to Los Angeles, California in the 1930s...
as “a second-rate actor and a second-rate President.”
Following Horowitz's death in 1989, Wanda bought a 200 year old farm house that she named "Pinci's Acres" (Pinci was Wanda's nickname for Horowitz) in Ashley Falls, Massachusetts, and stocked it with American antiques and Horowitz memorabilia. She then divided her time between this home and the
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
townhouse. An animal lover who volunteered for the ASPCA, she adopted several stray cats.
As Horowitz's sole heir, Wanda was in charge of her late husband's musical legacy. In the 1990s, she approved the release of several previously unavailable recordings. She also rejected several recordings, most notably
BalakirevMily Alexeyevich Balakirev was a Russian pianist, conductor and composer. He is known today primarily for his work promoting nationalism in Russian music...
's Islamey, which she said was "flashy" repertoire that did a disservice to her husband's memory. Copies of the recording eventually surfaced on the Internet, leading to requests for its release. In 2009, her objections were overidden and the recording was issued.
Wanda was buried alongside her husband in the Toscanini family tomb at
Cimitero MonumentaleThe Cimitero Monumentale in Milan, Italy is a very large cemetery located on the square given its name, Piazzale del Cimitero Monumentale. Near the heart of Milan, the cemetery was designed by the architect Carlo Maciachini...
in Milan. In May, 2004, vandals broke into the crypt and opened her coffin, possibly searching for jewelry.
Wanda Toscanini appeared in several filmed documentaries about her husband, most notably in "Vladimir Horowitz — The Last Romantic", in which she responded to her husband's artistry and reflected on her life in the world of music as daughter and wife of two incomparable musicians. A friend of
Woody AllenWoody Allen is an American screenwriter, film director, actor, comedian, writer, musician, and playwright....
, she had a small speaking part in the film,
Crimes and MisdemeanorsCrimes and Misdemeanors is a black comedy written, directed by and co-starring Woody Allen, alongside Martin Landau, Mia Farrow, Anjelica Huston, Jerry Orbach, Alan Alda, Sam Waterston and Joanna Gleason...
.