Chapters XXXIII through XXXV Summary and Analysis

Chapters XXXIII through XXXV describes the influence of great pianists and schools of music during the middle to second half of the twentieth century.

Chapter XXXIII Romanticism Still Burns describes the last two great pianists, Arthur Rubinstein and Vladimir Horowitz who remained loyal to the romanticist tradition after World War II. They shared an uneasy friendship but recognized each other's strengths. Rubinstein was a better musician and admitted Horowitz was a better pianist. Horowitz was legendary but Rubinstein was not although both sold out audiences. Horowitz first played as a substitute pianist. His powerful opening made orchestra conductor Eugen Pabst leave the podium to watch his hands and the "audience went wild." Horowitz' American debut was with the New York Philharmonic but the conductor directed a tempo slower than usual. Horowitz felt the audience lose...