Vladimir Horowitz: The Last Romantic

This portrait of the world-famous pianist Vladimir Horowitz (1903-1989) was shot almost entirely in his house in the Upper East Side in Manhattan. This makes the film not so much a portrait of a celebrity as a portrait of a human being in his day-to-day life. Of course, the then 81-year-old musician plays the piano a lot, displaying both an impressive virtuosity and a contagious sense of humour. While pieces by Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Schubert and many others pass by, we see pictures from the family album and other paraphernalia from an exciting life. And meanwhile, Horowitz has leisurely chats with his beloved wife, the former soprano Wanda Toscanini. (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)