When a piano legend invaded the White House and nobody called security.
Piano Vladimir Horowitz in a televised recital from the White House on 26 January 1978, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of his US debut, at the invitation of President & Mrs Carter. On the program, Chopin's Sonata #2 in B-flat minor, Waltzes in A minor and C-sharp minor, and Polonaise in A-flat, followed by encores by Schumann, Rachmaninoff, and Horowitz's own Carmen Variations.
Acting
Horowitz's face does more acting than most Oscar winners.
Direction
Kirk Browning keeps cameras invisible, lets the music breathe.
Production
East Room acoustics captured gloriously, no reverb needed.
Director
Kirk Browning
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Horowitz hadn't performed publicly for two years before this; the White House was his comeback stage.
This broadcast reached millions and briefly made classical music appointment television in America—a feat never repeated.
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