Piano Forte

He was the last and perhaps favorite pupil of Vladimir Horowitz, who described him as "destined to become a legendary talent." Yet acclaimed pianist Eduardus Halim, 31, has never won a top prize. "I guess my playing is too free for the judges' tastes," he says of his style, which recalls the great romantic virtuosos of the last century. This month, Halim will make his New York orchestral debut, playing the Chopin F Minor Concerto with the New York Chamber Symphony at the 92nd Street Y.

Born in Java to a patrician Chinese family, Halim moves with the unostentatiously regal bearing of a prince. Recently, he played for me the Rachmaninoff Third Piano Concerto, one of the knuckle-busting monuments of piano literature. I asked if he had ever failed to get a standing ovation when he played the piece. "Never!" he said proudly. "It happens every time." His wife, Judy,.herself an accomplished pianist, interrupted: "That isn't true, honey. Remember Australia? They didn't stand up till you came out the second time. "

DAVID DANIEL