People: Apr. 28, 1986

When he arrived in Moscow last week, a Soviet official asked to see some identification. “My face is my passport,” replied Vladimir Horowitz, 81, returning to his homeland for the first time since he fled to the West 61 years ago. The pianist, who is to perform two concerts in Moscow and Leningrad under a new U.S.-Soviet cultural exchange, was reunited with his niece Elena, 70, and visited relatives and old friends including Elena, daughter of Composer Alexander Scriabin, who had idolized Horowitz since her youth. While authorities have given the maestro a less than warm welcome, Horowitz clearly retains a special place in the hearts of the Soviet people. A two-hour rehearsal in the Great Hall of Moscow’s conservatory left 1,600 spectators cheering wildly. “I think he will remember this until the end of his life,” said Composer Sergei Chedbotarev. “And we will too.”