From the first measure, I’m captivated. What a style and phrasing. Unlike any other. He had such understanding of the human ear and how to caress it. Effortless and yet strained in all the right ways. Sublime. Miss him.
All of the above qualities come alive on a pre-1945 Steinway D, with its softer hammers. Steinway, in my opinion, made the best (most versatile) pianos in the world ca. 1930-1945. Horowitz was virtually a different pianist here than he was after 1950 ("shattering glass" during the fortes).
@@irabraus9478- It's also the higher quality of the old strings that makes the difference, as well as the speed of the action (lighter weight of the keys, dampers only start moving right before the hammer strikes the string, distance between the hammers and the strings, quality of the repetition system, etcetera). Horowitz always preferred a super-light action, which required extensive regulation and even modification of his later instruments. I think Horowitz would have loved the action on Richard Lipp & Sohn grand pianos, Percy Grainger's favorite instrument, but sadly they were never shipped to the United States by Lipp. Many experts consider the Lipp action to be the best action ever made. Old (100+ year old) Lipp grands (and uprights!) still sound a lot better than modern day top brand equivalents.
@@j.vonhogen9650 May I ask where you get your information about Percy Grainger preferring the Lipp pianos? Grainger was a committed Steinway artist all the years he was in America and made a promotional film for Steinway.
@@pianoredux7516- I don't remember exactly where I read about Percy Grainger's appreciation for Lipp pianos, but it might have been in Cyril Erlich's book "The Piano". If it's not in that book, I will try to find a reliable source for you. Have a great day!
what another amazing piece of entertainment and the greatest expression and technique I have heard ..he was really an amazing pianist and i am so thankful that these concerts are save perpetuity ..also i can imagine the fervor of this New York crowd months after the end of Ww2 and hearing his transcription of The Stars and Stripes forever had to put chills on every one!!
The Mendelssohn variations have NEVER sounded like this before. He actually interprets them individually as brilliant and technical challenges that deserve his most rapt attention to detail. This is Horowitz playing in the stratosphere.
The greatest pianist (italicized) of all time in my opinion. He raises piano playing to a whole new level above everyone else in all aspects -- dynamism, voicing/singing, phrasing, contrast, control, understanding, elegance, articulation, the sound quality and color palette and on and on...
Come on Philip!! You must stop telling the Big Lie=Horowitz the Greatest Pianist! The Truth is Horowitz not the Greatest Pianist! More colorful beautiful piano sound than Horowitz=Wilhelm Kempff Emil Gilels Radu Lupu Artur Rubinstein Vladimir Ashkenazy!! MORE POWERFUL Louder than Horowitz=Mikhail Pletnev The Most Powerful Loudest Pianist ever!!=( Prokofiev piano concerto no 1 by Pletnev!! Pletnev The Nuclear BOMB POWER!!) The second Loudest Hardest Hitter of the Keyboard was Lazar Berman!! More Genius than Horowitz=Sviatoslav Richter Grigory Sokolov Solompn Cutner Maurizio Pollini Alexei Lubimov Stanislav Igolinsky!!!
@@RaineriHakkarainen You kind of make my point. He may not outdo another pianist in any one quality, but but overall Horowitz was the consummate pianist (of course Schnabel was infinitely better with Beethoven) in that he is to Piano what Heifetz was to violin, but with more romantic flair - at the core, Horowitz was a romantic pianist (so great with Schuman, Rachmaninoff and Scriabin and superb with Scarlatti and Mozart). Certainly someone can be louder than Horowitz, but the understanding and execution in terms of the dynamic range of the piano and the singing tone, no one can touch Horowitz.
Here's the 1941 recording of Tchaikovsky 1st with Toscanini -- wow! And this was recorded in 1941! Case closed. Enjoy th-cam.com/video/kCOL4w7VINM/w-d-xo.html
And the piano was on fire after that performance! Piano is a beast of an instrument that is not easy to tame and bring it under complete control. When you hear some other pianists play, you can hear them contend with the beast and negotiating with it. Horowitz is like a wizard of the piano -- brings it to its knees and totally makes it do his bidding.
He gave the best performance of the last movement of the Prokovief sonata on his 25th anniversary concert at Carnegie Hall, but this overall peformance is better even than his professionaly released recording of the entire sonata. I love the Stars and Stripes Forever--much easier to hear the "filigree" at the end in this recording. Thanks so much for posting this!
only parts of these recitals from the 40ties were released. so we have the pleasure now to have the whole recital in front of us and this gives a very interesting insight how Horowitz did program his recitals and what the extraordinary level of quality was.
Horowitz at the peak of his power....really stunning, even if here and there too mannered ( like the Mendelssohn). But breathtaking colours, dynamics and strenght of pure, in most cases divine, musical imagination and expression
Horowitz is of course the greatest virtuoso - but - I think he shines even more brightly in those miniatures that perhaps other pianists don't take so seriously. Just listen to that Kabalevsky prelude - it has a whole world of colour and beauty in only the smallest of pieces. It's a mini miracle of playing.
the'" first modern pianist'", I.J.Paderewski's name for VH: the Zeitgeist in the Prokofieff and Kabalevsky Prelude.......VH had premiered the 'war sonatas' in the Russian Embassy in Washington, DC......
speaking of Hofman who with Rachmaninoff , Paderewski dominated the American music scene in the first part of the 20th cnetury, one hears that style , and especially the art of Chopin pedal indications, in his'heir'" VH!
According to the description, Toscanini (VH's father-in-law) told reporters that the "Prokovieiv Sonata is not great music". From what I have heard, Toscanini was oftentimes terse because he had a corn cob shoved up his butt.
@@brozors Yes, absolutely. I'm not concerned about the pityful "judgment" of some pseudo-judges in some competition. And, if you want to know, Horowitz himself, with his cascades of wrong notes, or Cortot, or Schnabel would never have won any medal in these ridiculous main-stream modern competitions. The taste of our modern time is ugly. Only the notes, never the music. This has a name : decadence.
Horowitz's pianos were souped up by Steinway's Bill Hupfer and Franz Mohr. Hofmann's, by Hofmann himself, with his own native mechanical ingenuity. Both pianists created their own multi-colored macrocosms of sound on the piano yet in totally different ways, their sounds totally different from each other.
@@shapkat1801 Excuse me, I forgot the "n" in the name "Rosita Renard". And Richter is always very more convincing than Horowitz here. And to "shapka" the stupid, what is this for a point ? I am a listener, not a concurrent to these great pianists. Jedem das seine. (everybody to his place)
It remains very difficult for me to listen to the Prokofiev 7th Sonata. It is a muxture of the most bitter visions of human existence and super-saccharine bull shit. The last movement is vicious and ugly. You lusten to it, but, please, spare me!
From the first measure, I’m captivated. What a style and phrasing. Unlike any other. He had such understanding of the human ear and how to caress it. Effortless and yet strained in all the right ways. Sublime. Miss him.
The Arabesque floats away and evaporates. Incredibly exquisite playing.
Variation Series ,fantastic composition , nobody plays now this Meisterstueck ,! Sade !
11:55 Schumann: Arabesque, Op.18
19:54 Prokofiev: Sonata No.7 in B-flat major, Op.83
37:29 Chopin: Andante Spianato & Grande Polonaise Brillante, Op.22
50:38 Chopin: Etude in E major, Op.10 No.3
54:29 Chopin: Etude in C minor, Op.10 No.12 (Revolutionary)
57:54 Chopin: Mazurka in C-sharp minor, Op.41 No.1
1:00:49 Chopin: Mazurka in E minor, Op.41 No.2
1:03:26 Liszt/Horowitz: Wedding March & Variations (after Mendelssohn)
1:10:17 Scarlatti: Sonata in E major, K.380
1:13:55 Schumann: Träumerei, Op.15 No.7
1:17:08 Kabalevsky: Prelude Op.38 No.24
1:21:48 Brahms: Waltz in A flat, Op.39 No.15
1:23:40 Sousa/Horowitz: The Stars and Stripes Forever
thank you for these timings
This is shocking in its intensity, in the clarity of the voice leading, in the nuance of the dynamic range. Shocking. Wonderful.
All of the above qualities come alive on a pre-1945 Steinway D, with its softer hammers. Steinway, in my opinion, made the best (most versatile) pianos in the world ca. 1930-1945. Horowitz was virtually a different pianist here than he was after 1950 ("shattering glass" during the fortes).
@@irabraus9478- It's also the higher quality of the old strings that makes the difference, as well as the speed of the action (lighter weight of the keys, dampers only start moving right before the hammer strikes the string, distance between the hammers and the strings, quality of the repetition system, etcetera).
Horowitz always preferred a super-light action, which required extensive regulation and even modification of his later instruments.
I think Horowitz would have loved the action on Richard Lipp & Sohn grand pianos, Percy Grainger's favorite instrument, but sadly they were never shipped to the United States by Lipp.
Many experts consider the Lipp action to be the best action ever made. Old (100+ year old) Lipp grands (and uprights!) still sound a lot better than modern day top brand equivalents.
@@j.vonhogen9650 May I ask where you get your information about Percy Grainger preferring the Lipp pianos? Grainger was a committed Steinway artist all the years he was in America and made a promotional film for Steinway.
@@pianoredux7516- I don't remember exactly where I read about Percy Grainger's appreciation for Lipp pianos, but it might have been in Cyril Erlich's book "The Piano". If it's not in that book, I will try to find a reliable source for you. Have a great day!
This is an astonishing tour de force of dynamics, clarity,emotional depth and incomparable mastery!
what another amazing piece of entertainment and the greatest expression and technique I have heard ..he was really an amazing pianist and i am so thankful that these concerts are save perpetuity ..also i can imagine the fervor of this New York crowd months after the end of Ww2 and hearing his transcription of The Stars and Stripes forever had to put chills on every one!!
Something incredible! Bravo! 👍👍👏👏👏
it was a real treat during this time period to hear the stars and stripes forever and what a great rendition
The Mendelssohn variations have NEVER sounded like this before. He actually interprets them individually as brilliant and technical challenges that deserve his most rapt attention to detail. This is Horowitz playing in the stratosphere.
70年以上前のコンサート。
生演奏でホロヴィッツの音を聴いた人が羨ましい。
一緒に拍手したくなる。
選曲がお洒落で粋な演奏。
誰も真似できない。
The greatest pianist (italicized) of all time in my opinion. He raises piano playing to a whole new level above everyone else in all aspects -- dynamism, voicing/singing, phrasing, contrast, control, understanding, elegance, articulation, the sound quality and color palette and on and on...
Come on Philip!! You must stop telling the Big Lie=Horowitz the Greatest Pianist! The Truth is Horowitz not the Greatest Pianist! More colorful beautiful piano sound than Horowitz=Wilhelm Kempff Emil Gilels Radu Lupu Artur Rubinstein Vladimir Ashkenazy!! MORE POWERFUL Louder than Horowitz=Mikhail Pletnev The Most Powerful Loudest Pianist ever!!=( Prokofiev piano concerto no 1 by Pletnev!! Pletnev The Nuclear BOMB POWER!!) The second Loudest Hardest Hitter of the Keyboard was Lazar Berman!! More Genius than Horowitz=Sviatoslav Richter Grigory Sokolov Solompn Cutner Maurizio Pollini Alexei Lubimov Stanislav Igolinsky!!!
@@RaineriHakkarainen You kind of make my point. He may not outdo another pianist in any one quality, but but overall Horowitz was the consummate pianist (of course Schnabel was infinitely better with Beethoven) in that he is to Piano what Heifetz was to violin, but with more romantic flair - at the core, Horowitz was a romantic pianist (so great with Schuman, Rachmaninoff and Scriabin and superb with Scarlatti and Mozart). Certainly someone can be louder than Horowitz, but the understanding and execution in terms of the dynamic range of the piano and the singing tone, no one can touch Horowitz.
And as for the color palette, when I hear Horowitz play, I hear a whole orchestra (woodwinds, different strings, percussion, etc.) play.
Here's the 1941 recording of Tchaikovsky 1st with Toscanini -- wow! And this was recorded in 1941! Case closed. Enjoy th-cam.com/video/kCOL4w7VINM/w-d-xo.html
And the piano was on fire after that performance! Piano is a beast of an instrument that is not easy to tame and bring it under complete control. When you hear some other pianists play, you can hear them contend with the beast and negotiating with it. Horowitz is like a wizard of the piano -- brings it to its knees and totally makes it do his bidding.
He gave the best performance of the last movement of the Prokovief sonata on his 25th anniversary concert at Carnegie Hall, but this overall peformance is better even than his professionaly released recording of the entire sonata. I love the Stars and Stripes Forever--much easier to hear the "filigree" at the end in this recording. Thanks so much for posting this!
Are you the Stephen Husarik who wrote the brilliant dissertation on Josef Hofmann?
only parts of these recitals from the 40ties were released. so we have the pleasure now to have the whole recital in front of us and this gives a very interesting insight how Horowitz did program his recitals and what the extraordinary level of quality was.
Horowitz at the peak of his power....really stunning, even if here and there too mannered ( like the Mendelssohn). But breathtaking colours, dynamics and strenght of pure, in most cases divine, musical imagination and expression
That playing of the Mendelssohn variations was not mannered if you've listened to other pianists play it. He has a unique interpreation on it.
Horowitz is of course the greatest virtuoso - but - I think he shines even more brightly in those miniatures that perhaps other pianists don't take so seriously. Just listen to that Kabalevsky prelude - it has a whole world of colour and beauty in only the smallest of pieces. It's a mini miracle of playing.
37:29 Chopin: Andante Spianato & Grande Polonaise Brillante, Op.22
The Traumerei...miraculous!
the'" first modern pianist'", I.J.Paderewski's name for VH: the Zeitgeist in the Prokofieff and Kabalevsky Prelude.......VH had premiered the 'war sonatas' in the Russian Embassy in Washington, DC......
speaking of Hofman who with Rachmaninoff , Paderewski dominated the American music scene in the first part of the 20th cnetury, one hears that style , and especially the art of Chopin pedal indications, in his'heir'" VH!
Cute quote
1940-1950 maybe the best years of Horowitz??
According to the description, Toscanini (VH's father-in-law) told reporters that the "Prokovieiv Sonata is not great music".
From what I have heard, Toscanini was oftentimes terse because he had a corn cob shoved up his butt.
You're right about Toscanini.
And he was right about Prokofiev.
Does anyone else dislike the Arabeque? The piece, not his performance.
45:59 , no, my dear Vladimir, this heavenly moment belongs now to Mrs. Kate Liu.
lol you're comparing a Chopin competition 3rd place runner-up to a top 3 greatest pianist ever?
@@brozors Yes, absolutely.
I'm not concerned about the pityful "judgment" of some pseudo-judges in some competition.
And, if you want to know, Horowitz himself, with his cascades of wrong notes, or Cortot, or Schnabel would never have won any medal in these ridiculous main-stream modern competitions.
The taste of our modern time is ugly.
Only the notes, never the music.
This has a name : decadence.
@@brozors Just a question : did you listen to Mrs. Liu at this very moment?
And if you did, I would be very curious about your sensation .....
Malofeev may be Horowitz successor
If there is ever a WWIII, it will be started by piano affectionados fighting over who was the greatest pianist.😅
forgotten are the remarkable instruments calibrated to the J.Hofman wishes....
He had each key shaved a fraction to accommodate his smaller hands... Wonder what happened top those customized pianos?
@@astrasfo Hofman never used the small-keys pianos in public performances.
Horowitz's pianos were souped up by Steinway's Bill Hupfer and Franz Mohr. Hofmann's, by Hofmann himself, with his own native mechanical ingenuity. Both pianists created their own multi-colored macrocosms of sound on the piano yet in totally different ways, their sounds totally different from each other.
After so much perfection, I wonder why the Revolutionary etude is a bit of a mess…
There's no way that performance "is a bit of a mess" - stormy, tender, dramatic, virtuosic - it has it all!
@@r.i.p.volodya Vive la difference (of opinion)!
It's a bit of a mess, indeed.
10:15 .... hmmmm .... and this is also not very brilliant ......... see Rosita Renard at the same place .........(Carnegie Hall, too)
Seriously? Show how you can do it! ? 😅
@@shapkat1801 Excuse me, I forgot the "n" in the name "Rosita Renard".
And Richter is always very more convincing than Horowitz here.
And to "shapka" the stupid, what is this for a point ?
I am a listener, not a concurrent to these great pianists.
Jedem das seine.
(everybody to his place)
Dull Rubinshtain cannot be
compared with the
spiritualized HOROVITZ
You dare to rank two of the greatest pianists that ever lived - and can't spell either's name correctly!?
@@Pogouldangeliwitz- Says the person with a most peculiar username. 😉
@@j.vonhogen9650 I'm related to Joe Zart... 😋
Are you related to L. Vonbeethögen?
@@Pogouldangeliwitz 😁
It remains very difficult for me to listen to the Prokofiev 7th Sonata. It is a muxture of the most bitter visions of human existence and
super-saccharine bull shit. The last movement is vicious and ugly. You lusten to it, but, please, spare me!
horowitz almost like richter! but twice as fast!! omg the talent wasted on horowitz
Ce semana cu mama lui