Absolutely astounding. What a mature musicality. Horowitz gives the impression that he's improvising by the keyboard and plays whatever comes to mind. Few pianist can do that convincing.
I am fascinated by his finger position. Just exquisite and so unique to Horowitz. As personal as his sound it, his finger movements are equally personal.
Arturo Toscanini's (Horowitz's father in law) favorite Chopin Mazurka "I'm obsessed with one mazurka, this one, in A minor. It's sadness is consonant with mine. In the middle, there is a bit of joy darkened by a bit of regret, and then the infinite sadness comes back! " (Arturo Toscanini-1933)
Horowitz's flat hand position was mentioned in some of the posts. A bit unusual, granted. I actually performed on that Steinway piano after he passed away and it was one of the easiest actions I've ever experienced--which Horowitz demanded. The piano definitely took some getting used to but required almost no arm weight--only very sensitive finger action which explains the flat fingers and low hand position. But the instrument had a tremendous tonal & dynamic range and a clear, bell-like sound.
I totally love how Horowitz is so funny and down to earth and YET an absolutely phenomenal artist!!! His charisma was beyond this galaxy. He owned this piece.
An object lesson in Rubato playing. A real brainwave to place the score below the performance - one can see the liberties H takes with the music. The compositional groups of 14 notes are breathtaking!
Such an amazing, brilliant interpretation , he makes me love every note. There are no words to explain his musicality and sense of rhythm, he sings amazingly and goes so deep into music. When we speak about his pianism we should put apart academic or cultural considerations: Horowitz provides the human kind of universal sense of pure Music. Those pianissimo and slegato are divine. We need more Horowitz, so great that Chopin, Schumann, Clementi, Rachmaninov and many other authors would be POP. Because he is in pure connection with Music, with the author, with the public at the same time. He makes you smile and cry, he makes you elevate on another level. Volodja , 2023 and nobody can be compared to you, to date.
JH5280 yes I heard Jazz too! i'm no classical professional. I just stumbled upon Chopin while researching movie composers. I hear bits and pieces of the classics re-imagined in today's movie soundtracks. to hear the roots of music, right now at this moment as i'm writing this, the feeling is wow!
His technique was phenomenal yet if you look at his actual mechanics here, they were so different from conventional wisdom. His hands are mostly flat or even below the keyboard. Amazing that he could do this and make it work.
@@damaomiX My teacher taught me this. It eliminates strain in the hands, wrists, shoulders and arms, and therefore also the torso and back. She taught me to play with gently curled fingers, as if I was holding a tennis ball, but with the hand gently sloping down, and with the fingers almost hanging on the notes. When playing scales, it was SO easy to move along the keyboard. Astounding. It took me 6 months to learn it, playing only scales and exercises during that time, at my own request.. After that, we introduced pieces, and courtesy of that technique, I was able to jump into playing much more complex pieces right away. A real leap up, and so worth it.
Beautiful! I am playing this. So wonderful to see the notes while he plays. I could only hope to play this beautifully. I do not have the time to memorize this. What a talent Horowitz was. Chopin ..my favorite composer, so romantic and delicate. Chopin wrote the most beautiful melodic music.
Chopin fue es y será el Padre de la armonía para todos los compositores y pianistas. No hay semejanza alguna, como creó semejantes obras, compuestas para piano.
Funny how this is the first time I've heard the staccatos at the end actually played as notated. This is so much more dance like and lively! Wonderful.
L'ho scoperta da poco...che dire..?questo sublime sussulto dell'animo affascina e accarezza ..e percepisci l'ineluttabile "dolore"...del vissuto,del perduto,del passato,di ciò in cui hai creduto ed in cui continui a credere ma che non esiste e nè esisterà mai più.Addio..non c'era nessuno quella mattina ad aspettarmi...nessuno!
This is most certainly one of the greatest pieces ever written for the piano. I know that every composer who followed Chopin thought so too. Is there a serious pianist who has not played this masterpiece?
Brilliant! I love how the notation is also posted so you can follow along and try as best you can to pick up his nuances. I just cannot fathom how these great pianists remembered so many pieces by heart. They must have photographic memories. Love his touch.
I listen to this, I watch Horowitz playing Mazurka and however I feel like nonentity... now I get it, this music is nirvana for me. I can't feel anything else, except for the sound
He changes some notes on the left hands to make it even more chromatic And with good taste. I wish someone wrote this score of this interpretation. V.h. Definitely was a revolutionaire and visionaire of the music.
As I know the history of this piece, this is one of Chopin's last works, written not too far before his death. The Op. 17. is misleading, was given to the piece when rediscovered. By me there is a lot of hint of sadness in it and so inimitable personal and delightful.
I’m curious, how is it possible for it to have Op. 17 if it was discovered after his death? Wouldn’t the Op. 17 already be used up on some work that was already published during his lifetime?
Geniuses were few...geniuses with good taste, I think only Chopin, Mozart, Schubert and Rachmaninoff. Chopin wrote the most beautiful themes and it is amazing the originality of each work, he did not repeat himself.
Very light action can be an advantage as well as a disadvantage. for fast passages to be played loud, such as the coda in Chopin ballade can be an advantage. But playing some of his slow and gentle nocturnes can be a trick. I have tried light weighted keys and i can say its very very difficult to control the volume without "banging" on the keys. As well as developing technique, this isint exactly the best type of piano to use, once you get on a harder weighted, your screwed.
interesting comment, and i agree about the safe pianist statements, but a truly magnificent pianist can make the most dull piano shine in my book. i have ateacher with an oldish extrmley bright upright and it's sound is not the best but when she plays it she produces some of the most beutifull tones ive ever heard. i agree safe is in a way a very dangerous thing when playing piano though, dare to be great!
I love how he plays it but honestly there’s nothing that can make a performance the best performance, but I think other pianists that for example play it slower and melancholy are as good
Difficile capire se in Chopin ci sia l'origine del jazz o se questa sia una interpretazione assolutamente originale e moderna di Chopin. Notevole comunque...
