I just picked this out to watch with my 2-year-old. Her eyes lit up. She started giggling and saying "pretty". Then stopped talking and just listened for about 5 minutes, while moving her head back and forth (like Stevie Wonder). Then she went in the other room to annoy her mother.
My (they/zer) 1 y.o. child (she/her) told me she thinks that Chopin’s 2nd sonata is arguably the best musical piece ever written. She compares it to the whole J.S.B’s WTС and finds certain points where this sonata beats even WTС as a whole
How many people his age do you know who can play the piano like that? He was a great pianist and a wonderful person. He not only had fantastic technique, and a wonderful personality, but also the courage to present his interpretation publicly, unlike many of the performing pianists these days.
I remember watching this video as a kid on my dial-up internet. The video literally took all day to render, but I was determined to watch the video at any cost. I'm mildly surprised this video still exists.
I was privileged to hear Horowitz play this piece live in Chicago Symphony Hall in the 70s and I remember the power and artistry he brought to this Chopin Sonata no.2 and how he filled it with intense pathos emotion in the air. It was a standout concert unlike that of the other pianists in the recital series. Horowitz naturally thrilled the audience and ended that concert with only one encore, Schuman's Traumerei.
He is in his 70s here ...and he would come back when Reagan was in office a few years later when Nancy falls off of her chair and has to grab onto the Maestro.... Horowitz was a true genius...his longevity and ability to stay relevant within his genre his whole life from the Russian revolution until late 80s was a true mark of his genius...he seemed to know exactly how the public would like a musical piece interpreted ...his unique style with flat fingers and very sparing use of the pedal and the strength of his left hand drove the heart of his musicality..the tone of his piano was extremely unique...and his recordings even in the 40s were phenomenal...he came to the states in 1928...and that year while visiting a doctor friend in Ohio a home movie was made of him ( can be viewed on youtube) entertaining the family and friends of the Doctor..and it's dated March of 1928..... I wish I had 1/100 of his strength and longevity!...and I definitely want to look him up in the afterlife!
Thank God; for definitive proof that= One must play the funeral march as loud as humanly possible, and the cantible section as piano as possible. I've heard so many artists not play loud enough during the march. If you look at the score, the chordal structure, the harmonies, a true artist can tell what Chopin truly intended. Massive, massives amounts of unbridled sound. And Horowitz does not disappoint.
@@cedmelancon Because maybe it depends on the edition you possess but Horowitz even corrected "mistakes" in Mozart's compositions... so Horowitz changed things according to his taste or understanding.. It's not that he forgets to play anything !
@@cedmelancon Horowitz would say about the score that it is just a piece of paper ! It is useful but a score is not music itself. You have to get rid of it at some point I guess... Respect the will of the composer is one thing but music should be free to play after all... but "with good taste" as Horowitz also said !
Vladimir Horowitz was the biggest genius who not only loved the music he understood the music and played with the most emotion not on the outside like most pianists but the inside he could feel every single note thrusting through his very veins.
This is how it should be played. This is not a pretty or decorative piece of music: it's VIOLENT and FULL OF ANXIETY. The second theme in the first movement starts as a lyrical respite and then becomes increasingly tense, even hysterical. Chopin did not write music for your fucking brunch, bitches. Here's he's the Sam Peckinpah of 19th century piano music.
mvt 4 never fails to blow my mind. "THE" note that always makes everyone jump (the low B-flat right before the last chord) is delivered so powerfully here.
omg you people....emotionless...wtf? playing with emotion dosent mean dancing at the piano!horowitz once said in an interview that we will never see those weird thing on piano from like! like headbanging or stuff!he puts emotions in to the sound not in the movement!this is the best version of sonate 2 op 35 .i am a pianist,and i play this piece too!do not talk if you know nothing! it is an ALMOST perfect rendition! Congrats Mr. Vladimir Horowitz
This is marvelous! Chopin's second Piano Sonata is terrifying and beautiful, the pinnacle of the piano repertoire. Horowitz applies his astounding technical ability, up to the very limit, not for the sake of bravura effect, but to heighten the dramatic power of the work, and to convey his prodigiously imaginative sense of musical detail. The explosions in the left hand in the climax of the development of the first movement (5:00) are shattering, only Horowitz could play like that.
to those who comment the about wrong or missed notes, you must have some damage or disorder that impairs you to hear the right ones and enjoy it. This is a real LIVE performance given by Vladimir Horowitz , not a machine. Please get some help and enjoy.
I am truly in awe of Horowitz now. Even at such an advanced age, he manages the stamina to play through 25 minutes of what has to be one of Chopin's hardest pieces, with the delicacy and finesse that has come to define his playing.
One of the greatest musical talents on the planet. Thats fact whether you like the music or not. He has used every bit of his talent that was given to him. For that alone I have tremendous respect. Not many can say that.
His brother died in the revolution and his father died in a gulag...his family along with rachmaninoff family suffered greatly as a result of the revolution..and although the autocratic government if the Romanovs was very archaic and at times violent especially towards Jewish people....Nicholas 2 for example paled in comparison to the the murder and mayhem that Lenin and Stalin brought about...
Sheer poetry in motion! Phenomenal control of dynamics that continues to inspire and amaze me. Every emotion expressed - ferocity to exquisite tenderness.
When Horowitz died his piano was taken to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra Hall for a "Student" of the Funeral Sonata #2. I was at Oakland University when the performer practiced on Horowitz's tool. Practice is to make exact so we heard the exact composition played at a University at 1PM he was performing that night. Unforgettable I had months earlier bought "Horowitz at Home". Purchase that recording..AMEN
Thank you from the bottom of my heart to you and everyone else who posts these fabulous piano clips on youtube. Is it good to live in this age or what!!!!
V Horowitz was a rare gift, that is to say, his splendid playing was, I am always amazed at how definitive his interpretations are. Some singers have this effect too, of making any song they choose to sing sound polished, authentic, and natural--it's as though they are putting their own personal signature on it, whether it be their song or one written by another. V Horowitz had this same power, talent, ability, whatever one can call it. Thank you!
I'd would gladly give 10 years of my lieftime for that empty seat ... for the sincerity of the Maestro, for his humanity and capacity to understand this piece over the bare notes (saw a lot of critics around, those who never were able to pass over the sheet), for his willingness to share with others the whole of what I mentioned without being affraid ... Bravo ! May your soul play a piano where you are.
"there is something entirely his own in his piano playing, and at the same time so masterly that he may truly be called a perfect virtuoso" [Felix Mendelssohn, letter to his familｙ Leipzig, 6 October 1835)]
His left hand trills done with power and flat fingers are really something..also when he puts emphasis on a note or chord he puts an explanation point in it...very dynamic..There are so many pianists that are great but not too many had a career like Horowitz..
Horowitz is absolutely a world-famouse pianist! I appreciate your program very,very much. Thanks a lot! I enjoy these beautiful music every day and night. Helps me play more piano and learn more from those great artists.
I had the privilege, thanks to my parents, of hearing Horwitz perform this work almost half a century ago. Of course the whole concert was incredible and will always be among my treasured memories, but one of the things that impressed me most was the gradual crescendo he made in the funeral march, from almost inaudible to triple forte! He executed it so consistently and so naturally. Whenever I hear this played, I miss his crescendo!
You know Horowitz always traveled with his own Steinway, correct? One of the primary reasons he achieved the sound that he did is because he had the piano doctored. He had the felt on the hammers shaved down to give the instrument a bigger sound. It also helped create that very unique, slightly metallic tone that is heard in every Horowitz performance.
Horowitz would play some showy pieces that audiences loved. But he truly excelled at the intimate, quieter pieces. His interpretation of Serenade to the Doll is a prime example. Also the Scarlatti sonatas.
I love this piece so much. I think Horowitz played this beautifully, and he certainly played better than anyone else that I'm aware of. He was a fantastic pianist and thank God we have things like youtube to watch him, no matter the quality.
I had the pleasure to hear the incredible Daniel Barenboim playing this piece the day before yesterday. You cannot possibly believe how silent it was in the room. Even after he finished, there was a long pause, in which you could feel the last notes fading...it was so incredible. I've never heard something like that before.
i often expereience such lack of appreciation when performing... its as if they dont understand how much of your soul and how much of your life you pour into the music they are listening to.... sad to say the least ... BUT WONDERFUL PERFORMANCE BY HOROWITZ .... AN ECSTASY OF PURE AND FLAWLESS PLAYING
When I am listening to the most pianists I go to the last movement.EVEN Chopin himself did'nt like to play his third movement ! He should have heard Horowitz playing this...! Dramatic and stunning. Greetings, Jan.
Other amazing performers you may want to look into would be Rubinstein, Gould, Hamelin, Richter,Godowsky...Of course I'm forgetting many greats. Each one magnificent in there own way. Oh and of course Wilhelm Kempf. Cheers
"Playing a wrong note is fine, playing without passion is inexcusable" ~ L.V. Beethoven. Many ignorant people out there just believe classical music is a mf midi file and have the audacity to say "Horowitz is awful, he missed notes here and there blablabla" as if they ever had any experience or ever knew what music is at least.
Wonderful - the centerpiece of one of the most wonderful recitals of the entire 20th century. Horowitz's mastery of this most tricky and often rather bizarre masterpiece is totally unparalleled. There is good cause for suggesting that this is Chopin's finest work. An immensely strange but endlessly fascinating work, after Liszt's B Minor Sonata, this is surely the most important post-Beethoven piano sonata of the 19th century.
I absolutely love the way Horowitz plays Chopin, he really has a unique feeling for each composition. Yes i agree that he can be a little firey at times but this just adds to the passion of each piece. Wonderful stuff!!
I'd like to thank the Internet and RU-vid for allowing me to enjoy this gem that I not only would not have been able to watch otherwise, but also would have probably of never heard of.
It´s amazing .. every note he plays is pure passion .. the most difficult i think is to put passion and technique toguether in balance. Pleasure to the ears and soul.
Such a poetic temperament as Chopins never existed, nor have I ever heard such a delicacy and refinement of playing. The tone, though small, was absolutely beyond critisms, and although his execution was not forcible, nor by any means fit for the concert room, still it was perfect in the extreme. [Franz Liszt, conversation quoted in Stelezki, pp 12-13]
I LOVED this - one of his best performances. It seemed especially personal for some reason, especially the funeral march movement. How appropriate to play the funeral march, right there in the white house! Couldn't help but think of all the crazy decisions that have sent people to their deaths that were made in that place. Brought tears to my eyes.
the last movement, at 24.42 he turns it into jazz, so funny, this is a great performace, and one of the most emotional interpretations ive ever seen. Bravo!
Yes, I remember when this was televised live way back in the '70s. He did miss a lot of notes. But by the time they rebroadcast the concert the same evening, the clinkers had been edited out!
Когда я слушаю эту сонату, вспоминаю всех ушедших, и мне представляется поздняя осень на полузаброшенном кладбище, где только стёртые надписи на могиле как-то напоминают о то, что этот человек - был.
