Customer Reviews

Horowitz In Moscow [VHS]

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I own the original videotape of "Horowitz in Moscow" and "Horowitz in London." Both are wonderful (5 stars each), but "Horowitz in Moscow" is extraordinary. It's like two DVDs in one. You get great personal insight into the life of Horowitz, particularly about his emotional return to Russia after a 60 year absence. This "return" -- a running theme in the lives of displaced Russian pianists who fled to the West, like Horowitz and Rachmaninov -- sets the emotional tone for the Russian recital (and encores) marvelously. One cares about Horowitz more and hopes to hear great performances. The grand master delivers. On the DVD you will find several Scarlatti, Scriabin, Rachmaninov, and countless other gems. Pianists tend to age well. It's not uncommon to see a seventy or eighty year old pianist wobble to the piano (one wonders if they will get there without collapsing), sit down shakily, and explode into a wonderful performance that is at least 85-90% of their best ever. Sometimes, an older pianist playing a piece that requires greater musical understanding and maturity -- and is less taxing technically -- will play the piece even better than in their youth. You get much of the latter on this DVD. Horowitz's fingers were so remarkable in his youth that the grand master's 90% is another's 150%. There is no meltdown of skill here. This is a virtuoso at his prime, at times excelling his youthful performances of Scriabin, Scarlatti, and others. No musical library is complete without this DVD. Now, if only "Horowitz in London" came out on DVD too!

It is good to see the powers that be in the DVD world are not ignoring classical music. I have been wanting to see Horowitz material reissued in the new format and I was not disappointed.
Comparing the DVD to my LaserDisc, I find that the video portion is somewhat superior on DVD, with improved clarity and contrast. The sound is also better. There are two audio versions, the original non-compressed stereo, and a new Dolby Digital 5.1 track which will knock your socks off. If you have a DVD player, this disc is a must, if you haven't purchased a player yet, this is incentive to get one!

Unlike the Pioneer DVD release, this Sony release contains Horowitz's final encore, Rachmaninoff's Polka VR.

Now, how about putting the other Horowitz videos on DVD?

It is good to see the powers that be in the DVD world are not ignoring classical music. I have been wanting to see Horowitz material reissued in the new format and I was not disappointed.

Comparing the DVD to my LaserDisc, I find that the video portion is somewhat superior on DVD, with improved clarity and contrast. The sound is also better. There are two audio versions, the original non-compressed stereo, and a new Dolby Digital 5.1 track which will knock your socks off. If you have a DVD player, this disc is a must, if you haven't purchased a player yet, this is incentive to get one!

Two minor caveats, Horowitz' final encore, Rachmaninoff's Polka, which was included in the VHS versions, is not present, as it was not in the Laserdisc issued by the same company. Also the on-screen biographical sketch of Horowitz contains several errors which Horowitz fans will be able to spot right away. Other than that, this is a fine re-issue.

Now, how about putting the other Horowitz videos on DVD?

While Mr. Horowitz plays "Treumerei", the cameras focus on a man in the audience. From under his eye glasses a tear runs down his cheek.

This is not just a piano concerto. This is a family reunion. There is emotion in the air. Mr. Horowitz plays once again for his beloved country.

This is a unique experience for people who appreciate music beyond the sound.

My reviews of these violinists and this pianist are becoming redundant. The performers are all so good, that I'm reduced to admiration and have little else to say. I remember many years ago I was listening to NPR, they had a female musical expert on and they were testing her, they had both Rubinstein and Horowitz play something by Chopin, she was supposed to identify the pianist. She guessed wrong both times. I guessed right. I thought at the time that Rubinstein was the supreme player of Chopin, and I thought the Horowitz version was cold. This was many years ago, and while I still prefer Rubinstein's Chopin (warmer), Horowitz is my hero, my favorite pianist, though I'm not nuts about his customary choices of composers. But this flick. It is a perfect gem (and so tragically underpriced, anyone can afford it). The drama of the arrival, Horowitz' conversation, the shots of the audience (some of whom, yes, were crying), the marvelous close-ups of his hands (his nails were unclipped and seemed to be dirty, and he doesn't arch his fingers which my very dim and distant piano teacher used to tell me was imperative, though he does it some on the right hand), and the music. It was glorious. I love Horowitz. One glitch. There would be. My disc was defective, and somewhere during the penultimate piece it screwed up, so I didn't get to see the whole thing, I missed the last 2 pieces of music and whatever dramatic or "human interest" ending was on the film. But good old Amazon is already getting ready to ship me a replacement and tonight I returned the defective copy. I'll have the new one in 2 days. One last note. I've been going broke the passed few weeks buying musical performances on DVD, and one thing I've noticed, it's unmistakable. These people, these musicians, apart from their wonderful skills, are intelligent, humorous and compassionate. All 3, and all of them. It's humbling and refreshing.

Horowitz was amazing, not only for his technical mastery, but his ability to seize the emotional substance of the music and communicate that to his audience. This is apparent in this video of his Moscow recital. The Horowitzian powers of expression mesmerize the audience, as they hold me spellbound every time I see the video. The program in this recital was also very well selected; those for whom this is the first exposure to Horowitz recieve a good idea of his repertoire and playing style. The selected works, the order in which they are played, and the variety of composers and styles in this recital are a sign of the maestro's musical judgement and sensitivity. There is not much to "watch" in the video: Horowitz's indulges in little or no unnecessary movement; there are no dramatic shoulder movements, no hair-shaking (he only mops his brow occasionally between pieces), no tragic facial expressions. That is not Horowitz's appeal. What can be seen of his playing shows a relaxed ease of playing that is almost unbelievable, given the brilliance and power of his expression and the virtuosic character of his sound. This is a must-see for young musicians who feel impelled to impart showy gestures to their performance that often obscure the real musical effect, as well as sometimes cover imperfect technique. Seeing Horowitz live in a video was an unforgettable experience for me; I only wish I could have been there in 1986.

Musical Content: Horowitz still surprises me every time I listen to him playing great 'solo' piano works as in this concert, (beautiful ones from Scarlatti, The Rach, Tchaikovsky, Chopin, Liszt, Schumman, Scriabin). His magic finger-style was just incredible, so if you are Horowitz fan this is a must-have, there's no reason to keep you from buying a DVD player and experience the way our beloved Horowitz 'utilize' his unique piano (you see, I just don't want to call him pianist).

Sound Quantity: This DVD has pretty good sounding managed by Deustche Gramophone, but the problem came from the audience, it might be heavily cold in Moscow that attendants couldn't help coughing during the performance, and because DG want to keep the sound as natural as possible you will hear at least two annoying coughs in each section of the show. Fortunately, Horowitz was not distracted by that (or it's not perceivable) & as always he was part of the works he's playing.

Video Quantity: the picture quantity of the DVD is quite good, but the view angle should be much better, the camera man does not give us the feeling of vitually attending the performance (theatre atmosphere is unreasonably narrow), he also got incredible mistake when spending maybe half of the time focusing on Horowitz left hand.

Other content on the DVD: There are two interviews with Horowitz, they are about some of his unforgettable memories in Russia, and they are fun & very memorable.
Also, there's brief Horowitz biography, which I found it very concise & should
be particularly impressive for people who are not very familiar with Horowitz.

As a conclusion I highly recommend this DVD to buy as gift for piano/classical music newbies, they will not pay much attention to the weakness of it but will have wonderful time experiencing one of the most successful shows performed by Horowitz.

this is the best example of his works that is currently available on video. a must for any horowitz fan.

I have seen this DVD time and again and it is never boring, always full of new details and undiscovered charm and power. It is pure joy to see diversity of Mr Horowitz repertoire, his flawless technique, those fingers, those amazing octaves that barely touch the keys and yet produce such incredible sounds.

Horowitz's body expression, that simplicity of movements without the affectation of so many pedantic pianists is a great lesson to those who think that flamboyance is needed to convey a musical message. Yet, with those limited movements, Horowitz is able to deliver something so profound that only music in the hands of a great artist can. The interviews to Horowitz are fun, illustrative of his life while showing the human side of a great artist. May be a bit too much time was devoted to showing the audience although this was quite a sight at certain moments. I wish the camera had shown his hands during the whole execution of Schumann's "Traeumerei". Buy this DVD and you will never, ever regret it.

Well... let's see, I have a maximum of 1000 words. It would take much more than that if one person could ever accurately convey the quality of this DVD. Example: The playlist includes Chopin's Op. 53 Polonaise. This is a song of which I've heard many, many versions. Horowitz's performance of it was the best of all. The DVD goes from Classical (Scarlatti, Mozart) to Romantic (Scriabin, Rachmaninov, Chopin, Schubert, Schumann, Liszt) and has the song (I believe it was a favorite encore piece of his) "Etincelles" by Moszkowski. During the performance of Schumann's "Traumerei" (and I believe others have already mentioned this), people's eyes are watering, and you can see one man that has his eyes closed and a tear running down his cheek. I think someone already noted the simplicity of Horowitz's body movement... well, he's not flashy because he doesn't have to be. Any person that can play like he does has no good reason to be flashy. So, if you're reading this to try and decide whether or not to buy the DVD / VHS, here's my take: I like classical music, and I was in the same situation. I just finished watching it about twenty minutes ago, and I couldn't be happier that I bought it after all.