Customer Reviews

Horowitz Plays Rachmaninoff/Concerto for Piano in Dm; Sonata for Piano No2/Vladimir Horowitz, Pianist

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Vladimir Horowitz made three "official" recordings of Rachmaninoff's formidable Third Concerto. There are wonderful things in the 1930 recording with Coates, but that performance was severely cut. The 1978 version with Ormandy is also marvelous in its own way, but this 1951 studio recording with Reiner is the probably Horowitz's high water mark in this piece. There are a few cuts here, but not as severe as the version with Coates or Rachmaninoff's 1939 recording with Ormandy. Reiner is a sympathetic collaborator and draws some virtuoso playing from the pickup orchestra. The recording balance favors the piano, but Horowitz dazzling virtuosity and clarity deserve to be highlighted. On the whole, this is my favorite Rachmaninoff Third on CD.

The solo pieces were recorded live later in Horowitz's career. Personally, I prefer the lithe, panther-like 1968 recording of the Rachmaninoff Sonata over this brooding version from 1980--but I wouldn't want to be without either recording. The G Major Prelude, recorded in 1977 is more lovingly played here than the more casual 1986 version recorded in Moscow. The E-Flat Minor Moment musical is electrifying in a way that could be only termed Horowitzian. Rachmaninoff's Polka was a favorite Horowitz encore, and his timing of the two "blues" chords in the coda brings a murmur of amusement from the audience. The sound here is a bit hard and airless, but a substantial improvement over the LP.

This album is a must for piano lovers.

The legendary Vladimir Horowitz, poet laureate of the piano and beloved cultural icon, here performs his favorite repetoire: Rachmaninoff. This CD has all the "essentials": the intense, difficult and transcendental 2nd Sontata (modeled closely after the 2nd Sonata of Chopin); the lyricism of the smaller pieces: the G major Prelude is made of glimmers and whispers, the Ebm Musical Moment is sad, whirling, complex, and elegiac, and the Polka de V.R. is witty, intelligent, playful, and completely musical. Then we come to the real blockbuster of this CD: the infamous 3rd Concerto in D minor, Op. 30. Horowitz recorded this many times from 1930 to 1978, but the 1951 recording here is the most revered. It has nearly homicidal voltage, an explosion of incredible pianism, beauty, romance, adventure, and nail-biting excitement. Even after many listens, something about this recording leaves you breathless and utterly thrilled. This CD is an excellant testament to Horowitz and Rachmaninoff, and is a must-buy for any lover of good piano music.

I'm sorry to contradict the reviewer Oregonscientist, but the 1941 Rach 3 with Barbirolli - AND NOT Martha Argerich's - is the fastest on record. In fact, Horowitz here plays faster than Argerich in all the most virtuosic passages, and much faster in the climactic end. So, it's exactly the opposite of what the reviewer said: Argerich is the one who cannot equal Horowitz's speed and power (not to mention dynamic range, in which Horowitz puts the Argentine pianist to shame), and she knew it: my compatriot Nelson Freire, also a superpianist and one of Argerich's closest friends, once said in an interview that the two of them wouldn't miss a Horowitz concert if they happened to be around and could get a ticket, because they considered him the most extraordinary pianist of all time. And Rach 3 was really Horowitz's property.

I treasure this disk. The opening groan and crash of the huge Sonata #2 is a great piece of pianistic writing and sets up the rest of the sonata so well. However, the way Horowitz plays it is so convincing and so unique, in my experience, that it seems as if it is being improvised on the spot and just pouring white hot from Horowitz. The is breathtaking pianism. This is a version created by Horowitz from two versions by Rachmaninoff with some other changes by the pianist. Since he and the composer were close friends and Rachmaninoff was a mentor to Horowitz, I trust this version. And in the final analysis, it is very effective.

The three smaller works and quite nice and are more than filler. I especially like the Prelude Op. 32 No. 5.

This recording of the Concerto #3 was made in 1951 and the recorded sound has more noise and a less full sound than most listeners today enjoy. But I encourage you, I implore you, to do yourself a favor and hear this recording. It is brilliant beyond words. It is Horowitz at the peak of his powers. Yes, the later Ormandy recoding sounds better, but Horowitz has lost a bit of what he had in 1951. It is a performance for the ages. It is one of the greatest of all pianists in one of the major works of the literature at the height of his virtuosity with the great Fritz Reiner leading the orchestra. Fabulous.

Musicians are reluctant to give rankings. We want to separate the classical music world from the hyped world of MTV top tens and USnews school rankings. Since this is the case why are so many pianists assert and reiterate the glory of Horowitz among 20th century pianists. After all if we are going to deviate from our tendency not to rank we should at least substantiate why Horowitz is so special.
If one dwells on it for a second the physical act of playing the piano boils down to brain finger coordination. The brain sends a message to the finger what to do next - where to move, how soft to touch the key, etc. It is extremely hard to reach a very high level of coordination. For example, if someone had 100 percent brain hand coordination in basketball they would never miss a shot.
Horowitz brain-finger coordination is just phenomenal (there are many examples of this and a classic one in my opinion is his playing of Etincelles). Imagine telling a pianist to play a 20 minute piece ONLY in pianissimo but still continaing crescendos and decrescendos within the pianissimo. For 99.9 percent of pianists, and even the great ones, this would be impossible. At some stage during this hypothetical piece they will accidentally stray into mezzo forte (or some other level). TO BE ABLE to play with such softness for a prolonged period of time is unbelievably hard because you need complete control of the fingerwork.

Critics often miss the mark when talking about Horowitz. They look at isolated concerts or recordings during his very long career that are flawed ( and admittedly Horowitz did have ups and downs). The crux of the pianist's talent lies in what he could do at the piano when he reaches the summit of his ability. If one looks at Horowitz' output within a larger context things look different.

Let me conclude with comments of the famous pianist, William Kappell:
"I'm so weak from tears and shouting, that I can hardly write.... I just heard Horowitz here in Pasadena, playing the 3rd Concerto of Rachmaninoff. The man is such a genius of the piano that it seems inhuman to play like that.... He is not a pianist, he is a magician."
Eloquent and Succinct.

This is the second of Horowitz three commercial recordings Rachmaninoff's Third and arguably the best. The first, from the early 1930's was marred by brutal cuts in accord with the fashion of that time. This one restores a few cuts but retains others, leaving out considerable material from the last movement. (Janis, Wild, and Rachmaninoff himself made the same cuts, but today audiences expect and get the whole thing.)

RCA's monaural sound is OK but hardly up to what other companies were doing in 1951. Reiner's superb accompaniment is sometimes overwhelmed by too-close piano miking.

This recording couples two signature works in Horowitz's piano repertoire: the 2nd Piano Sonata and the 3rd Piano Concerto of Rachmaninoff. In the former, the Horowitz version (an editing of the two previous editions of the work) is highly pianistic, exciting, and full of the big, earthy tone that is his trademark. In the latter, it is sufficient to say that Rachmaninoff stopped performing the 3rd Concerto after hearing Horowitz play it. There has been no recording in the half century since which can compare with Horowitz's agression, daring, and big sound (which easily fights the thick orchestral scoring). Just wait until you hear the Presto he flies through in the cadenza of the first movement, and you will also be a convert to this performance.

This most famous of recordings of Rachmaninoff's towering concerto, deserves all the credit it is given. It is quite simply, an exhibition of the best pianist the world has ever seen, playing at such as stage in his career, that he has outgrown the youthful over-exuberance of his 1930 recording and performs this concerto with towering, awe-inspiring virtuosity. His recording is dynamically fast, nobody has ever played it quicker, but unlike other rapid performances such as that by Argerich, Horowitz never loses his discipline. His timing is impeccable, his phrasing superb. I doubt whether a greater example of virtuosity than Horowitz's first movement cadenza, can be found anywhere in recorded music. With such unbelievable pianism, slightly poor sound quality and Reiner's (comparitively) uninspired, but still competent, conducting, are unimportant. The are mistakes to be found in Horowitz's work, but if you are not a concert pianist reading the score as you listen, do not expect to notice them. This recording will NEVER be bettered. By all means buy other versions, but this is, and will remain to be, the performance to beat.

This CD is more than one could ever hope for in a CD. We hear the amazing Vladimir Horowitz first in the Rachmaninoff Sonata no. 2, op. 36. After Rachmaninoff revised this piece in 1931 Horowitz asked Rachmaninoff's permission to make his own arrangment that consisted of both the grandeur of the original 1913 version and the sleekness and conciseness of the 1931 revision. The result is what we hear on this CD. Played in 1980 by a 77 year old Horowitz, this recording has the vivaciousnes of a young man. The playing is not as mannered as many Horowitz recordings around this time. My favorite recording PERIOD! Then we hear three short pieces recorded in the late 70's, the Prelude in G major, op. 32, no. 5, the Moment Musical, op. 16, no. 2, and the witty Polka de. VR (Vassily Rachmaninoff, the father) This is more of a transcription of a piece that Rachmaninoff's father played called Scherzpolka, by Nicholas Behr. Horowitz must do something funny at the end because the audience erupts with laughter! Finally we hear Horowitz perform his favorite work in his repertoire, Rachmaninoff's Third Concerto in D minor, op. 30 What can one say. This consiedered by many experts to be the definitive recording of this work. Rachmaninoff in fact never played this work in public after hearing Horowitz play it in 1928.

The performance that Horowitz gives us in this '50s recording of the Rach 3 is a testament to outstanding human artistic endeavor. As Rachmaninoff said, "...he (Horowitz) swallowed it whole." Along with his pianistic pyrotechnics, Horowitz demonstrates wonderful architectural overview, inevitability, and stylistic authenticity. Truly, a recording of this concerto sui generis that should be in the libraries of all who love the piano!
The other pieces on this CD, recorded for RCA ca. the late '70s,
have an unpleasant piano sound. Franz Mohr, piano tuner for
Horowitz/Steinway during this period, discusses this issue in his
book, "My Life with the Great Pianists." Superb recordings of
these pieces are available: Piano Sonata No. 2, recording
Horowitz made for Columbia Records in the late '60s; Prelude in
G, Op. 32, Horowitz in Moscow, 1986; and Moment Musical in E flat
minor and Polka de V. R., Sergei Rachmaninoff, Great Pianists of
the 20th Century, Philips/Polygram (compiled in 1998).