Horowitz plays Rachmaninoff Sonata No.2 (breaks string) - Carnegie 1968 RARE

[@pvonberg]

The "staff" was Franz Mohr, chief piano tuner at Steinway.I was there. Amazing to think it was 44 yeas ago !!!

[@shandfan]

Mohr was his best secondant,NOT Wanda.She was just like her father HARSH at undesired moments.

[@3047L-r1g]

this is simply the deepest, most fascinating, phenomenal, transcendental, magical and unforgettable performance of this masterpiece ever recorded. a miracle.

[@Francisco-tm2gk]

Listen to the London performance during the eighties, with Prince Charles in the public... here in youtube.

[@michaeledwards1172]

I know I'm sticking my neck out, considering the wildly extravagant praise of this performance in other comments... but what's so good about this performance? The tempo is all over the place, speeding up and slowing down all the time, and he seems to really like thumping out those loud passages (no wonder a string broke), and he often seems to use practically no pedal at all, which I don't think suits Rachmaninov at all - it gives a very dry effect which I don't find at all suitable for late romantic music. And, to be quite honest, I think he often plays passages far too fast - it sometimes sounds as if he's trying to get the music into as short a time as possible. Just because a pianist can play something extremely fast, it doesn't mean they should. He clearly has a phenomenal technique - I don't deny that - and he's good at voicing simultaneous lines within the music - very good in that, too. But all the other things just quite spoil it for me. I think there are other, more recent, recordings of Rachmaninov that I like far better than this, which seem more suited to Rachmaninov's broad, sweeping style of music. In finding so much wrong with this, I am ignoring the inexplicably (for the late 1960s) atrocious quality of the recording, which is obviously not a fault of the performance itself; I think I am only talking about actual features of the performance, not artifacts created by shortcomings in the recording. So if it's so good, what am I missing about this? I play the piano myself, and I am very familiar with many composers of this period, so I don't think it's just simple ignorance. I can only put it down to personal taste - some seem to like this style of playing, and others don't, and that's all there is to it. But if an admirer of this performance can explain to me why they like it so much, and how they can overlook the faults I mentioned above, I would be interested to read their views. Thanks.

[@lubakeshyan1916]

@@michaeledwards1172 there are no forcing on sound, besides such dynamics you never hear in so polyphonic texture with minimum pedal is unique for Rachmaninoff! where can you hear so powerful bells and epic space between registers and voice sound!!Genius💗

[@dustovshio]

@@michaeledwards1172 theres not a rule that rachmaninoff should be played with a lot of pedal I think of a lot of his works like the 3rd concerto more baroque with all the counterpoint and such and the pedal can mush everything together and make it sound like cacophony

[@needtoknowbasis3499]

Please, the superlatives aren't required to laud this fascinating pianist.

[@Fritz_Maisenbacher]

0:47 dear Lord ....

[@johnspradling7906]

Thank you for your dedicated work to piece this performance together. I remember reading an account of the broken string. Horowitz's tuner, Franz Mohr, was always standing by at his recitals for any mishap at all, and today his watchfulness paid off. Horowitz stayed seated at the piano while Mohr pulled the tangled broken string--it was a wound bass string--out of the instrument. He didn't replace the string, thereby taking the chance that the weakened area might cause more trouble, but it did not. Please keep in mind that as volcanic as this performance sounds on the pirate recording, Horowitz in person was greatly more colorful, and his dynamic contrasts were even greater. He was an unleashed force, and we are thankful that he lavished attention on the Rachmaninoff Second Sonata, which was a greatly maligned piece until Horowitz gave his immortal stamp of approval to it.

[@stefanhartmann-virnich9900]

Luckily it was the note C ,which in Steinway D grands has 3 strings, not 2, so there were still two strings left.

[@ric55]

This is not piano playing-this is a miracle.

[@adrianopiano5551]

Absolutely a geniu

[@anoumm]

I was actually there when this happened. I was young, but even then I knew this was a special and unusual moment.

[@Luis-Miguel-Gallego]

You were very fortunate, Anou.

[@workmusic3858]

When he broke the string, they had to replace it with Anou-one. :D

[@taramatteeanthony3070]

I was there too; did'nt see you.

[@anoumm]

@@taramatteeanthony3070 I didn't see you either. I think we were sitting on the left side of the orchestra level half way up from the stage.

[@adrianopiano5551]

Did he make you cry?

[@cattleman6420012000]

I really appreciate you letting us hear this marvellous Live concert by Horowitz. Incredible magic and musical flair as well as his incredible brilliance. Thank you so much.

[@loboris1995]

For me , this performance of the 2nd sonata is the most intense one . It's just down-breaking .

[@NHO12209]

String-breaking ;)

[@palmerplantagenet]

When I heard him play the Second Sonata's last few minutes for an encore in Pasadena in February of 1976, the performance wasn't as fast but the 'crushing' tone was more monumentally grand. It's power made the audience "go mad" in their most ecstatic fervency!

[@tonecrafter55]

The true poet with the strength of Hercules. His idiosyncracies are treasure beyond value.

[@UlasAktok]

Many thanks for the upload... So precious. So amazing.

[@Ferdinand314]

Thank you for this upload! Astounding.

[@gattihaniel]

My son had the opportunity to play on his piano! This is wonderful!

[@stevengevirtz8992]

thank you very much for your efforts. I am glad to have heard this and will refer to it.

[@gabeb8]

Thank You for this recording!

[@peKarim]

12:56 I refuse to believe that that sound came from a piano, sounds like a freaking cannon

[@kimdavidj2]

Wow!!! 💣

[@annjeanmillikan]

Wow! Phenomenal performance, powerful, exciting, majestic!

[@runkrunkus2315]

You are lucky. I would give anything to have seen and heard Horowitz play. The last true Maestro. I really would have liked to have seen him play the Rach 3 !

[@antongeorgiev1089]

What can I say.. Loved him playing this with all my musical being when I first heard it 15 years ago, and it will always be a part of me. Next step - send this into space, and watch alien civilizations coming to look for more..

[@notmytempo464]

Hahah!

[@ЛюдмилаДанилова-щ3р]

Яркие муз.контрасты,полное владение инструментом,слышатся голоса ,будто у пианиста 8 рук,сложнейшая интонац.работа.Спасибо.

[@rushana1956]

А еще струна лопнула)

[@duartevader2709]

One of the greatest recordings I have ever heard, Horowitz at his best

[@nihilistlemon1995]

This is the most transcendental , insane , electrifying piano playing ever recorded . And it is an objective fact . I dare people bringing other performance that are as insane as this .

[@electrocompany]

Boris lo apropos transcendental. Check out pogorelich liszt etudes, also from carnegie in 1990. Nr. 8 is phenomenal

[@liloruf2838]

Listen to Lucas Debargue. Just as genius as Horowitz.

[@abritishguy8351]

@@liloruf2838 ha lol

[@Pogouldangeliwitz]

@@liloruf2838 That one made me giggle too

[@imagod4796]

kocsis

[@ppppppppppppppppp999]

Great! Thanks!

[@SuedRodrigues]

Wow I envy you... I would gave anything to see such a legend performing!

[@Facconti]

His piano is just so unique...

[@sergiomartinezcastro6183]

12:56 string break

[@saiddavlatov4599]

Спасибо Огромное вам за запись, это мой самый любимый исполнитель

[@Galina-Angel-14]

Попробуйте послушать эту сонату в исполнении большого поклонника Рахманинова и Горовица Алексея Султанова: здесь, помимо не меньшей виртуозности, присутствует огромной силы Божественный Поток( каналы "Марина Ларичева" 1996 г. в день памяти Рахманинова, видео ; канал harmony 14447, видео; канал fur bru, ayдио)

[@rolfingemovimentoporhelena5010]

Maravilhoso, obrigada! Helena

[@SpyrineMusic]

12:55 *_SNAP_*

[@Fritz_Maisenbacher]

And at 13:05 this music ..................

[@yetanotherpianist4449]

"As the crowd applaudes" well that was one quick string replacement.

[@alfredcognoet]

12:56

[@vladibaby79]

An interesting think: there are several recordings of Horowitz playing this. As we know he was allowed by Rachmaninoff to perform the work in own Version. But somehow I have the Impression that the Horowitz-Version was in each concert a bit different. May it be, that he also imrovised upon his own Version?

[@richardmeads7775]

+vladibaby79 I think that Horowitz played very freely and added notes to rebalance chords frequently. At any rate my ears tell me this. Raymond Lewenthal used to do this also and to a greater extent. This is O.K. by me. As Busoni taught-every performance is essentially a transcription.

[@vladibaby79]

richard meads I did not consider it to be a negative Point. I just was not sure, if this really was a correct Impression. In opposite: I find this Kind of freedom fascinating and for my taste, the way Horowitz Plays this Sonata is for me more interesting than any of the two original Versions. It is also quite interesting, how he got rachmaninoffs permission: he played the Sonata for him in his own way, and then he asked Rachmaninoff about his opinion. Rachmaninoff did not show any Emotion and he just told him "if you want, you can do so." Rachmaninoff already had experienced Horowitz having more success with his own 3rd Concerto than himself. And he now probably recognized that Horowitz played the 2nd Sonata like if it would be his own. Could it be, that rachmaninoff was not very amused of facing some Kind of superiority of Horowitz again?

[@ric55]

+vladibaby79 It could well be that. I had an interesting chat with another person about the two-piano recital that Rachmaninov and Horowitz recorded with RCA studios-who then "Lost" it! Rachmaninov was a very great pianist. Horowitz was some form of Avatar who could do the impossible at the piano.

[@leongatha6]

+vladibaby79 Horowitz, during the great series of interviews by David Dubal, said Rachmaninoff asked him to combine the 1st version and the 2nd version as he saw fit, so it did shift somewhat each rendition.

[@ric55]

+Ophir Horovitz Thank you-I did not know this, or due to increasing age had forgotten it altogether !

[@KingBrolesław]

really fucking good

[@nassera]

It's not a miracle, it's a great Horowitz. The string didn't break. It disintegrated. They have feelings too, you know?

[@4SAKN]

jure cannot believe you put this up hahahaha

[@antongeorgiev1089]

Horowitz doesn't play the piano. He plays the horopiano. It contrasts to a regular piano like the regular piano contrasts to a xylophone.

[@HelloEveryonez678]

12:56 you hear the snap

[@JureGorucan]

Because he broke the string. Read the title.

[@patrickytting]

Surely it's at 12.58 not 12.48?

[@Pogouldangeliwitz]

Yup, you're totally right

[@michaeledwards1172]

How come the quality of the recording is so bad for 1968? It sounds like something done early in the 20th century. I was in my teens in 1968, and I definitely remember that records of the time sounded far, far better than this.

[@JureGorucan]

my uneducated theory is that it is a pirate live recording

[@geleozenricheskayalog]

0:11 20:13

[@user-vm2on3ws3v]

15:47

[@ublade82]

"AROUND"

[@unequally-tempered]

This recording is interesting as audible wow and flutter on the magnetic tape machine gives a vibrato to the sound and in more subtle manifestations gives the sound more "life" compared to the clinicicism of digital recording. kzbin.info/www/bejne/kHmUlZuohax7pas is a new recording of this in unequal temperament where the audience seating shook and was vibrating as if an organ was playing. A broken string was found a couple of days later but if it broke during the performance it's not audible.

[@AlejandroSanAntonio]

Yeah, I read that. And I heard the string broken. Mmm...

[@齋藤華子-s8b]

この場にいた人が羨ましい… この録音は宝物やわ。遺してくれた人ありがとう( ´;ﾟ;∀;ﾟ;) アップしてくれた人もありがとう！

[@afritimm]

Photo is not from 1968.

[@JureGorucan]

True, but what does that have much to do with the fact the recording is?

[@afritimm]

Goruchannel Normally they would match. And why not?

[@JureGorucan]

@@afritimm i doubt the normality you speak about is as prevalent as you see it. Of course, that would indeed be neat. There's a few problems with that. Firstly, not all old photographs of famous people are of a decent quality, so it would be quite vain trying to remain consistent if quality needs to be sacrificed. Secondly, lots of rare recordings like this one were likely recorded illegaly at events where photography would likely not be allowed so there goes your extreme consistency. Even if you meant it would suffice to have a photo from that year but not from the exact event, the above points undermine your assumption and for seemingly out of time geniuses and characters likes of Horowitz, any good photograph would help encapsulate his eternal enigma which streams from his performances.

[@AlejandroSanAntonio]

Don't understand something. Why did people clap?

[@nassera]

I guess they were pretty bored and just felt to start clapping, don't you think?

[@astrasfo]

I didn't hear nuttin.

[@kaleidoscopio5]

I don't like the sonata too much big THAT ENDING!!!!!! Is the universe falling down, amazing.

[@senar1940]

What are you trying to say for Pete's sake! Do you like it or not? Try to formulate a sentence correctly!! Jesus!

[@seanfogarty5559]

Pieter de Jong don't be a prick, English may not be his first language.

[@kaleidoscopio5]

I said that I did not like the sonata but the ending was out of this world. I do like the sonata now and, yes, english is not my natural language.

[@jinwoobae7555]

Wrong note=bravo