Vladimir Horowitz - Chopin Piano Sonata No. 2

This si Vladimir Horowitz playing Chopin's 2nd piano sonata at the white house

[@InsertName125]

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.

[@Bokgaatjie]

Love this. Would have been so much better if you said listened to rather than watched. Them were the days

[@elias7748]

Aw 😂

[@rachelkleynerman9041]

@Skummar Köphunchuksohn PM 7

[@JoshWitte]

#ThatHappened 🙄

[@fnckyoutoo]

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

[@deserticus18]

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.

[@beatlessteve1010]

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!

[@andrewkimpiano]

0:00 first movement 7:23 second movement 14:34 third movement 23:36 fourth movement

[@maxwoefull3460]

Thanks

[@toothlesstoe]

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.

[@SonicPhonic]

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.

[@jyeabram3001]

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.

[@johnfox6112]

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]

I’m wondering though, why isn’t he playing the arpegiated chord in the loud section, he never does but the score clearly shows it as an arpeggio.

[@kunfupapa8162]

@@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 !

[@kunfupapa8162]

@@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 !

[@stevowilliams8279]

There’s nothing worse than a pianist who is afraid to play loud in Chopin. His harmonies are practically crying out for some ginormous volume.

[@colin_rose]

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.

[@mikerhunterp7769]

I can listen to Horowitz all day long... :)

[@leopianotuner]

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.

[@ludwigvanbeethoven926]

Genius, HEROwitz.

[@cuteshox]

I love how he plays the last movement without stepping on the pedal. Genius!!!

[@kschuman1152]

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.

[@tannhauser1mm927]

Just in case you want to listen to it, Ivo Pogorelich recorded this fantastic sonata beautifully.

[@purerhodium]

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.

[@DarkRenaissance2012]

Never in history has a better or more impassioned version of the funeral march been performed...

[@h4kk4r]

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

[@martinbrener6466]

How we miss you! You were the greatest!

[@Qee7en]

I am blown away by (t)his interpretation.

[@channelnameintentionallyle1557]

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.

[@331paradiddle]

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.

[@meredith218461]

I love the miraculous delicacy he achieves in the trio of the funeral march.

[@vova47]

How lucky for us this performance was caught by camera! ....... And how privileged these people in the audience were to witness this.

[@JanisRaderPiano]

Sheer poetry in motion! Phenomenal control of dynamics that continues to inspire and amaze me. Every emotion expressed - ferocity to exquisite tenderness.

[@1sun1moon1]

"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)]

[@beatlessteve1010]

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...

[@ATacey13]

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

[@billjhyt]

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!

[@phearsome]

oh man I love this version. such brilliance

[@PianoDaemon]

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.

[@mikern2001]

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.

[@labienus9968]

That nonsensical special piano as the secret to his playing-why do people keep repeating it

[@norahkluis]

I have no words to express my gratitude to heard this great pianist playing my favorite ballad from Chopin. Bless you

[@justintimetoclashandbrawl3348]

It’s not a ballade (if you are still alive)

[@beatlessteve1010]

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..

[@WildBillMcGahan]

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!!!!

[@hearts0ngs]

Wow that man was on fire that day! Awesome playing!

[@cwldoc4958]

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!

[@fruchtzwergleiche]

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.

[@c0ckbubbles]

I 00:00 - вступление 00:15 - ГП 00:55 - ПП 01:55 - ЗП 04:18 - Разработка II 07:23 - ГП 07:58 - Б 08:37 - Трио Вальс 10:23 - середина III 14:34 - ГП 15:47 - Б 17:02 - Трио 18:20 - середина IV 23:36

[@RJBeee91]

You need to watch this at least 30 times to actually see everything "in" this video. He's just amazing

[@kunli275]

Brilliant~~~~~ Having gone through a lot, but no one could play this piece as Mr Horowitz did.

[@gloriaxu9909]

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.

[@atpanula]

That handkerchief stunt is legendary :) He always does this even when he's nose is not running...

[@artsylovelylady]

Whenever a guy starts out playing only a couple of notes you know you're in for a ride.

[@gothiq]

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.

[@remoga34]

Finał tego arcydzieła jest genialny ; słuchając odnosiło się wrażenie ,że śmierc zagląda w oczy; BRAK mi słów

[@pavels4490]

i have heard now around 15 different interpetations, and this is the best.

[@RegondiMusic]

thank you

[@janvkimm]

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.

[@Slavetilidie]

What an incredible song, and what an amazingly talented pianist.

[@reneclips]

Una de esas interpretaciones que recuerdan que la música puede ser una experiencia más allá de lo humano.

[@maddorox]

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

[@cattleman6420012000]

This is wonderful. Thanks enormously for showing it. I am a big fan of Horowitz!!

[@jeffmuenster5131]

I remember watching this program, and President Carter stating that Horowitz was "a national treasure ".

[@foxzen9]

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

[@jeromes9186]

Schiff Argerich Hamelin

[@Monkeyboy7274]

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.

[@matthewbbenton]

13:50 Watch the gentleman in the audience smile at Horowitz’s voicing. He’s my people.

[@Psycodhellik]

Horowitz, eres maravilloso! What a beautiful human being

[@hannahjoei]

this definetely gives me inspiration to practice harder. hha :)

[@adam145]

Wow that was a really nice, from the beginning to the end. I didn't see/hear the whole piece before so thank you for posting it here.

[@1sun1moon1]

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]

[@ArkEleven1]

I wish I had the patience to learn how to play to this level.

[@Melchiorblade7]

So many pianists play the notes right, but without a deep understanding of the music. Horowitz was different

[@trojrox1202]

He was different also in many other ways :):)

[@IvanEDaza]

"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.

[@nadiadesimone8645]

Disagree! I LOVE Horowitz but you have to listen Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli

[@nadiadesimone8645]

It's not just perfection, he is ethereal....

[@ciararespect4296]

Haha yea but he butchers this piece and yes I'm a concert pianist about know music

[@Coldshoulders69]

I'd like to thank the Internet and KZbin 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.

[@PowerofTrueInsight]

With this brilliant performance alone Horowitz the piano Legend lives on and on.

[@TwelfthRoot2]

Horowitz was so... Horowitz!

[@yusouph2002]

7:03 oh wow, how he played that chords in the left hand so loud. Seems like he did it almost effortlessly. His technique though...

[@maxwoefull3460]

Her hand is sooo big

[@strausss]

One of Chopin's most beautiful and passionate pieces...I'm sure had he been alive to hear Horowitz's rendition, he would have been blown away

[@vjam4339]

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!

[@jimmyx38]

His interpretation of the "raindrop" prelude is on point!!!!

[@annakomissar8279]

Гений! Лучше сыграть, наверно, невозможно.

[@kandutery]

Alfred Cortot?

[@martinmaster282]

@@kandutery seong gin cho win

[@Lyhan24]

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.

[@Ally123234]

How many times will I listen to this! If you add up all the time I've spent listening to this... wow

[@JiveYoungKing]

STAND UP AT THE END. They must not be aware of what they just had the pleasure of hearing in person.

[@ATacey13]

That's not the practice in Europe or Slovak Countries

[@ATacey13]

HOROWITZ WAS VERY WELL RESPECTED

[@JiveYoungKing]

@@ATacey13 that's good to know

[@Lenianaify]

I'm so proud, that i can say, i played on this piano! Its phenomenal, thank you to my piano teacher. It was so fantastic♥. (I am 15 years old)

[@Diesel9]

The applause were cut off, people. The youtube video ended BEFORE the applause, in case you didn't notice. Great performance, great pianist.

[@gibbo290989]

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!!

[@andrewelsass5068]

chopin n' stuff

[@jero13595]

Horowitz threw it out of the window.

[@ReturnOfTheStienway]

I love the way the music is affecting the guy in the green suite at 13:40 - 13:55 =) He was really listening to the music and getting into it. His face is all stern and dramatic looking... then the pretty melody comes back in (plus the way Horowitz is playing it) and the rest of his emotions are magic!

[@Pienoah]

We do~ seriously~ i love his interpretation in chopin and every other composer, he is an outstanding musician, no doubt!!!

[@bachmana2008]

びっくりした！感動だ！

[@LucasSense]

24:58 everybody starts clapping berfore the piece even decayed..

[@88alan8800]

this performance is so fresh. love the 2nd movement

[@paulostroff99]

One of the finest pianists of our day.

[@alexmorollo]

"seems very nervous" Yeah... Performing in front of the President of the United States

[@wsefik]

I'm just here for the Deadmau5

[@paulostroff99]

Superb! TY the polonaise for posting.

[@owatson322utube]

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.

[@XxXxTofuuuuuXxXx]

I like how he plays and treats this like how it is..... a masterpiece :).

[@smithespis]

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.

[@likearc]

there is no one like him, he is so original, and has made him own style. the best i will ever here, without a doubt.

[@Garcian]

no one really talks about this music... everyone just accepts its greatness

[@hdesertrat]

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!

[@katiesethna]

Stunningly beautiful !

[@steinway1901]

Saw this video as a kid, now to revisit the performance is to notice parts of the 1st movement seem quite slapdash, but the sense of architecture is clear and hypnotic. Totally unique.

[@machen7974]

The march is so great that no words can describe the feeling.

[@sav-kb9ql]

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.

[@squeezejoy]

Это было последнее произведение которое репетировал Рахманинов в Америке перед тем как он умер.

[@jero13595]

I love the last movement!

[@JohnnyBSawyer]

That was freaking awesome

[@mdueri]

An amazing pianist playing an incredible song. This guy is the best ever.

[@canummare]

Qui Horowitz è inarrivabile, per il legato e per il suono, dallo smalto inconfondibile...

[@LenHummelChannel]

How advanced an age was Horowitz during this offering of talent & genius ? Well into his mid or late 70's for sure. ... and he plays FAR BETTER than most pianists IN THEIR PRIME ! The man was a giant.