Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Just discovered this 'cheat' that Horowitz does.... :-)

I've no idea why VH did what he did there, but when I read the strength conservation theory I actually laughed out loud.

I think he did it just for fun.

That's a lot more possible than to conserve energy.

But IMO not very possible.

BTW, I'm not sure why y'all feel so unsure about why he did it, because we can hear what the effect is. When there's a distinct effect like that, I kinda think it was because he wanted that effect.

That gets to the whole thing about "cheats." I think maybe many people assume that the reason for doing them is just to make something easier, maybe often because someone feels he can't play it "as written." I'm saying that often it has to do with the effect you want, and how to best create it.

Horowitz frequently rewrites passages to get the effect he wanted. For instance, there's the concluding upward scale passage in Chopin's Scherzo No.1 which he plays as interlocking octaves......even in his old age.

Of course, there's always the possibility that he is conserving his energy (a few calories, no doubt ) playing that scale like that, rather than as a normal two-handed scale we youngsters would do....

Maybe he just didn't feel like leaning to the right.

Nah - you're right !! No doubt whatsoever !! I figured he was doing it for effect - rather than conserving strength.

Well now I have no idea what you're being serious about or not, even with the exclamation marks and haha, maybe especially because of them!

Whatever the reason, it sounded better when he didn't do it.

The scale in the Polonaise?

If that's what you mean, I don't agree. It gives a very "special effect" which IMO adds to the performance.

I'm actually agreeing with you. Seriously - why else would he do it ??

Well yeah!
But I wondered when you said "we'll never know Horowitz's motivation for doing this"....

I had more time to think about it.

Mark, I'm not sure why you think it's obvious that he did it for effect. His live performance I referenced at Lincoln Center was not very good-lots of mistakes, and he was several years older when that video was made in Moscow. No disrespect to Master VL intended; he was just at the end of his career. When you get older, you'll discover that you lose flexibility and need to conserve your strength more. I AM glad, though, that a few of you found my comments entertaining.

Do you mean older than sixty something??????

That's exactly what I mean.

Great - that means its probably downhill for me from now on.....

Fortunately, I can still get through the Opus 53 just fine.....

Me too, but I'm pretty sure Horowitz was at least 80 when that video was made.

Seems to me that the image of Horowitz and what he was is fading. I think that to those of us who were around for any amount of his lifetime, the idea that he left out those few notes near the top of the LH scale for anything except effect is fairly unthinkable, and the fact that some people wonder about it seems unfathomable.

I'm not saying this would apply to any and all such changes that he might have ever made. I can imagine at least the possibility that some of them might have been to make it 'easier' to play or (at least at some points in his very late years, but not at the time of this performance) to "conserve energy." But this particular thing?? Absolutely not. Look at what it is, for chrissake -- a straight scale. And look at what else he does in this performance. Does it seem like he's anywhere close to running short on energy? Is it not the case that he does play lots and lots of other things in the piece that are much harder, from any standpoint, and much more taxing of energy?

The answer is yes. The idea that he did it for anything but to achieve a desired and original effect is (sorry folks) ludicrous.

Mark, let's be objective-that wasn't a very good performance. I've got a lot of his recordings from the 1930's to present, and when I noticed a change it was adding notes and/or difficulty to a piece. As several people said, we'll all never know; we should just enjoy his legacy

I've now done some research on this to be able to comment appropriately. For those who don't know (I didn't before looking it up), this concert took place on June 1, 1987. It was one of the last appearances Horowitz ever made; the last public recital occurring on June 21, 1987, just 20 days later. Horowitz died 2 years and 5 months after this performance.

The Polonaise was the final piece he played of an 80-minute program, though he played three encores after.


It is unfortunate that I was never able to see Horowitz live. The first live classical concert I saw was just a couple years after his death. However, in reading much about his final years as a performer, it seems well-documented that, in his 80's, he substituted finesse and coloring for bravura. I wouldn't say he was completely incapable of technical feats. As Mark points out, there are many difficult feats surrounding those scales that he accomplished with seemingly little effort. Indeed, the scale itself-- if he can play the first three octaves without a problem, undoubtedly he could have played the last four notes.

So, I tend to lean on the side that this was for coloration.. a desired effect that, for whatever reason, he chose. It seems to me, in listening, that it makes the very top of the scale a little clearer, that it "rings out" a little better when the other notes drop out. Was Horowitz less mobile and hence unable to lean over, as suggested, in order to bring this out while playing both hands? Possibly not. He still played the top note in the left hand. Was it his use of pedal that made him decide to drop those few notes in favor of a certain clarity? Possibly. There's a thousand reasons why he might have decided to drop those notes. But I don't think any of those reasons start with the fact that he couldn't finish the scale of which he'd already played three octaves..


What I do find amazing is that Horowitz made between $650,000 and $750,000 (in today's money) on that one concert date (ticket receipts). You'd think for $750k, he could have played the extra four notes..