Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Big rave about Horowitz?

Now before anything I request nobody get upset at this.

I just don't understand what the big deal with Horowitz is... I have listened to many of his recordings including all of his Rach 3 recordings and have not found anything that really stood out to me. Could somebody please enlighten me?

Well, for one thing, he plays with amazing clarity.

I can see that he was an excellent pianist, but his Rach 3 recording never really hit it off with me either.

like sam said, crystal like clarity that you will be hard pressed to find in any other pianist living or deceased, his technique and control over every note was tremendous and had arguably the greatest technique this side of Liszt.

just out of curiosity who DOES stand out to you in Rach 3 then? Because it is my opinion that Horowitz owns the Rach 3 like thomas edison owns the lightbulb so I am just curious because maybe you have different tastes for expression etc, did you hear Horowitz's Beethoven or his kreisleriana or what else don't you like about his?

The only thing I never liked about Horowitz personally is his damned idea that he knew better than the godlike composers in changing parts of the music around, like in that video where he plays the mozart #23 he has the audacity to tell maestro giulini that he plays certain passages in the concerto differently than what Mozart has written and gives as his reason the fact that Mozart was overworked and didn't concentrate on the composition enough and if he did he would have felt the same way about that particular phrase as Horowitz did!! That is some humongous juevos this guy had LOL, I dunno maybe this should be an admirable quality?

By the way can anyone tell me what the heck it is that Horowitz says in that recording of the a minor Mozart movement where he's talking a bunch of unintelligable nonsense and says that anyone who plays this piece as fast as he demonstrates should 'go to jail' ?? It's right in the beginning he says something I can't understand what the heck he's saying...

Well, Horowitz to me has the greatest touch. He has the most delicate PPP, and sometimes can bang a little bit (Horowitz: In Moscow). Horowitz is also very original, he says "When I didn't know piano, I watched my Uncle play, and we called him "Uncle who played loud ." I wanted to play just like him, but when I was 10, 11 years old I only wanted to play like myself." The emotion, clarity, and touch he brings to the piano is breathtaking.

His student, Byron Janis. I actually prefer Janis/Dorati's first movement to Horowitz/Reiner.


Well, editors do that all the time. Maybe they're not so macho about it, though. Well, maybe they are, I don't know. :p

This is true for Rachmaninoff declared that nobody, even himself, would be able to play this concerto better than Horowitz. Basically saying that Horowitz owned the Concerto, therefore has the best concerto.

seriously, I mean I've heard things about so many, like Argerich, I listened to her Gilette concerto and Horowitz I think blows her bra off with his rendition

?Gilette concerto?

lol

MACH 3

aahhahahahaha sam figured it out

gillette the best a maaan can get

Danor used to post a funny picture of "Mach 3: The Best a Pianist Can Get" in his signature. A google search isn't finding it, though.

The best a pianist can get.....


:p

Well the reason I don't like Horowitz all that much is because he has a tendency to bang. Like in his Rach 3 recordings I think it was the most bombastic interpretation I have heard of it. I guess I like the smoother interpretations. Not necessarily slower, I like it exciting, but not brittle (which some of his banging soounded like IMO).

I know people are going to laugh at me since this performance isn't to most people's taste but I really enjoyed Hough's recording. It was exciting, musical, and I really liked his tone.

Argerich's was indeed very exciting... the first time. After a while her fast but sloppy playing tends to get old. I would love to see that live but for repeated listenings I would rather listen to a more reserved recording.

I too enjoyed Janis' recording of the Rach 3.

Perhaps one reason I don't like Horowitz is that my opinion of him as a person interferes with my opinion of him as a musician. I think he is very arrogant and cocky which automatically turns me off.

????????

I like Horowitz most of the time, but Like all pianists, I like some of what they do but not all of it. As far as Horowitz goes, my favorite thing he does is Chopins 10/4. Lots of recordings of the piece are too fast and bland. Horowitz gives the piece the rowdiness that it deserves.

I had the fortune to hear Horowitz live on two occasions and both were 'events,' though all of his concerts were! He was the kind of artist who was given a standing ovation before he played a note (the only other pianist I saw receive that kind of welcome was Artur Rubinstein).

His playing was extraordinary, the most unbelieveable control...ppp to fff...a truly freak-of-nature, hugely powerful technique.

When he was in his prime, the greatest artists were the rock stars of their day (we don't have any pianists today that remotely approach that level). In addition to being a brilliant pianist, Horowitz was purported to be a crafty businessman that understood promotion. Working with others, he created a 'buzz' prior to his recitals that had fans in a feeding frenzy. The point is that much of Horowitz was aura.

That aside, very few can play at the level of a Horowitz...so good that they can get away with blatant mistakes, take interpretive risks and still be adored. His performances aren't always the best, aren't always the most musical, but he was a consistently great performer who could dazzle better than anybody. He knew how to please his audience time and again, and that goes a long way in creating a legend.

I assume you are referring to the 1972 recording, and that's one of my favorites of that piece as well. He plays it at a tempo which is exciting, but not so fast as to sacrifice clarity--every note is played. Compare that to the way some pianists race through the piece, dropping notes left and right.

Ach! Gewalt!