Horowitz plays Chopin Mazurka in D major, Op. 33 No. 2

[MssWalewska1]

Oh, it's so heavy... I'd like to dance, but I've eaten too much...

(Sorry for english if it's incorrect.)

[rjgxjhs]

WOULD EVERYONE PLEASE SHUT THE FUCK UP ABOUT RUBENSTEIN ON VIDEOS OF HOROWITZ PLAYING CHOPIN. yes, rubenstein is brilliant, but i'm sick of seeing people argue about the 2 on every single horowitz/chopin piece on youtube. if you think rubenstein is so much better, go watch him instead and leave us to enjoy the glory of horowitz and frederic. -end rant-

[sapphire6722]

Amazing interpretation but I also love the more sensitive way Rubenstein plays this mazurka.

[luklkc]

Partially it is true that you don't have to be from the composer's homeland country to be able to interprete his or her works but let me tell you something, it is only what's called "copying" You might only think you understand Chopin's nature and what he was going through while on exile. Do you even know what was happening in Poland at that historical period? This shows in his piano works. It is not clean and calculated and cold writing.By the way he grew up in Poland so Poland was his beloved

[MaslAlek]

ugly jewy

[cattleman6420012000]

@MaslAlek You racist swine!! Horowitz was the most gifted pianist of all. I will always give him the respect he deserves. Unbelievably great pianist.

[MaslAlek]

@cattleman6420012000 his technique is absolute amazing, but he doesn' fell Chopin, and besides, I will always remember his horrible interpretation of Polonaise As Dur op. 53. If I were in the concert hall, I would leave, he fuked it up so badly...

[AlexandreJdB]

C'est ma mazurka préférée (avec celle en réb majeur)!!!!

Horowitz et Chopin étaient vraiment des génies!!!!

[fengyingxia]

Yundi Li played better.

[Patfromhutto]

Played this at UIL Piano Solo today and goin to state! I play it Presto personally, this is far slower.

[donthuis]

Very fine rendition with the right amount of this very special type of dancing rythmic variations. Mazurka's are very tricky to do perfectly and I did not expect Horozwitz to be capable of this feat. Well done!

[britcrit09]

Bravo! Very pleasing to the ear.

[EMesaros]

This is my very favorite mazurka! I was so pleased to find it here!

[exanovaa]

maybe not conventional, but so rich and beautiful !

[PoorYorick3]

I'm no expert, but this feels too slow and without enough strength in the rhythm (and usually I think Horowitz is great). I would recommend listening to Ashkenazy's interpretation.

[astronome9]

@PoorYorick3 To me Ashkenazy's interpretation is too fast, also lacking contrast and nuances. Horowitz conveys a lot more meaning in his interpretation.

[MYRHAH]

c'est une vision très exacte de la mazurka, car il est parfaitement possible de danser sur cette version. Qu'on le veuille ou non, la mazurka est avant tout une danse, un moment social. Clarté, rythmicité prédominent ici, c'est ce qui fait l'intérêt de cette interprétation.

[gtimny]

Horowitz is very square in this one, but when he's not he's often too fussy and neurotic in the other Mazurkas. There are good ones by Novaes, Cherkassky and others, but Rubinstein really owned this music.

[OriginalBasaliskos]

What are you talking about? Rubinstein's mazurkas are horrid. Absolutely horrid. Idil Biret is the only pianist capable of capturing that sort of liveliness that goes into most mazurkas.

[gtimny]

Well, I just listened to 4 of the Mazurkas (9, 15, 23 and 26) performed by Idil Biret and found that was about all I could stand. Her sound is aggressive and ugly, she doesn't voice her chords, her rhythm is ungraceful and exaggerated (especially in 9 which just unlistenable) so, sorry I don't get it. Everyone is entitled to their own taste but I shouldn't have wasted my time over this. Anyone who claims "she is the only pianist capable..." is not to be taken seriously.

[OriginalBasaliskos]

Saying you prefer one over the other is perfectly acceptable, but you took a very radical approach in denouncing that her interpretations were "unlistenable," which isn't even a word.... Especially considering a majority of music instructors recommend Biret for their students to listen to, I think it best that no one take you seriously.

At least listen to her polonaises and ballades, those are... Well, I can't even being to describe it. The coda on ballade one is the clearest thing I've heard.

[OriginalBasaliskos]

Not to mention she studied under Cortot for a period of time...

[Aminkor]

@OriginalBasaliskos

Actually, "unlistenable" is a word. unlistenable [ʌnˈlɪsənəbəl]

adj

impossible or unpleasant to listen to ~Collins English Dictionary Complete and Unabridged 6th Edition 2003. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003

As for this rendition, I think that Horowitz did a fine job on this.

[FlashyCat2008]

Horowitz is not fit for Chopin.

That is all. The end.

[yelvaberry]

@FlashyCat2008

Is that so? I dear you to find better rendition of the Polonaise in A flat major than Horowitz's.

[aardvaark069]

@yelvaberry yes. Especially the performance in the Steinway basement in 'The last Romantic' . What magisterial playing!

[meredith21846]

@gtimny What about Friedman?. for me unsurpassable in the Mazurkas. Incidendally I agree with your assessment of Horowitz in this particular performance, he usually plays these minature masterpieces with a captivating spontaneity that is obviously absent here.

[damon1281]

A better version of this Mazurka doesn't exist.

[soami2u]

Obviously you haven't heard the version by Shura Cherkassky available here on YT.

[damon1281]

I think I have that on the Phillips Great Pianist series but I listened here to be sure and still prefer Horowitz. If it's a Chopin Mazurka, I nearly always prefer the Horowitz interpretation.

[soami2u]

When it's a Mazurka, I nearly always do too, but not here.

[Barbapippo]

This does not even seem a mazurka, it sounds rather like a waltz or a peasant laendler... there are plenty of performances better than this!

[soami2u]

Surprisingly below-par for Horowitz...other recordings of his of some of the Mazurkas are among the best recordings of these elusive works, in my opinion. This is like dancing with a brick tied to each foot!

[aelmandrew]

Horowitz is dragging his feet on this one. You have to be Polish to feel the proper rythm of this this dance . Listen to Rubinstein!

[Minoutto]

Ah, you're very right! I was actually pleased with this version until I heard the one by Rubinstein. The difference is like night and day!

[soami2u]

Listen to Friedman or Cherkassky.

[seagull1756]

Yay, you have to be polish to play Chopin! hoooray! well done, mate, you opened my eyes, you are so clever and amazing, i just want to tell the entire world how unique you and your wonderful ideas are!!!!!!! and also, so incredibly fresh! no one has ever said it before! you are awesome. simply awesome.

[soami2u]

You do NOT have to be Polish to play Chopin--that is absolute nonsense. Three of the greatest Chopin pianists EVER were not the slightest bit Polish: Cortot (French and Swiss--Chopin himself was half-French); Novaes (Brazilian, and a student of a student of Chopin himself); and Lipatti (Romanian, and a student of Cortot). In my opinion Ignaz Friedman was one of the best Polish interpreters of Chopin (I prefer his playing in many ways to Paderewski's or Rubinstein's).

[soami2u]

Two present-day pianists who are excellent Chopin pianists are also not Polish: Ivan Moravec (Czech); and Maria-Joao Pires (Portuguese).

[TheOriginalEntz]

The only thing you have to be to play Chopin is a human. Or maybe a well programmed robot or computer program (which was made by humans after all). So there. Being human is always enough.

[111Blowfish]

@soami2u I gotta take issue with the whole Cortot thing. I've listened to quite a bit of Cortot, and I find that he is both lacking in first-tier technique and an over-intellectualizer, who insists on rendering the most emotionally sensitive romantic works in a strange bubble of hell-bent aloofness. Give me Horowitz or Sofronitsky or Hofmann or Richter - men with towering techniques and a natural way with the romantic piano literature.

[luklkc]

Partially it is true that you don't have to be from the composer's homeland country to be able to interprete his or her works but let me tell you something, it is only what's called "copying" You might only think you understand Chopin's nature and what he was going through while on exile. Do you even know what was happening in Poland at that historical period? This shows in his piano works. It is not clean and calculated and cold writing.By the way he grew up in Poland so Poland was his beloved

[sockmaister]

@soami2u rafal blechacz - nah im just messing with you i know what you're saying. i do belive though that a musician needs to truly understand some areas of polish culture and history to play the music. people dont even realize how much chopin's music was influenced by polish culture --- for a pole chopin sounds familiar to something, no one knows to what, but to something always its like... "hmmmm"

[aelmandrew]

Horowitz is dragging his feet in this mazurka. He doesn"t have the rythym The mazurka is a National dance of Poland . You have to be polish to feel it. Listen to Rubinstein!

[demosj]

Horowitz's genius for the mazurkas was well-documented, since the beginning of his career.

[cattleman6420012000]

Horowitz was far the best with Mazurkas. His playing was always so unique and special.

[Ywanna18]

this mazurka i had when i was 13:P

i sing at piano since 9 years..and i love this mazurka:X

[StarWarseu]

love this mazurka!

[libramoon2]

A special man.....playing beautifully!

[xxxSusannxxx]

Very pretty,

a very clear sound,

so lovely!

[aaron8895]

Horowitz is the best.

[cekalova]

Kwintesencja polskości :)))))

[DietrichMarlena]

można tak powiedziec :D

[libramoon2]

A beautiful rendition... gentle.... and how Chopin meant it tio be played,

[SwePianoholic]

As always he finds another dimension....

[luklkc]

Partially it is true that you don't have to be from the composer's homeland country to be able to interprete his or her works but let me tell you something, it is only what's called "copying" You might only think you understand Chopin's nature and what he was going through while on exile. Do you even know what was happening in Poland at that historical period? This shows in his piano works. It is not clean and calculated and cold writing.By the way he grew up in Poland so Poland was his beloved

[MsThisNameIsTaken]

@luklkc That's really stupid. You may know what was going on, but you weren't there. Nobody in this time period was. So you're copying. And I don't think just because Chopin loved Poland means that he would be upset that people from other countries are enjoying his music.

[jghancockjr]

@SwePianoholic

Yes, the other dimension is Horowitz.

[globalism1433]

Horowitz, le roi des pianistes...surely he would play the piece in a different way than others do..I like it

[missgodfearing]

his performance of the piece is quite lively and full of emotion; Horowitz plays this piece in a way that u would think the Piano, or the piece rather, is speaking, laughing, getting angry, sad...etc: it comes straight from the heart; it makes u live different episodes and states of emotion during the whole 2 min 50'... brilliant

[BeccaFishys]

wow. thats a pretty cool song! :D

[theantonioexperience]

call it piece plz

[eltachimetro]

woow, horowitz plays it very different than all other pianists, horowitz its just HOROWITZ!!!!!!!!