Chopin Scherzo No 3 Op 39 Rec 1957 Horowitz

[fcGroup]

Between 4:32 ~ 4:34 he played the right hand part an octave higher, and I love it!

[Balgig]

very familiar opening to rachmaninov but but horowitz wins again, for me anyway.

[forgottenbooks]

Love the introduction, the steady rhythm, the staccato quality, and the overwhelmingly powerful coda.

[pipeorganloverNJP]

He plays the coda so amazingly fast and clearly at the same time!

[Bobby3960]

And how he plays the part in C-Sharp Major 5:32 - 5:51 he's alone to sing it so legato and with such a progression !

[Bobby3960]

This man is really incredible. The sound is so powerful, so bright, he destroys all ! It's absolutely unique ! I love Argerich and Pogorelich versions too ! But Horowitz is Horowitz ! :-)

[grandtwilek]

It sounds like he adds some extra notes to the octave A's at 0:14. Does anyone know what notes he adds?

[4785689]

@grandtwilek no

[vizion24]

I think I prefer Rubenstein's and Martha's more. But this is still awesome.

[John19182004]

@vizion24 yuck.

[gott1rott]

This is one of the fastest recordings I've heard of this piece, yet it doesn't sound rushed at all. I also love how you can clearly hear the multiple voices during the main theme. It truly sounds like 2 people are playing.

[pipeorganloverNJP]

3:01 according to me is the most emotional passage in the piece, and I've never heard anyone play it like Horowitz did here.

[th3wing3dpaint3r]

Horowitz is great of course, but it's a bit too fanatical to say that this coda is the best. His plan for the coda was solid but his STUDIO performance was pretty messy. Imagine how it would have sounded live...

[grandtwilek]

@th3wing3dpaint3r What parts of the Coda do you think are messy?

[londonroadpoets]

i just love the information.... great points mr beckmesser!

[pipeorganloverNJP]

Well, this is why Horowitz is my favorite pianist. This recording speaks for itself.

[SwePianoholic]

@pipeorganloverNJP Agree!!

[jjp009]

Is it me or does it sound like there's a major edit at 0:14-0:15 where it actually sounds like he recorded this piece at two different times and two different places?

[forgottenbooks]

@jjp009 It's just you. Horowitz adds an extra note or something along with the G#s.

[forgottenbooks]

@forgottenbooks I'm sorry, the A's.

[etuden88]

I'm working on this piece myself, and am wondering how Horowitz makes that effect in the coda at 6:01. It sounds like he's changing the score - I can't seem to emulate it as written. Anyone have any ideas?

[Snufkin999]

@etuden88

Hi! Do you mean the jumping octave parts? I believe Horowitz is playing as it is written without any alterations. It may sound different from other performers, since often times they emphasize the first octaves, (the bass octaves) instead of the second octaves (the ones where you jump up). Horowitz uses minmal pedal here and disconnects the octaves, and also accentuating more of the second octaves, as Chopin has actually indicated. I hope this helps!

[pipeorganloverNJP]

Hey, since you're answering related questions anyway, can you tell me if there was anything special about the piano Horowitz used that made those parts throughout the piece more staccato than usual?

[LaReginadellaNotte24]

@Snufkin999

Do you think that Horowitz uses any pedal at all from 5:54 - 6:01? It sounds so dry. In any event, I think that the detached quality makes the music sound all the more raw and visceral- as it should.

[pipeorganloverNJP]

No, he obviously didn't use the pedal. But even when I don't use the pedal it doesn't sound this staccato.

[ByrneBelew]

GENIUS! Love to play this loud :0)

[demosj]

Horowitz had the loveliest leggiero of all the great pianists, something reflected in his recording of the second Scherzo as well as this one.

[pipeorganloverNJP]

I'll have to say this is the best I've heard. Especially toward the ending, where the playing becomes so powerful, fast, yet amazingly clear. As for the Cado, I haven't heard one as powerful anywhere.

[pipeorganloverNJP]

*coda

[billyguns2]

Best octaves I ever heard! When Horowitz was good he was incomparable, arguably the greatest pianist who ever lived. There are very few who achieved his heights; Hofmann,Rosenthal, Michelangeli, Richter, Pogorelich, and Lhevinne come to mind as pianists who could rise to overwhelming greatness both technically and musically.

[cctunes]

Horowitz wins hands down in my opinion for his ability to underline and extract every bit of music out of this work. Argerich is of course brilliant, but with this piece, her interpretation goes right out the window for me.

[ItalianKing25]

I also was intrigued by Horowitz' tempo and his pedaling choices. The Maestro once remarked that pianists are so eager to show off their octaves that they play too fast in the 3rd Scherzo. He asserted that all four Scherzi should be played at the same tempo, but that most people play the 3rd Scherzo three times as fast as the other scherzi. After hearing this recording, I became convinced that Horowitz was right about the tempo.

[ItalianKing25]

(Cont.)

At Horowitz' slower than usual tempo, the octaves actually sound ominous and frightening, whereas they merely sound frantic and scurried when played at a super fast tempo.

Horowitz also showed that if your fingers are working properly, you don't need much pedal in order to create a powerful sound. Even while using hardly any pedal, Horowitz was absolutely demonic in the Coda. He truly was a master at knowing when to rely on the fingers, rather than the pedal, to produce the sound.

[GeneralKuno]

I can't agree more on the second paragraph. IMO, the sound depends on your fingers alone.

[ItalianKing25]

This is easily the best recording of the Scherzo in c# minor ever made. No other pianist could compete with Horowitz' massive sonority and fiery grandeur of conception. He also plays the lyrical sections beautifully, bringing out the inner voices and playing the choral section with exceptional richness of tone.

[pedroprokofiev]

Love him. Also Argerich does a good job, but very different styles.

[ecko1o1]

Unique style

[layinontheground]

Gorgeous! I particularly like the clarity with which he plays the 'contrapuntal' passages in the A section. (0:30-0:50 for example) You can really hear all the individual voices! I like his pedaling choices, with the exception of the decision not to pedal some of the 'tinkly' arpeggios from the B ('hymn') section. (Listen to 2:12-2:13, for example, or the sudden lifts of the pedal at 2:20 and 2:26.) I really love the crescendo he makes in the transition back to the A section (3:30-3:39)!

[ThePiano1991]

There have been great great pianists, but there has always been something about Horowitz that shines!

[BachScholar]

I think this is the best ever recording of this work. I think Horowitz remains unsurpassable, at least in this kind of literature. His Mozart was not very good in my opinion, at least from what I've heard.

[teoakinyel]

that coda is awesome. the clarity makes the nightmarish quality even more vivid more lucid.

[weikko79]

Tamarkina (among others) played this a whole lot better.

[BachScholar]

I disagree. Tamarkina's is definitely one of the best, but Horowitz's IS the best. How do you base your judgement. If it's on speed, Horowitz wins since his is a full 25 seconds faster than this. If it's on other aspects not related to speed, Horowitz also wins in my opinion.

[weikko79]

Obviously faster != better. Horowitz himself criticized other pianists (such as Rachmaninoff!) for playing this Scherzo way too fast. Let's just say that Tamarkina plays this with a lot more emotion.

[demosj]

Haha. A critic comes along who, unable to dispute how Horowitz's virtuosity far outstrips some other pianist's, falls back on the tired comment about "emotion".

Just because Horowitz plays at a higher technical standard than Tamarkina does not make him less musical.

[weikko79]

Certainly, but it doesn't make him any *more* musical either. Tamarkina clearly outstrips him when it comes to BOTH musicality AND emotions.

[demosj]

How? Very straightforward playing without much meaning in even the simple theme of the meno mosso, or the manipulation of the inner voices in the downward leggiero passages present in Horowitz's playing.

This is bearing in mind that this scherzo is hardly the sentimental romantic Chopin so the vehement passages are of equal importance to the lyrical. So we both agree Horowitz has claim to those. Not even Argerich comes close to his coda, nevermind Tamarkina.

[weikko79]

I agree that the vehement passages are of equal importance as the lyrical, but it doesn't follow from that Horowitz's way is the best way of playing them. Personally, I prefer Tamarkina's subdued performance to Horowitz's over-the-top one.

[demosj]

Alright, that's sensible, if it's a matter of preference of interpretation. For Scherzo 3's played in this vein, Horowitz's recording stands out as the best.

[aewanko300]

Been waiting for this.