HOROWITZ AT THE WHITE HOUSE 5-Chopin Polonaise Heroic

[shirusubemonaku]

This guy is no where near as talented as lady gaga

[yamamonkey]

@shirusubemonaku nice trolling

[TripleRhu]

@yamamonkey Lady Gaga plays Liszt's Sonata in h-moll better than anybody, even Hamelin, Horowitz, Berman, Cziffra etc.'

trollface.jpg

[6347285]

That harsh bangy sound is not the sound of a Steinway. It's disgusting, and it will give you a headache if you don't lower the volume while you listen to this "performance."

Horowitz used many scams to make the public think that he was better then he really was. One of the scams was that he had technicians file down the hammers on his Steinway to lighten up the action. With a rigged piano, he was able to play faster and louder while exerting less energy.

[309hjk]

He looks a little taken aback that he has just given them a peformance beyond human comprehension, and they did not even respond with a standing ovation. Shame, Shame..

[0000mare0000]

καταπληκτικός!

[alpha754293]

Imagine if Horowitz was a ninja??? OMG....you'd NEVER see it coming. Not even the cameras would be able to catch it.

[newtonnigasby]

that guy at 1:11 had an eargasm

[iamliger]

Who else heard a mistake at 00:42?

[calflyboy]

@iamliger hehe. Horowitz is known to make A LOT of mistakes. but his musical tone, character, power, beauty of tone, intelligence, etc..... MORE then make up for wrong notes.

[doomless198]

@iamliger i did :P

[DMu88keys]

this is wonderful! What year was this recorded?



[lalalol1000]

laughing*, i mean. >:(

[lalalol1000]

that guy at 0:39 needs to STFU for lauhing at Horowitz's mistake. what a jerk.

[neve1064]

Was he on anti depressants at the time of this recording.

[ghkypreos1]

Είναι μια από τις μνημειώδεις εκτελέσεις. Υπέροχος!

[ThePVGS1]

Horowitz is a HERO without any doubt! And playing the HEROIC Polonaise makes him a SUPERHERO! :-)

[zurriussII]

He used the fingers like no one other. Bravo!

[lalalalolable]

that guy has to stfu at 0:42-0:43 when horowitz makes a mistake =.=

[meredith218461]

Those amazing L.H. octaves!.

[Squeaky1423]

LONG LIVE HOROWITZ!!!

[ben123wright123]

@Squeaky1423 Awkward that he died....

[ImmortalSpecies]

@Squeaky1423 Lived :p

[B61zz13]

Just epic! :D

[pianokd11]

4:51 How dare someone not show up to a Horowitz concert!

[Zoldi77]

@pianokd11 lol

[asdfoij76]

what must be going through his mind as he plays this?...

[toyu17]

horrible

[bondczar]

Great technique, a musical genius, but I'm not drawn to this interpretation

[lovellespice]

oh my god... this piece is a pain on the wrists!!!

[ganggun2]

very powerful! amazing!

[jsabadojr]

The great Master Horowitz!!!

[TheCriticPiano]

Horowitz....well done. But one comment, in the beginning that octave you played was a little too slammy. I bet you can agree, folks? Oh Vladimir, your wrong notes sound just so right.

[SuhmMusic]

His version in Vienna is much better. But considering his age here.. It's woooow!

[guitarmachine13]

nah. i like rubinstein better for this one

[GnuSkool]

@guitarmachine13 I most definitely agree sir

[GAkopyan31]

Utterly electrifying...even that would be an understatement for Horowitz's musical genious. As a pianist, I could only wish to achieve 10% of this man's skill and musical power. Bravissimo!!

[33brave33]

so much power and sensitivity in the same time..,

Horowitz is top of the tops...

[alekzlenz]

sublime

[ashbunforever]

too many mis touches...



[firzennet]

@ashbunforever i know right? without a doubt hes one of the best performers out there, but he is also infamous for hitting the rong notes sometimes. I thought it was just me XD. But it just goes to show that despite that he has still become one of the most renowned out there. Also, my piano teacher speculates that he makes them on purpose :S for show. who knows?

[JutsuMakesMusic]

At 4:32 a man is crying in the background at the power of this mans performance.

[cleverclavier]

@JutsuMakesMusic or blowing his nose? lol

[openmindspace]

Sorry kids, but this really is the best version there is.

[julie223783]

obamas not going to get a concert like that...... NEVER in his life time!

[pelucherabbit]

I'm sorry to spoil the party, but actually he screw's it at 0:42. Almost unnoticable, and you could even blame the ol' steinway, but I believe that sole mistake doesn't make this one his best performances of the heroique.

[shrunkensimon]

@ 4:29.. the guy in the background wipes tears from his eyes..

[MaslAlek]

weak performance. he play with this piece to much... it doesnt sounds properly. he always must overact with his interpretations. but i can't argue with his technique...

[pelucherabbit]

@MaslAlek Totally agree... he even screw it at 0:43

[yhlingard]

This performance is the highest,Chopin Polonaise Heroic .

[7vajda]

uwielbiam ten utwór w tym wykonaniu

[antonioaugustogurgel]

Horowitz played it beautifully.

It is my second favourite version, after Argerich's.

[nmbanana]

@antonioaugustogurgel sir, you have your favorites backwards, no need to thank me for reminding you who really is the favorite here :P (i like martha's to, i just like horowitz better)

[orqngefirefly]

i'm no expert, but i think for the record, i heard him play this a few times on different occasions. the playing is different everytime, he's basically improvising on his emotive playing whenever he likes, which is all fine and dandy with me. sometimes (not all the time, but sometimes) we need people like him to break the rules and not stick to what it's written. my amateurish opinion though :)

[Chickend0ut]

@orqngefirefly agree entirely. i have a friend who says he saw him in concert once and his memory slipped and he managed to improvise the entire left hand of a chopin.

[Baruchyoseph8]

There was no one like Horowitz - others who were grand - and are ... but only one Horowitz? Great post.

[TheTastyFish]

I don't know. Something sounds wrong. I don't approve.

[sirhonestharry]

DANG!!!! 'm the 199th guy to like this, CONGRatz for the lucky son of a gun who gets the 200th Jk Lol haha

[VlogNationXD]

Old man's got skiddles!

[marto282]

splendid...absolutely splendid

[100lukebaker]

i much prefer argerich

[DerDon]

It is hilarious seeing a man (at 1:08) having the same problem as I have! Friends tell me that I move around the same uncontrollable way when I'm in a concert audience.

However this is my favourite Horowitz interpretation of this piece; in others he often uses so much sustain. In this one, there are some lovely marcato passages combined with the Horowitz character -- impressive, but not urging to impress. Love it!

[ilikehaku1100]

@DerDon I think that guy was falling asleep

[kouriskiii]

LOL @ THE GUY 1:09

[jaka1823]

you cant fully grasp the power of this piece until it is heard in real life!

[Selendomono]

I notice that people are complaining that Horowitz plays this really mechanically... well that is 110 percent true. But I like this version better than any other players!

[gerardbedecarter]

The best way to play Chopin Polonaises (or anything else by Chopin for that matter) is to play what he writes. It has nothing to do with whether one is Polish or not. Horowitz does not play what Chopin writes here.

[1xstew]

How wonderful is this . .

[RogueSilverEgo]

When was this? awesome

[marlborobeb]

molipsitor.....

[ilikehaku1100]

Beating the shit out of that Steinway (:

[mx19idlewilder]

horowitz was a great pianist. but actually i don't like his interpretations of chopin.

i prefer polish pianists, kenner or pollini if we talk about playing chopin.

[JohnnyStricklett]

@mx19idlewilder Really? You don't like Horowitz's Chopin? Please elaborate.

[mx19idlewilder]

@JohnnyStricklett

you know, horowitz is playing chopin a'la horowitz, not like chopin wanted his works to sound. he's very good pianist of course, but i don't like him as interpretor of chopin's works.

the best interpretation of this polonaise is jan ekier's in my opinion. harasiewicz's, malcuzynski's, paleczny's and blechacz's are also very good ones. also czerny stefanska plays it very well (ekiers job...) but personally i dont like her.

i also adore pollini's polonaises (for DG).

[JohnnyStricklett]

@mx19idlewilder Ok, I admit that Horowitz doesn't capture the heroicism of this polonaise, but I seriously don't think you can make such a generalization of Horowitz's interpretation of chopins works overall. I've heard every single recording he has made of Chopin. I've noticed many of the youtube videos of him are full of self indulgences---have too much "Horowitz"---and chopin's intentions are overpowered, such as the video of him playing the 4th Ballade in F Minor. However, there are...

[JohnnyStricklett]

@mx19idlewilder ...so many wonderful interprestations where all I hear is Chopin's music. They are beautiful and inspiring. When comparing other's interpretations of the same works, Horowitz dominates. I feel that other people put too much rubato and I don't express Chopin's words. Some of Horowitz's recorings are so accurate and pure! The recording of the Ballade in F Minor I mentioned? There is another recording that is just pure gold!

[mx19idlewilder]

@JohnnyStricklett

yes, you're right, i generalized too much. chopin has a great range of compositions, and there are many great pianists that play his works wonderfully but polonaises and mazurkas are especially hard to interpret correctly for non-polish pianists. pollini is so good at them (imo of course) because he plays polonaises very neutrally, straight from the notes, he doesn't try to force his personal interpretation over notation and chopin's intentions.

[JohnnyStricklett]

@mx19idlewilder Sure, I can go with that. I'm glad I didn't start an argument with my previous comments.

[MrRoofusPadumelon]

@mx19idlewilder were is your polonaise sir Huh?

[bboymango]

i wonder if horrowitz ever broke a finger.... cuz those chords at the beggining were something else... pure power

[olegpush]

Непревзойденно!!! Это, безусловно, был гений!

[fxv26]

magnificent

Chopin would be proud ...

hats off people

[1sun1moon1]

love the guy in the green jacket at 1:10

[rvrivas]

Horowitz was the greatest pianist of the 20th century. I am yet to hear someone interpret music like he did. Thanks for sharing this video

[hap2002hello]

So energetic!!!

[Ysc996]

Master.

[8636daniel]

Bravo!! Maestro... wonderful interpretation of the theme at 3:15..I admire Rubenstines' rendition but I have never heard him like this....clear and precise!!!

[louismagie]

One of the greatest pianist of all time... He puts music to the other level, where the technic is gone and stays the music.

[horowitz109]

Matchless rendition! Everybody who really knows how to play the piano can't but adore Horowitz. Amateur piano players will always criticize him out of envy and impotence.

[katkula]

@horowitz109 Another good comment!!

[RoidInjected]

They will also criticize out of sheer ignorance.

[thecrazymusicman]

Thats not true. Music is Music. He is playing from his heart, were the real music comes from. You just do not care for his interpretation.

[thecrazymusicman]

He is a great pianist, however I question some of his interpretations. I am playing this piece and noticed that he has changed some notes as well as pedal markings.

[VolaveruntMercadal]

@thecrazymusicman yeah, i think that as well, maybe you'll like as much as I do the version of Erik Berchot. He plays it beautifully.

[tennispro4408]

Magnificent rendition of a/the polanaise.

[Niiiko08]

c'est pas la 5ème ! c'est la 6!

[paganini0804]

magnífica intepretacion

[Paulo78180]

Quel déchaînement ! Quelle furie ! Quel bel homme ! (Jack Lang style)

[antoinezygfryd]

Vous n'avez jamais entendu Vitalij Margulis.....

[kamil3546]

Actually, I don' t like Horowitz interpretation of Chopin' s music but that one 8-) respect Mr. Horowitz. My god that the best way I ever heard. Magnificent performance... 2:22 - 2:30 POLISH POWER :-)

[ByrneBelew]

3:11-4.23 WOW!!!! :0)

[rachmaninov1873]

he did the great job...played it full of power....the best version ever!

[kempff95]

listen to rubinstein,please.

[rachmaninov1873]

horowitz performanced more like polonaiese......rubinstein is not

[awachowicz314]

See Polonaise Heroic by Artur Rubinstein. Horowitz was a great pianist, one of the best ever, but this Polonaise sounds "woody" in his interpretation.

Realy great job by Horowitz is Carmen variation from 1942, it is also on youtube. I recommend it.

[snuffypoo]

haha, the guy in the background can feel the power at 1:09-1:10

wonderful as usual Horowitz

[abslch]

haha! that was funny :P

[GUNJACK2]

haha, really hilarious

you can understand him, great played

[renaudgg]

@snuffypoo another reaction on Chopin Piano sonata No 2 4th movmt

of the same guy lol, near 24:47-24:50 hes doing like a "No way dude..." with his head

[ibclappin]

it's hard to explain; weird pauses and unnecessary exaggerations unfortunately kind of kills Chopin's music here. Horowitz wasn't too successful with Chopin. he did play Chopin's scherzos and mazurkas nicely but not the sonatas and polonaises. but he was one of, if not the best interpreter of everyone else especially Scriabin and Schumann. for good Chopin i suggest Cortot, Rubenstein, Hofman, Cziffra, SOME Argarich :-S , Perahia, Pollini, SOME Pogorelich =O , amongst others.

[libetta]

you've got to be kidding about Pogorelich

[antoinezygfryd]

@libetta o yes!

[antoinezygfryd]

@ibclappin Right!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[halavey]

Yeah it sure was.

[halavey]

Looks almost like he has a bandage on it, he was fussy about keeping his hands warm before he played when he was older but when I saw him last in 1975 he was almost 72 years old and had nothing on his finger and I was close up, he looked like a rather tall man from where I sat and it was at orchestra hall where the Chicago symphony does their recording and he was having a good day.

[CBad3115]

Any day in the life of vladimir horowitz was problably a resplendant one.

thanx

[rea082151]

@CBad3115 Yes, especially those periods of such severe depression that he needed shock treatment to lift him out of it. This is not negative commentary about Horowitz, but about your lack of knowledge of his life.

[halavey]

Yes of course they are not fast anymore but when alive of course and anyone can write anything. I would not know but loved hearing him live in the concert hall and in fact my friends taped the concerts we heard he was a very powerful performer in that room as I remember it well. Nobody can take away he was a giant among pianists. At 68 years old I heard him in my 30's not as a young child luckily.

[CBad3115]

I wish I had been there....I wish I had those same memories. But these recordings will have to do.

[CBad3115]

Say halavey, can you tell if he has some kind of tape on the tips of his pinky fingers? There's this weird glint that comes off them, and I can't figure it out.

Does anyone know what it is?

[halavey]

Yes--- they timed his hands. Fastest!

[CBad3115]

dude I believe you it's just that to say he has the fastest hands alive (as in among the living) and then say that was in his obit. means there was a mistake in there somewhere. which of course means...

fail.

[kazakov911]

he truly is a genious

[halavey]

When you can play like him then you can do whatever he does not lift hands or shake your head around like many do and of course many do it for show, not related to playing but he compared to many of the era was conservative with it and whatever he did is fine when you have the fastest hands alive and that was in his obituary, try and beat him, most can't and just blow smoke, jealous . He was about 73 years old here. Amazing anyhow, even if he lifted them over his head it's great!

[CBad3115]

"..fastest hands alive and that was in his obituary..."

Living Fail

[TheNLCrane]

You listened to this, which I thought was beautiful. Please explain your criticisms.

[sizzlinfr]

LOL yeah he totally banged this but still awesome.

[modelstatue]

Jimmy Carter is funny at the end. What do u think he said???

[jamiemanners]

"Golly gee whiz, Rosalynn, that man sure knows how to play Mozart!"

[seryrzu]

My opinion is that too much fictitious ideas for this magnificent piece...

Just my opinion))

[kayliecheng]

when was this?

[writerspleasure]

1978.

[halavey]

From 3:50 on his left hand moves so fast it is almost blurred, fantastic strong rendition and he had his Steinway concert grand shipped where he played and his tuner flown in also.

[handsomechuck1]

Why do pianists allow their hands to float or to fly off the keyboard? Is that style, playing with a flourish? Is it showing off, like I can hold my hand a foot from the keyboard and then resume this difficult piece without breaking a sweat, like riding a bike with no hands?

At :25, for example, look how high his left hand is. It's not just incidental, and I don't think he needs to hold it so high to move it around the keyboard or to strike the next note(s) with force.

[thaiguy20fromla]

it helps with the flow, and also, the piano is a very... i guess, visual instrument.

[peduzzi89]

Are you really criticizing horowitz's playing like that

[halavey]

When he died the Chicago Tribune said he had the fastest hands alive and I believe it. Bravo!

[halavey]

HE WAS THE GREATEST OF THEM ALL

[vincentws03]

I'm quite sure it's marked "Maestoso" not "Vivace"

[BanditBankLasVegas]

i like rubinstein version better it is not so staccato

[Anachor238]

wow unbelieveable i wish i could play like this! hes too good!

[Samprasisthebest]

Who was the President at this time?

[Wimbwicket]

mr. Jimmy Carter :) Check the HOROWITZ AT THE WHITE HOUSE 1 and you'll see the president who's giving an introduction.

[BizzMarki]

Abraham Lincoln of course

[Mongoose1358]

i love how he plays this piece. You think you know this piece, then when you listen to this version it sounds completely reinvented

[AshtaraktsiTxa]

Today I will remember during the whole my life. I started to play this polonaise!!!! I will upload a video where I play this piece in a year! :)

[username1p]

not with all the paranoid and fearful extras we have walkiing earth. They are not important, if your an extra your just creating problems for special people

[Wimbwicket]

I think this intrepetation (sry for my english :P) fits the best with the therm Heroique. It's a heroic polonaise so why not play it like a hero!

5 Stars!!!

[zycos01]

diabolique ce bonhomme et profondemment humain.......et juste

[Anachor238]

amazing

[ortegavero]

my FAVORITE from CHOPIN!!!!

it makes me cry, becouse it is so beautiful and perfect!!

[GenaKeyBoards]

grosoooo!!!!!!!

[username1p]

Exactly, I will not be a slavee to the piano or the audience.

[IHeartMySnes]

I'd rather be a slave to the piano than a free man with no music.