Rachmaninoff prelude Op.23 n°5 - Van Cliburn - Horowitz

[VelikyUstyug1]

Whoever plays the first rendition: I feel that his elegance betrays him in expressing this piece... as the piece has a wild and desperate nature that is not well served by fine manners.

[olliephelan]

i doubt if a person who can play a rachmaninoff very badly could be described as an amateur . if he can play a rachmaninoff , at ANY level , then hes NO amateur .

[lamontlewis]

Amazing how some people comment on Cliburn sounding amateurish? Who is this person? Another talks about Horowitz as if he was still learning. I never knew there were so many authoritarians on classic piano. I mean, we're talking about 2 of the 5 greatest pianists of the 20th century as if they were grade school rejects. You like them or you don't like them. I don't think any of you really have the credentials to pass judgement on their skills.

[originalmooster]

Rigel48 - thanks for pairing these two renditions. They are my two favorites. Van Cliburn's is note perfect, clean, and technically brilliant. Horowitz's is full of fire and passion backed with pure mastery! I enjoy listening to them back-to-back. Thanks again.

[rafaelasperandio]

Caraaaaaakaaaaaaaaaaaa, Chookeeei ' = O

[planetarysign]

Both are genius. I prefer Horowitz, although he makes a lot of mistakes on this record, but his interpretation here is beautiful. Better than his earlier records where he plays is faster than Rachmaninoff himself.

[ifjanna]

Van Cliburn plays it with very "Russian soul" couldn't find any better performance. He plays so juicy. Horowitz sounds plane and really tired a lot of mistakes (((((

[keetner]

@ifjanna

As fantastic as Horowitz is, I think it's safe to say some of his recordings here on YouTube aren't his best. I'm sure he was unbeatable in his prime though.

[andreea140794]

@ifjanna I totally agree !!!! Horowitz always makes a lot of mistakes and to me it sounds like he doesn't trully love playing piano - it's just an opinion !

[ibclappin]

cliburn played this very flat and lifeless and slurry, it's like drunk rachmaninoff. horowitz played it with power and glory and even though he makes a lot of mistakes - not his first or last time - and it's also a little on the exaggerated and superficial side, he sounds much more serious about the music, while neither are good performances, honestly if i didn't know it's cliburn i would've thought it's an amateur

[bettyblack3]

it hurts my ears to listen Horowitz performing this prelude

[whitfield12]

it hurts my eyes to read your words

[bernie10025]

You picked a bad Horowitz recording. This is from 1981, when he was in his late seventies...

[MagicDonDino]

you are right! Horowitz o perrformance is not worthy of its name .... Perhaps he had tired of playing the prelude to yet.....