vladimir horowitz plays funerailles by franz liszt

[OriginalBasaliskos]

Ah Youtube. You have fostered the idea that any ass-hat with an unqualified opinion can lord it over everyone else's so long as they use the biggest words or speak the most declaratively.

[cantkeepitin]

Now as I know nearly all version, the winner is: Kristian Zimerman!! Not on Youtube, but in his CD record really all the best is present: Horowitz power, Argerich speed, plus the usual precision and heart feeling of Zimerman.

[fledgehog]

6:47 sweet jesus

[Woody263]

fuck me this is too fast FOR MY LIKING.

[piano345]

Cziffra also gives a very powerful and dramatic reading of this work on EMI. There is also a 'live' concert performance on ICA label recorded in Turin in the late 1950s. A very exciting reading.

[meredith218461]

Is this the 1930s recording Horowitz made in London?, I suspect it is. He gives a noble reading of this dark and extraordinary work. I also admire Richters searching performance of Funerailles from more recent times.

[CroSpirit]

interesting that chopins heroique and this piece have the (almost) same theme at 6:20

[unfallencoldplayer]

@CroSpirit Some say that this was written as a tribute to Chopin who coincidentally died in the same month it was first performed - but Liszt insisted that it was a tribute to the Hungarians who had fallen in the revolution.

[4785689]

perfettamente pesata

qui anche i più assillanti odiosi contestatori della bravura di horowitz devono tacere

non credi? :D

[soami2u]

I think Horowitz has to have been one of the greatest Liszt players of all time...this is an absolutely spine-tingling performance! Liszt's music suited Horowitz to a "T"--few other pianists could capture the demonic quality, the theatricality and the visceral excitement in his music as did Horowitz. This, to me, along with Horowitz' sizzling 1932 recording of the Sonata in B Minor, represent the ne plus ultra of Liszt recordings!

[meredith218461]

@soami2u Your words perfectly describe the Horowitz/ Liszt recorded Legacy. Was it not Artur Rubinstein who once said after hearing the young Horowitz in Paris - ''In him I saw a new Liszt and almost gave up everything''.

[Noxzor]

I remember listening to this recording of Funerailles while wanderering around a  deserted Kerepesi cemetery in Budapest one cloudy and melancholic afternoon...quite an experience.

[bersa888]

.... and those low left hand octaves at the end are much more difficult to play soft and diminuendo than the indicated crescendo...

[bersa888]

I love this version. This is the Horowitz I truly admire and love. Thanks!!

[drizka]

hes octaves sound so good couse his not taking allmost any pedal there...

[juancillo]

Why are horowitz octaves in general considered for specialists the best ones ever recorded? the thing is that the SPEED with wich he plays them IS NOT determinant to make listener fall in love with them, it's the unique sound quality, the care takes to make an equilibrated sound of the two notes form every octave: now, THAT, added to infernal speed makes them unique, and noboy yet has reached the technique to achieve that excelence.

[jeybens]

his left hand octaves are damn incredible

[michal1810]

@jeybens

they are

argerich performance sounds better

with power

I like power the most

hihi

[jeybens]

I agree with you. The personalities are totally different and yet both are remarkable

[billyguns2]

For me,this is the only performance of this that creates a truly marvelous and appropriate atmosphere; all others pale by comparison. It is also technically astounding; just listen from 6'00" on! Horowitz was one of the three or four greatest pianists of all time, and this recording proves it. Only Michelangeli, Richter, Hofmann and often Pogorelich could consistently rise to this level of atmosphere coupled with technical wizardry.

[texasinger2]

Interesting. He plays the 16th notes in the theme the same way as Rubinstein, as 32nd notes. I really enjoyed this performance of the work, though. A much better tempo than some. This work proves that Liszt is not all flash, as rumor would have it sometimes.

[Diggerjr3000]

Holy Moly, pure drama. Maybe the perfect peace for my future funeral... it`s so sensitiv and gloryes, don`t know what to say............

[Starbirdy9999]

Well, if it was a piano composer, I think he'd like to play his own melancholy-like song.

[Liebromeistal]

From "Evenings with Horowitz," David Dubal wrote "The Horowitz comprehension of the grief-stricken Funerailles has never been equaled. The range of nuance, the subtlety of his timing, the massiveness of his left-hand octaves make his performance the finest recorded. My heart quakes when I listen to it"

[cattleman6420012000]

This is a magnificent recordin in 1930 when Horowitz was looked on as the best in the world. Toscanini said so. Horowitz will always be my hero. He play brilliance and true magic. Always interpreting.

[cattleman6420012000]

This is fantastic playing.Horowitz was magnificent.

[StephenChin1]

I have listened to Argerich, Horowitz and Cameron play Liszt's Funerailles. Argerich is 'put on'. Howoritz is plastic. Cameron IS Liszt. The quotation from the Polonaise was overpedalled. But what of it? It conveyed the stormclouds of the tragedy of Chopin's death.

[SCHneiDen777]

StephenChin1: Who is Cameron?! "Horowitz is plastic"... HA HA HA HA!!! Now, you KNOOOW that isn't true...

P.S. for those of you who enjoyed this recording as much as I did, bravo! This recording is magnificent to say the least. To say the most, I'd say this recording is second to Liszt. =)

[demosj]

@StephenChin1

Who is Cameron? I tried to find a pianist by that name and nothing came up.

[suezenne]

Shear Genius Stillll Beautiful Artist NO one can put you down unless they are tone deaf!!! Suezene

[TwilightYundili]

I just don't rly understand. People criticize Horowitz and others soo much. Their styles are different, god. No respect at all. We're human. Everyone makes a mistake. Just because he's a well known pianist doesn't mean he doesn't make ANY mistakes. >.> The people who critique the pianists don't even pause to think if they themselves can play that well.

[fionasapple]

your comment is wrong on many levels. critics aren't expected to play as well. Horowitz was a pianist. Music critics are listeners not necessarily pianists.

and i think we can all agree that Horowitz was one of the greats regardless of his occasional flops.

also people are free to express wt they think of another person's playing as long as it's relevant & to a certain extent constructive criticism.

[emptycagecorrode]

Spot on. Bad critics see what's missing instead of what's present. The latter is impossible to do well without first taking the journey of artist self-discovery. A useful approach to art should not be to objectify and compare, it should be to appreciate. There's MIDI for those you need it perfect. For the people who only hear the flaws, I wonder if they love music at all? If they've ever been moved to tears by it? As opposed to the analysis of it.

[emptycagecorrode]

eh, I think I replied to the wrong comment. in addition to gravedigging...

[WMP777]

@emptycagecorrode Your comments are beautiful and truthful.

[SparhawkGT]

lol you are so stupid

[pianiste66]

but who cares about the notes??? Just listen what's really the perfect sense of the music... Just unbelievable. Pure music. Nobody played it so musically...

[pagaopodrera]

esse viado gostava era de esbarrar nota demais....many wrong notes..that´s horowitz

[anfalagu]

genial, me encanta

[weikko79]

Certainly one of the better of Horowitz's recordings.

[bnmlord]

Don't really like this version. But I have another recording of Horowitz playing this and I have to say it's by far the best interpretation I have heard.

As for Argerich, I've heard her version and wasn't impressed. Don't get me wrong, I love Argerich, but her interpretation of Funérailles is a bit naive.

[littleheroina]

Najezila sam se.

Kao i svaki put kada cujem ovo delo. Samo...apsolutno...potresno i dubooko...

i boli...bas, bas...

A deo posvecen Chopin-u...katastrofalno divan!

[serox901]

i love how he ignores the crescendo at the end. so horowitz.

[aldebussy]

I like Horowitz's and Argerich's alike...Heavenly.

[anonmist]

horowitz is the best

[paisleyocean]

I used to love laying under the soundboard while my friend John Howard Davis a student of Fiorello who was a student of Horowitz played this in a very sinilar way. It would completley alter all of my ohysical and emotional senses. When he was finished and I woud stand uo it felt like I was walking on clouds.

[demosj]

Liszt: Funerailles recorded Dec 19, 1950

That's the one to get. The chordal section is absolutely hair-raising. Argerich in her prime can't compare to Horowitz in his prime.

[2ndAveLine]

I just dloaded his version - Argerich's version is a fast blurry mess, indistinct chords and messed up right hand melody. Horowitz has TITANIC heavy chords that seemed to get faster and faster. And he maintains his right hand at this pace. Really, it's no contest. And why must these Argerich vulva-huggers always pollute the Horowitz threads with their inance comments?

[2ndAveLine]

Yeah, INANE, shaddup bout the spelling.

[kmjaemo]

What's wrong with you? I don't care if you love Horowitz's titanic heavy chords, but you are insulting us Argerich lovers (although Horowitz is great too) in a vile manner... Vulva-huggers? How are we polluting this thread? I believe we have the right to compare pianists and their performances, similarly how we compare restaurants. After all, these pianists are performing for US, aren't they?

[88alan8800]

@2ndAveLine HAHAHAH vulva huggers thats awesome

[mmoynan]

@2ndAveLine Vulva-huggers? Really?

Super classy.

[2ndAveLine]

@mmoynan Why thank you, I do try :):):)

But do remember, the nut, unlike the vulva, is not meant to be hugged tight- if it is, problems arise.

Whereas the vulva can be cameltoe, g-string, spandex, latex tight as it can get. So a little hugging is not too bad ;) And the imagery is 10x better than a hugged nut- ewww!

[meredith218461]

@2ndAveLine

No doubt Horowitz gives a great performance though somewhat fast for my taste, however some of the more intimate moments are superbly handled. Have you heard Richter in this work? his performance has a nobility and strength that I've heard from no other pianist.

[2ndAveLine]

@meredith218461 I listened to Richter's version on YT and his personality does show in the piece- whereas Horowitz is introspective and maybe more melancholy imo, Richter's version does seem, like others have said, bit more "dour" but is still weighty and yes, has that nobility and strength. But what I really like about Richter's is that he does not "rest" on the octave climax- listen to Horowitz at 7:10- but blazes through the chords till the end of the section.  Urgent and turbulent!

[weikko79]

Where has the Dec 19, 1950 been released?

Has anyone heard Richter's Feb 11, 1958 (I think) version, btw? I hear it's one of his best. Only released in a rare Melodiya recording with Liszt's sonata and the Spanish rhapsody -- one of Richter's own favorite recordings.

[olga2809]

@ cluenobody

Sorry for my silly comment, I just read you meant Argerich

sorry!

[cluenobody]

yeah,i did..it's ok

[cluenobody]

this is a good song

[tieroz]

Argerich is better

[aldebussy]

I MIGHT have agreed, but there's one thing you have to consider. Argerich plays whatever she LOVES and is PASSIONATE about and she puts all of herself into it.

Horowitz's Romantic rep is probably 15 times as large, so no comparisons can be made.

[Snappers3]

Most definately not one of his good recordings. Missed out a few bars, in the octaves section and so inaacurate at the fast section. Does anyone have the other newere recording posted?

[weikko79]

Most definitely one of his BEST recordings is more like it. OK, there may be a few missed bars (probably because of the constraints of the 78 records) and a few inaccuracies, but at least he doesn't go over the top (as he so often does, e.g. in his later 1978 recording of this piece) and plays with real emotion at points.

[HooksGambit]

Strange, my sheet music says cresc molto at the ending and ff before the last chords. Perhaps he didnt feel like it?

[volodya2]

yes true. Liszt write it cresendo molto...

But...

Horowitz is Horowitz! :D

[davids2000]

Horowitz's recording 20 years later is better than this one. As for octaves. 168 on the metronome with wrist( not a stiff arm as what Argerich does) is incomparable. His 1951 recording is the best recorded, and silences any octave comparison.

[cziffra1980]

Agreed. I've never understood why people always talk about this earlier one. It's not even a patch on his later recording.

[lhiram23]

i agree totally. about the 1951 version.. every pianist get tired at the end of the octaves, but Horowitz make them even more powerful and clear and i like especially the tension of the silences between the arpeggios at the very end. there is something of Toscanini in it, in the conception of the rythm.

[xylilyx]

You people can't be serious, is this the only recording you've heard? Y'know, Saint Horowitz has his low points too, just listen to his Chopin etudes in Japan, bitch. And something can't be "very" unique, it's either unique or it's not, genius.

[christian6657]

Amazing, very unique interpretation if this Liszt masterpiece.

[aardvaark069]

I think he and Wanda have just had an awful fight! This performance sounds furious and lashing.

[nostandardrep]

Not Horowitz's best recording. Berman made a sufficiently compelling recording. And of course there are the legendary Argerich octaves, but alas, no video of her version on youtube! On Youtube the Cameron video is quite fine. This piece is not an easy nut to crack musically, though. Horowitz is not so bad here.

[xylilyx]

This is terrible. Rushed, sloppy, missing notes, if this was somebody else's recording, some amateur and not Horowitz, it wouldn't even merit discussion.

[laqin007]

shut the fuck up bitch, he is the best

[davids2000]

I agree and disagree. He is the best, but not with the swearing..hahaa.

[jvmalfi]

watch the video of argerich. much better than this.

[laqin007]

Shut up bitch

[jvmalfi]

you're an idiot just listen to her version it's really better

[sergeholst]

You always have only 2 things to say - "I agree" or "Argerich is better". Educate yourself before posting and criticizing Horowitz, moron...

[fionasapple]

well, it's kinda true. argerich is better. we'll just have to wait til after she's long gone for people to realize that!

[cluenobody]

her version is excellent

[olga2809]

Horowitz was a man ;-)

[HooksGambit]

Argerich is a woman ;-)

[elijahfry]

jacgallo - the mind boggles at what can be achieved with relaxed wrists! ;)

[galaxyrainguy]

I love and admire Horowitz's playing completely, however this is not what you could call a musically complete piece of music, i don't think the maestro would approve of this being released for public listening, i hink it may have been a prep exercise for the Brahms 2nd. 'nuff said

[ArmchairPundit]

Horowitz had the exceptional gift of being able to play softer and louder than anyone else, to date. However, he has to drop several octaves in the Eb area simply because he knows he would never make it at the speed he generated. That's not very musical, as Sergei Rachmaninov once told him about the Tchai #1.

[jacgallo]

in the last couple of minutes, his octaves are mind-boggling!

[coaxqueen]

=(

(recs with slides or photos breaks our emotions to watch videos)

[ssprokofiev]

Horowitz was always an interesting pianist. I am not among those who would call him or anyone the greatest pianist. There are and have been too many talented pianists out there. But I must thank volodya2 for this and other posts of Horowitz, especially the Prokofiev 7th finale.

[volodya2]

:) :) :) :)

[vinciano]

@ssprokofiev Interesting pianist? Write some pianists better than him....!

[vinciano]

@vinciano What did i write? Imho Horowitz is the best ever.