vladimir horowitz silent movie - 1926

[ClaudiuPiano]

the piece from the biginning is not chopin etude op.10 no.1 ?

[kasyapa]

@ClaudiuPiano - no, opus 10 no 8 - f major.

[legoagent9115]

betcha cant play this

[LordCalvinHastings]

I wonder if the piece at the start is Op. 10 No. 1.

[kasyapa]

LordCalvinHastings - it's the f maj op 10.

[michelmans]

@kasyapa Yes. The No.8 op.10 :-)

[brassmonkeyjew]

1:05 :This must be sped up!

Right?

[kasyapa]

brassmonkeyjew - no. take a look at him looking at the camera prior to beginning the octaves. there's a reason why rach. thought h. had the greatest octaves ever.

[kaleidoscopio2006]

damn, even silent horowitz sound like the devil.........i want those hands now!!!!!!!!!!

[kasyapa]

have you heard the audio recording i have up of him playing this piece?

[h1hacter]

@kasyapa What was the piece?

[kasyapa]

h1hacter - the "octave" etude. 1983.

[h1hacter]

@kasyapa Thanks for telling me the piece. Um, this doesn't seem like it's taken in 1983. More like the 1920s or so.

[kasyapa]

h1hacter - that's correct. the silent film is from 1926 - the separate audio is from 1983.

[BenMcCormack91]

Not to mention the octaves... wow.

[kasyapa]

check my channel - i have an audience recording of him from 1983 doing the "octave" that really defies belief.

[BenMcCormack91]

Wow, he's really taking that first etude at a vicious tempo. But knowing him, it probably had plenty of nuance to it anyway...

I guess I'll have to settle for the perfectly-good performances by Ashkenazy and Argerich of that one.

[kasyapa]

see above - you can hear him play it 55 years later. :)

[heidegger1243]

at 1:03 horowitz looks at you and is just like...."yeah, check this shit out"

[kasyapa]

* laugh *

he was probably wanting to get the go-ahead signal, though in another silent movie from a u.s. private house in the 1920s - have you seen it? - he looks at the camera a lot, obviously very aware of the limelight.

[razers1]

Wow that was hypnotic... now i think i'm an onion...

[kasyapa]

the power of horowitz ...

[kasyapa]

i am with you.

[maxbigazzi]

Fantastic!!! Where did you find the video??

[kasyapa]

it was sent to me many years ago by horowitz's discographer, and i transfered it to the net from the old vhs tape. it's available from other sources too.

[GravesGuitars]

Wow. The music moved me to tears. :)

[kasyapa]

zen!

[ClassicalH]

WOOOOOOOW

Did Rachmaninov watch this???

[kasyapa]

who knows? there are many mysteries of the old masters.

[nosniborceda]

His techique is really different. Look how high his fingers are flying... jeesh

[kasyapa]

i think he probably tightened it up with time. the velocity of the non-slowed-down film is unbelievable.

[ElgnubRm]

looks like a tiger running in slow motion

[kasyapa]

beautifully put.

[dpkaiser]

Is the first etude op. 10 n. 1?

[kasyapa]

no, the op 10 no 8 in f major, then the "octave" etude op 25 no 10.

[dpkaiser]

Ok, thank you very much. The second one is very recognisable.

[kasyapa]

my pleasure!

[eunicefzurc]

oh, that's why it was called a "silent movie" :)but it will be better if there's sound :)

[kasyapa]

i agree. there are recordings of him doing the "octave" etude in his troubled 1983 tour - still astonishing.

[Hiddejan]

first time I see the young and beautiful hands from Horowitz. Normally you see the old hands.. very special video THANKS FOR POSTING!

[kasyapa]

you are very welcome - if only there were sound, and much more of his playing!

[fatcatrocky]

what is the point of waching this if you cant hear anything???????

[kasyapa]

this is an historic document - earliest known film of a man who had one of the great piano techniques of all time.

[nightblade37]

Thnx for sharing this!!! This footage is definitely a treasure. Just curious... by looking in this footage, is horowitz using his wrist to do the octaves or is it his arm action???

[ieronim2003]

i think it's the arm action because if you use wrist when playing octaves you can fail

[bsmusicd]

He is using a bouncing motion with his forearm. The wrist is merely a rebound and maintains a high position to act a fulcrum. You'll notice that a top speed it is impossible to play octaves with so called "finger legato" there is a clear drop on every octave.

[nightblade37]

Tanx 4 da info! ;)

[volodya2]

yes but he have studied the legato whit blumenfed by using the middle pedal.

[OorvakanSar]

whoa, crazy!

[kasyapa]

glad you liked. am looking for more offbeat horowitz and nyiregyhazi videos to put up before long.

[toshigretchen]

Great video to prove his outstanding performance in his 20's.

[kasyapa]

i do have a video of him playing these etudes in japan in 1983 when he was severely debilitated by alcohol and prescription medication. i'm conflicted about putting it up but i just might, for history's sake.

[Modi88best]

By the way Horowitz never drank alcohol excessively. However it is true that he was over medicated at the time.

[kasyapa]

actually he was drinking too much at the time and in conjunction with anti-depressants. see schonberg's biography.

[kasyapa]

i'd guess a sophisticated combination.

[John19182004]

he was on anti-depressants - NOT alcohol

[kasyapa]

yes, he was drinking too - it's in harold schonberg's biographya: a big glass of campari and soda was his preferred tipple.

[John19182004]

yeah you can take that bio and stick it somewhere.. dont believe all you read!

[kasyapa]

schonberg was in a position to know. there are also signs of image rehabilitation after the tokyo disaster in press comments: "horowitz does not drink and does not take pills." why deny the truth? it makes horowitz's resurrection all the more impressive.

[MalibooBarbie]

Free information to the world. Put it up for history's sake!

[kasyapa]

that's my plan. :)

[jsthorne24]

the internet owns. thank you youtube and kasyapa!

[kasyapa]

more to come. thank you!

[HandsomeWJL]

Those octaves!!!

[kasyapa]

have you heard the recordings from his 1983 concerts of the octave etude? even as messed up as he was on medication, the recording from the met concert is terrifying.

[NeoMalikov]

The keys bounce up and down like water in slo mo.

[kasyapa]

well-observed. i'd felt the same thing without the words - fluent flow.

[alkanlover]

Thanks for your efforts. They are hugely appreciated!

[kasyapa]

it's truly my pleasure - i've had these clips so long (thanks to a generous friend many years ago) and it's only right that they can be preserved and others can see them too!

[ivrykeys]

oh awesome! I've always wanted to see this complete video! wonderful fingers he has!

[kasyapa]

now if only the sound was a little bit better. :)

[Pianowrestler]

Thanks for uploading both of them! (opus 10 nr. 8 and opus 25 nr. 10)

[kasyapa]

my pleasure. i'm very concerned with the deterioration of cultural resources, especially obscure or live-filmed/taped media.