Added: 3 years ago
From: OverFjell
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  • Perfectly played.

  • Хорошо

  • Beethoven me encanta, me trae los más bonitos y tempestuosos recuerdos. Ahora, aquí sola, en esta ciudad que no es la mía, sin la persona que más quiero, trato de vivir o de sobrevivir pero.... bueno, disfruto el momento, adoro esta música y me fascina Horowitz, qué ritmo, qué cadencia, qué perfección! Beethoven.. el más grande!

  • Not many would get away with all this pedal - with immortable Horowitz it is deeply moving

  • This is more background music. By itself, I don't like it.

  • @AngoSkazz atleast you were nice about it unlke some other people. :)

  • Is this the 1984 new york, recording, this sounds, very thorough, it just misses the pure singing in the middle soprano, still very good though.

  • terrific..

  • This is the strongest most heart felt playing of Moonlight I have ever heard. Just incredible.

  • Hi, everyone i would like to invite you to view my Version of Moonligh Sonata Video at my Channel. Mbeatz production

  • If this video had 720p quality I probably would've started weeping.

  • Heartfelt

  • This is a piece of music that betrays its player by their interpretation of it. (Apologies for ending a sentence with a preposition!) There are so many versions of this both on the internet and commercially available. For my money, I would choose Vladimir Ashkenazy's interpretation but this is also very good. Played with the subtlety, brutality and nuance that Beethoven would have (perhaps) appreciated, had he not been able to play it himself of course! Beautiful, powerful and relaxing...

  • @MrRedpath Apologies accepted, even though unlike me you didn't commit the misdemeanour you're apologizing for.

  • I hate everyone on here who feels the need to leave pretentious statements about musicality and interpretations. Makes me wanna puke.

  • @jeffreymilner1 Amen

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  • It's make me so sad when I think, that nobody will ever again gona write as beutifull music than Beethoven, Mozart, Vivaldi etc wrote. :(

  • @TheZatopek77 but it makes me so happy to realize that their music will never die. and sooner or later, someone can come out with equal talent and musical beauty as they had. we just have to listen carefully... and discover... and wait.

  • en maar weer n's tranen in de ogen door de mooiheid... Wat speelt hij dit prachtig, oeff

  • this man shows us the soul of this piece, as it was always meant to be played

  • this is the first ever real song i leaned on the piano ^-^

  • @xaramar10225 *piece

  • @NickF97S oops lol im an idiot

    

  • Very nice interpretation, you can't mistake him for sure! Still the first rendition I ever heard was the Gilels one, sounding to me as a universal voice... I'm hooked ever since.

    For the 3rd movement I prefer by far Rubinstein's brio and brillant pace and musicality from one recording from the 60s, just so much above anything I've ever heard: very alive, yet with the proper amount of sustainment... the left hand combined gives so much momentum and power, unsurpassed to me :)

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  • This song is just so lovely. Its sweet and passionate. The way Horowitz plays it makes it sound romantic.

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  • This is the one for me - it's cleaner and just as passionate. Watching Kempff is a revelation, he's transported to another place......lucky man.

  • Horowitz was outstanding pianist and at his best playing Chopin but I will have to pick Wilhelm's Kemmpff version of this sonata.

  • o my gosh

    i cried before this song even began.

    it is a beautiful piece; for piano lovers like my self, i highly recomend watching "The Pianist"

    you should hear him play " ballad vol. 1"!

    This man is GREAT and very anointed!

  • My own version of this beautiful piece, enjoy.

    /watch?v=bnFSVIm9vwo

  • Horowitz is brilliant and this is sublime :-))

    The one performance of the "moonlight sonata" that is a must listen is Gilels' live recording from 1968 "Gilels plays Beethoven adagio sostenuto" on "EvaHartwig" channel (she also has mvmt 3 presto agitato from the same concert) Gilels interpretations are unforgettable.

  • Sublime!!!!!

  • Listen to his breathing.

  • Best version ever made

  • moonlight sonata addict here. took kempff and horowitz...and tried my own interpretation. have a looksee? thanks!

    /watch?v=XRnqe5PvH-s

  • It's hard to keep such a rhythmic, repetitive piece interesting, but he manages to do it perfectly.

  • Beethoven was 30 when he wrote this! Any performance should have a lot more youthful energy than what Old Man Horowitz puts into it. And yes you can have lots of energy and be adagio at the same time.

  • Such wonderful talent.

  • Kempff version is the best one. Very deep, germanic serious expressiveness. The apex of state of art

  • i lov when Wilhelm Kempff plays moonlight sonata its my favorite piece

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  • 12 viewers Apparently have no soul within them

  • Check Solomon,more than 8 minutes....

  • Only Beethoven could write something like this with basic elements.-Imagine a Clementi with the same ingredients.-However,the tempo is too fast.It is not "Adagio sostenuto" but "Andante cantabile".When I first heard the version of Solomon,I thought the rpm were wrong.But : It is Adagio sostenuto,the piece sounds like op.106 ! From a viewpoint of composition technique,the movement is overloaded with Neapolitan Sixth Chords (D-major in c-sharp-minor).Too many of them,well,for a "normal" composer.

  • @prinzparsiphal ...Stop being such a stuffed shirt.Thank God you have EARS to hear Any beautiful music.I had a deaf cousin I was raised with ,and you have no idea what I felt like watching him looking at the birds ,and not hearing them. Who are you trying to dazzle with that "Andante cantabile"// Please just Listen {my friend in classical music}...I used to think only Beethoven...check out Schumann and Schubert and many others...

  • @Fiddlercrab35 Chuck,listen.-Mr. van Beethoven indicated tempo "Adagio sostenuto".-I highly admire Mr. Horowitz,but he plays an "Andante cantabile".-The composer had his heart broken by a beautiful italian girl,and nevertheless dedicated the present sonata to her.-Before insulting others,just listen to the version by Solomon.-

    It is black like the Universe.

  • This is so great,it's allmost sad when it's over. And yes I know I can just play it again,but still!!

  • I prefer Kempff version too !! but Sublime...

  • This is so far the best of all the moonlight sonatas I heard

  • @HobbesRule When I found it being played by Wilhelm Kempff, I felt like I was in heaven. His version is still my favorite. To watch him play, is just amazing. He must be in his late 80's, but he plays this like it is a part of him. No sheet music, he plays it all from memory. He is sooo expressive, he really touches my heart.

  • Me faz pensar em uma outra dimensão. Magnifico!

  • Lo que me importa a mi de esta música es que me gusta muchísimo, así de sencillo. Gracias.

  • I wasn't sure if I'd like Horowitz version more than Kempffs version.. Honestly I'm still not, because they are just two different moonlight sonatas. They are completely different in feeling to me.. Kempffs version didn't really feel quite as.. depressed and dark. More like something has ended, but it was somewhat expected. Horowitz feels like a suddenly ruined and crushed soul to me.. I think that is winning me over and bringing me to side with Horowitz version. ^^; I'm not sure..

  • I dislike this version. It's quite tacky, sounds like it was done on a poor piano. Way too much emphasis on the bass and too much sustain. I prefer Kempff's version tbh (and my own^^ x)

  • Beethovens spirit rejoices in heaven

  • Se me hace imposible una comparación entre Horowitz y Kempff.Ambos son inmensurables.

  • Horowitz was just brilliant. That piano is a particularly excellent instrument as well.  Breathtaking.

  • Kempff did not express his feeling into his playing; Horowitz did. I prefer this version. Rest in peace to the legendary soloist, Vladimir Horowitz.

  • 11 people don't have souls.

  • i almost started crying and i don't know why. seriously i am listening to this with my bose headphones so the sound is clear and i just want to cry. it's so beautiful

  • @SwagMaster9000 same here

  • Horrowitz really leaves everything on the piano in this one. It's as if, he just poured out his soul on this rendition. I still Kempff's is better, however this is a magnificent rendition by Horrowitz and his dynamic variation is really captivating as well as Kempff's perfect balance and metronomity.

    Horrowitz becomes the music!

  • @heslop4

    Sorry about the spelling of Horowitz, I was careless and put two r's instead of one.

  • magic ...

  • he actually looks like Horowitz from the big bang theory

  • 大家好 good  好棒 很喜歡您的演奏 謝謝

  • when a person writes an original composition, they are truley just discovering it, sooner or later, maybe in a couple hundred millenia, all of the melodies possible will be arranged and played and remembered by the person who thought of it first, sort of like the elements of the periodic table, a patent for an invention, or a product line. Art is basically another form of science, so much to explore and discover.

  • @regal777 i wouldn't think so music is emotional really everyone understands it differently. but with science most all agree. a song could mean so many different things to different people, whereas an element on the periodic table just means that element.

  • @vincentheron yeah, good point. basically what i tried to say is that as long as there are musicians in this world, it will become harder and harder to acheive originallity in music. but yes, good point.

  • @regal777

    Music is based on rhythm (to most people). The instruments can vary a great deal though, and depending on the events of a certain timeline the music is prone to differ.

  • @regal777 I really doubt that music will find so many combinations that no more could be created.

  • @TheAlfredo094 Well, it could be possible. Maybe not note for note, but I'm pretty sure a time will come where every technique will have been exhausted.. And if not that, really bad music will start being written, and will be all over the charts and - oh wait.

  • @Rashy3000 Techniaques don't get exhausted, they can be used over and over again as long as the melody comes out good.

    The fact that many people don't know about music and such awful things like Champagne Showers is on top right now doesn't mean that good music has ended... just that there are bad artists and bad listeners.

  • @TheAlfredo094 True, I've never thought about it that way, especially your last sentence. It gives me hope! Not to say, that all music nowadays is terrible, its mainly just the most popular music that is undeserving of its fame and money but sure, this is no conversation to have on a Moonlight Sonata video and anyway I'm not really sure what I am talking about to be honest :P But you do make a very good point.

  • @TheAlfredo094 comes out well-as long as the melody comes out well

  • Jew

  • This Beethoven masterpiece was my first introduction to the fabulous pianism of Horowitz. The year was 1962, and I think the recording I head was made in 1946, the year of my birth. It changed my life.

  • It's great!

  • This is so beautiful! I could fall asleep to this! Thank you!

  • If you read music, it is worthwhile to read this piece as you listen to Horowitz play it. Why? Because while every note, rest, accent, etc. really is on the page, Horowitz somehow makes the whole much greater than the sum of the parts. Somehow in the spaces between the notes, he manages to speak volumes. And little by little, as you listen, he convinces you that his interpretation is what Beethoven really meant when he wrote it - and perhaps Horowitz is right.

  • Beethoven was in his own, a hard life genius... this time of history was the begining of thats we call the industrial revolution ... a bit of we have now ...the to much life ... lack of communication with all the way to do with..

  • @enfantroi1 you started off making sense and then its like someone just smacked you over the head with a cinder block and you contiuned typing through the blinding pain and concussion ....

  • One of the absolute best. Thank you!

  • my god how is that possible horowitz has a sound thats unmistakable force and resonance like no body alse tnks you god for thuis gift cheapeau horowitz

  • @M2BugVsCommonSense I hope you know the world has always been corrupt. Whether it was during the Romantic Period or the 21st century, there were and also will be liars, cheaters, and scumbags. I think were both just a little dazed by Beethoven's music, which is perfectly fine. But it terms of music, music nowadays is completely emotionless compared to back then. Then again, we don't have geniuses like we did then. Gotta agree with u dude. Tenfold.

  • @M2BugVsCommonSense The aristocracy and bourgeois were the people that corroded free speech and kept the masses poor and stupid. If the aristocracy were in power, you wouldn't be typing that sort of nonsense on a public forum, your opinion would mean nothing without noble birth.

  • @M2BugVsCommonSense And you know the goal of music....... hahahaha. Their is no goal to music, the creator makes it what it is. There's no "goal" in mind.

  • I guess I am a sentimentalist. I love horowitz interpretation.

  • Wilhelm Kempff is kind of robotic. I think he is a little more disciplinary. Could be because he is German, doubt it, but possible. They are two different people. If Horowitz really has that much passion, he'll express it with his softness and tempo and emotion. It shows.

  • Agree with Terpguy. While I like both Kempff anad Horowitz's interpretations, I really prefer the more intense interpretation of Horwitz.

  • HOROWITZ! HOROWITZ! Every single piece of this video is awesome. Except the picture. If I woke up to that, I don;t know what would happen.

  • im for horowitz! :) I too play this and naturally without looking into other composers I prefer dynamics. I have seen this piece played at an even tempo and it misses something..

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  • Im playing this now,,,,My seond favorite classical piece...im 12 tho, and im gonna keep doing i til i sound like him!

  • @Angelk1998 I love the determination, never lose that.

  • I was going to write something profound, being a musician myself. However, I realize there are no words to describe the beauty of

    God. Luther was right, music is God's second greatest gift to man.

    The first is the Gospel.....

  • un grande!

  • Thumbs up if you think Lang Lang isn't worthy to tie the shoes of Horowitz and Rubinstein!

  • simplicity.. the key to every good piece.. or the fall. here it's beautifull

  • Peu importe qui joue : chacun d'eux joue mieux que tout le monde. Chacun avec son tempérament.

    Ce sont des envoyés du ciel

    Gilles

  • the master

  • Pure passion...some notes last forever.

  • I admit I'm a gutter snipe but I know what I like. I don't feel this version any way. I don't think it's any better than kempff. This seems a bit fast and cold and some what disinterested. I expected more.

  • @lanianj -- I agree, I feel that his interpretation is too fast. It is adagio. There should be more of the spell of moonlight.

  • @bonnies1234567 '...spell of the moonlight.' Ahhhh...well put -  nice touch.

  • magnifique

  • Sublime.

  • WAY. TOO. FAST.

  • I love this ! cried like a baby 

  • im a bit disappointed really to be listening to both versions kempff and horowitz and have to read about which plays it better in your opinions under both. its played absolutely brilliantly by both and the differences are so personal and subtle for each performer that for a most likely unaccomplished anything to claim one version is superior to the other is downright arrogant and extremely frustrating to even see. please just listen to the music and enjoy. save every1 the pain from yr comments

  • adorabile ... incantevole ... carezzevole ... melodia soave bbbelllisssimisssimaaaaaaaaaaa

  • Kempff...Horowitz? I'm not best enough to compare these musicians! I'm just able to hear a difference in their manner of playing music....And depending on my soul and on my mood, I listen Horowitz or Kempff. Two great artists...This music is amazing...

  • I also prefer this version to Kempff's interpretation. Sounds more passionate and alive to my ears.

  • kempff shits on anyone 3rd movment amazing he is a god at that song so much passion in it.

  • Only a genius could create such a hauntingly beautiful, timeless masterpiece. It actually brings tears to my eyes, so beautiful!!

  • @iluvjsjsjs amen, amen, amen

  • @iluvjsjsjs

    only the love can conduce a man to this level...

    Beethoven compsed this song for his love Giulietta GUICCIARDI....she leaved him to marry Robert von Gallenberg...and in this song we can feel all the pain ina broken heart...our tears are his tears..

  • @max1511profilo4

    yes, lets cry all together xD

    

  • @iluvjsjsjs I feel the same way about Halo

  • @iluvjsjsjs How beautifully said.

  • @iluvjsjsjs Great comment! congratulations! Beethoven is a mankind's genius!

  • Horowitz invests more than Kempff, and more comes through. Barenboim is worth listening, he's a true artist of managing tempo expectation and intensity.

  • It's a package. The song is not very hard to play.  Shut up.

  • Kempff plays it as if he were dead, Horowitz lives every note, the best version no doubt.

  • nein, overfjell.....abgemachten nicht....Kempff plays it sublemely....horowitz's performance lacks a certain crystal-clear, FLAWLESSNESS that embodies Kempf's recreation....regardless of kempf's expression. And I am just a humble Pfliger ....

  • I can play better than Kempff and Horowitz!!..at least when I dream at night I can..then I wake up..and I'm still a hack.

  • Why only the Adagio? It is a Piano Sonata, with three movements, not just the first one.

  • How does someone put so much dread n depression into music n make it sound so good? Beethoven wasn't all there in terms of "normal" but who cares when u can write stuff like this.

  • Apples and oranges, none of you will ever hear the original. Lol, keep bickering about which master played it better and ignore the timeless beauty of whichever version.

  • i like this version ,i cant explain why but i feel simple good whith that version

  • haha, i pefer Horowitz's version to Kempff's.

  • Simply Sublime

  • adorabile...incantevole...stup­endo...di una dolcezza senza fine...raggiunge il cuore e lo consuma a soffi d'anima sotto gli occhi estasiati del diaframma...immagini di sublime soave tristezza...candida e così delicata da raggiungere e conquistare ogni sensibilità + nascosta....fino a raggiungere la + sorda...la è cieca...la + lontana...

    Grande Pianista Vladimir Horowitz @>+

  • One of my favourite Beethoven pieces..... Thank you Isis........ Terry XXX

  • Thanks !

  • COOL!!

  • Such a beautiful piece, and such a beautiful interpretation.

    If only the recording didn't have so much noise—

  • Kempff plays perfect, however robotic, Horowitz adds the touch of a genius

  • Beautifully played. They all play it beautifully.. That's all it needs. No need to compare! Just listen and be engulfed in awe.

  • Prefer Kempff's version - find it more emotive. Both excellent.

  • in the Kempff edition found in youtube there are also a lot of mistakes; furthermore he run as a mad!

    Horowitz better than Kempf!

  • @paperacciaccia stop tlking like unaducated ppl...they are both perfect...And u mean you know more then him?u even cant wipe your ass....

  • @NONOBAKACI this person said stop talking like uneducated people, spelt "you" wrong and said "you even" instead of "you cant even"

  • having seen horowitz in concert and rehearsals, i vividly remember holding my breath while listening to his prayer in action.. when a musician can touch your soul and connect you to a sense of awe..... it does not get better than this!

  • having seen horowitz in concert and rehearsals, i vividly remember holding my breath while listening to his prayer in action.. when a musician can touch your sould and connect you to a sense of awe..... it does not get better than this!

  • this rendition tears at my heart and puts a lump in my throat.

  • beautiful. i get that 'old and possibly haunted castle' feeling.

  • As good as Kempff, or even better...

  • I think a lot of people are missing the point here. Whether it is Kempff, Horowitz or anyone else for that matter doesn't make any difference. You will prefer whichever one sounds best to you and that is down to personal preference, not a fact that rules over all others opinions.

    The most important thing that everyone should agree on is that Beethoven created a masterpiece that will last for all time.

  • People say that Wilhelm Kempff played this piece better than V.Horowitz, I think it's all because they heard Wilhelm's version firstly then Horowitzs ( or even heard it before a long time ago ). The impression of that first time make us think Horowitz's version has less feeling. Just replay the Kempff's version and find out your final choice

  • hola, no me puedo imaginar el nivel de sufrimiento de este gran Hombre , para poder escribir esto , que clase de soledad terrible y de aislamiento , asi como de amor profundo debe de haber tenido, esta musica no parece humana, parece que estuvieras viajando hacia el fianl de algo , el arpegio sostenido es brillante, pero dentro de esta musica se percibe una sensacion de esperanza y grandeza que quiere brotar , pero inmediatamente es opacada por el autor.

  • rap is crap :D especially when annoying wannabes in the trailer park where i live drive by playing it full blast :D someone needs to educate these sad specimens of culturally-confused emminem fetuses. :) lol lol just kidding j/k

  • Interesting that V Horowitz is playing a better, more sonorous instrument, than W Kempff... Perhaps an older generation concert grand sounds better...

  • excellent version,,played with intense feelings

  • I'm impressed with you guys...i'm here for my 4 yo...but all of this sounds the same and you guys hear the details so well...I couldnt say one person is better than the other---i like you classical egg heads :)

  • I love that smile on Horowitz's face, it really contrasts with this song, giving it style.

    Horowitz is looking on his computer surfing Gamestop:

    "Ohhhh, Black Ops for $5.99. I'll take that!"

  • ВЕЛИКИЙ КОМПОЗИТОР ВЕЛИКИЙ ИСПОЛНИТЕЛЬ

  • Amazing version! I get goosebumps as I listen to Horowitz play this peace.

  • Everybody - the amazing thing is that there IS NO best - Horowitz, Rubinstein, Kempff - all are stellar. They give us, each and every one, the LIFE they have spent trying to bring out the music they feel in their hearts. Did you hear one at a bad time in their life? Did you hear one at the peak of their power? Did one move you in a way that the others didn't? Then OK - that is your call. But don't dismiss the others - EACH of whom would leave us in the dust, so to speak, at the piano!

  • I'm going to go against popular opinion and say that Horowitz's version is better than Kempff. Kempff gives me the impression in his piece that he's played it so many times that it lacks any meaning to him and as a result you don't feel the emotional contrast and turmoil to the degree that you feel in this version. For example at 2:09 when Horowtiz hits the high note, he accents it a bit so that you can hear the "struggle" if you will. Kempff doesn't do it to the same degree.

  • @Terpguy00 I always feel that Kempff is almost, so depressed he's almost devoid of emotion, it's a hard thing to explain, sort of like musical catatonia?

  • @OverFjell Why is depression not a form of emotion? Beethoven was severely depressed when he wrote a lot of his pieces. Who say's that Kempff is not trying to exemplify that?

  • @OverFjell I agree. Kempff plays it as though he's bored or it's one of those technically challenging pieces and doesn't pay attention to the emotional side. this is a piece that's supposed to really deal with the subconscious. Kempff plays it way too fast when really every note should reach the audience. even though he's old, he isn't taking the time to appreciate the music and it comes out rushed. although, there were some moments from Horowitz I didn't like either but they're style issues.

  • @bluepugify How do you agree then? xD I much prefer Kempff's interpretation

  • @OverFjell . Totaly disagree. Kempff is annoyingly mechanical in his version, no emotions permeates, really as though he is tired of having played it a gazillion times. just my 2 cents.

  • @bluepugify I'm not sure this piece is supposed to deal with the subconscious (at least in the Freudian sense). But I agree with you in principle: the piece is about painting emotions, not pressing the correct keys. I understand you could say that about a lot of pieces, but I've always seen this as the ultimate example of the concept.

  • @Terpguy00 Yep, this has soul. The bleed of the notes in the sustains at the end....

  • @Terpguy00 i agree with you 100%, I believe the "struggle" you talk about is and should be part of this classical piece of work, it gives it some character along with the high note showcasing the highs and lows of the piece.....Kempff is great no doubt but Horowitz owns this piece

  • @Terpguy00

    I agree with you. I think that we can feel more feelings in Horowitz version.

    Sorry for my English, I'm french ;)

  • @Terpguy00

    I agree with you, I prefer this one and Kempff's less..

  • @Terpguy00 you hear at 3:45 and say me,who's better?

    i like all of them,Wilhem Kempff and Horowitz.

    but,if see in all of piece,special in third movement,clear and exactly wilhem kempff better.

    but at first in this piece,Horowitz play better.the reason you said.

    i must hear both of them,because Wilhem can't make me feel enought for this piece,

    and in the part 1,

    i angree with you,Horowitz plays better.

  • IMO, Kempff is boring, heavy and flat. And if the man think that Vlady interpretation is sublime, I can't image what he think is Kempff's, and why he didn't choose him instead of Vlady.

  • @Terpguy00 I disagree. Both artists can control their movement fully. Lack of respect to say Kempff, Horowitz or Rubinstein plays something accidentally and not because he wanted to interpret the song that way. I like Kempff's version, i like he's less strict, more sentimental play, but it's a fully subjective view. I don't understand how you can measure the play at this level.

  • @Terpguy00 in the Kempff edition found in youtube there are also a lot of mistakes; furthermore he run as a mad!