Rachmaninoff Prelude Op. 23 No.5 - Vladimir Horowitz

[ichalz]

I'm not convinced that this is a particularly good recording of the piece.

[tommytimiv]

Absolute Brilliance

[pianist7722]

This is what a true pianist does! excelent performance ^_^

[ragtimest]

wheres the other half?-.-

[giuseppe35789]

0.01 it isn't op 23 n 9

[ansonyeung825]

very clear



[TheSammypickle]

cough at 1:08

horay for me!

[kinkajoes]

ghaaa love the way he plays this !

[GAkopyan31]

Horowitz has this incredibly articulate skill that binds technical performance with artistry will always remain unmatched. Pure genius!

[xardas611]

why his version so much better than 'bang bang's'

[busylifemeto]

Frankly imho I believe Richter and Lugunsky are miles ahead in the interpretation of this piece. Horozitz lost the sustain pedal, Giles got it stuck to the floor.............Why to some people assume some to be gods ? Undoubtedly Horozitz was one of the worlds greatest pianists and does an amazing job on most pieces, this is NOT one.

[eddiebeherano]

@busylifemeto I agree 100%, richter's and lugansky's interpretation is flawless

[ImIntoAnimals]

@busylifemeto i know I'm a bit late on the response but... there are multiple recordings of Horowitz playing this piece... I'd check some other before being so quick to judge.

[Bret6464]

@busylifemeto Have you heard Rachmaninoff play this? It is always Rachmaninoff playing, Horowitz and Gilels. Richter's Rach 23/5 was not his best work but he was one of those "gods" :-) Moiseiwitsch's 23/5 and all his Rach is also that of a piano god. Sorry but Lugansky is well below that level, he is at best a "nice" performer.

[phsycadelicanimal]

Shouldn't it be Op. 23 no. 5 at the beginning?

[KallieeStar]

they should make a button "Love"

[jdp160]

i wish it didnt cut off right after the b section. this was an amazing interpretation and it would be perfect if it didnt cut out. oh well

[marenius74]

@jdp160 The full piece used to be here on YouTube, but now it says "Sony owns the rights for this video" and it won't play (I have it on my "favourites" page).

I am desperetly looking for it!!!! Hope someone else will upload it soon! :-)

[X0xchocah0licx0X]

Sad that you don't have this many views on your compositions...

Keep up the good work though~ ^^

Ganbare!

[Dirte111]

@wolfgar33

Yeah they were great friends, Rachmaninoff also considered Horowitz to be one of the best pianists alive.

[wolfgar33]

Great interpretation indeed. Rachmaninov and he were friends, yes?

[Bret6464]

@wolfgar33 They were best friends :-) An extraordinary time in their lives for 20 years or so around New York. Horowitz is the closest to how Rach played 23/5, also Gilels, all are surrreal :-)

[giuseppe35789]

@wolfgar33 yes

[SuhmMusic]

Why haven't you uploaded the entire piece?

[varfordogjesus]

The best interpretation so far.

[gipsymustang]

from 1:13 this prelude of Rachmaninoff is very much look like spanish malaguena

[regaldrifter]

very precise, i like his style, hes not horoWITZ for nothing!

[mmyylleenn]

no great scratch...

[RachPhantom40]

He plays it so fast that we can't even see his fingers moving! LOL

Wonderful interpation!

[TheGuyWhoJustShotYou]

That photo is of him playing the Rach 3!!! I have watched that video WAYYYYYY to many times!

[anyan112]

Happy Birthday Horowitz!

October 1, 1903 – November 5, 1989

Intersting true fact: he was Jewish

[TheGuyWhoJustShotYou]

@anyan112 ya is it not cool that horowitz and ikzak perlman are/were some of the greatest modern preformers and both were jewish! my belief is God saves the mest for himself but thats just my opinion. :D

[ZhengStudios]

where's the rest of it?

[wendellvasquez1988]

Wow i just got of another post were he blew this song out of this world it was so amazing how fast he could play i mean this is nothing he really took his time even the other comments were like he must have crazy wrists to pla y that fast another one was that they wee blown away. I mean once you see that and then this you say awww how much emotion and passion how great how meaning full

[fsxraptor]

I didn't like it. it seems that Horowitz was bored when he recorded it, or he just want to complete his duties and get out o' there. (I knows that I will have the worse ranked comment for that I said).

[MrGarlis]

Very nice, but I prefer Gilels version!

[ReimenJohn]

@MrGarlis you can't compare both versions, there is an other playing philosophie behind both versions

[Makelelex99]

what kind of idiot gave him less than 5 stars?

[BassicStorm]

@Makelelex99  Gelaouses

[xocolatier]

@Makelelex99 you said it an idiot 

[lllmeng]

@Makelelex99

I 2nd you!

[Or3st1s]

@Makelelex99 The kind of idiot that realised this is half of the actual prelude, not whole, and Horrowitz makes plays quite a few bad-sounding notes

[0blacone]

@Or3st1s yeah, i don't get it either, where is the rest???

[Or3st1s]

@Makelelex99 I mean, plays quite a few wrong notes that sound bad as well

[comtraya101]

@Makelelex99 ironic since there are no more stars...

[MySuperstar09]

@Makelelex99 I KNOW!!!! i was asking myself the same thing... he played the piece with sooooooo much precision and gusto.. OMG!! i Love it.

[tedbohne]

One does not comment on music rendered by Vladimir Horowitz. It just isn't done.

[illegalsmirf]

Actually I paused one of his performances so that I could retire to my throne, take a crap, and then return to the piece where I left off, but now weighing a couple pounds lighter.

[JuyoNi]

:D that was greeeaaaaaaattttt omg loved from 1:14 to the end

[DmitriMose]

By the way, why is it cut-off at the end?? What the Heck's up with that??

[DmitriMose]

I don't think ANYONE in the world will be able to better interpret this piece. Especially the theme from 1:14-2:16, you can't hear the notes separately in the left hand, it's like a beautiful melodic cloud on which the main theme is playing on, which is the way it's supposed to be. And believe me, this is not "rushed." I've heard WAY faster versions. It's the perfect speed and the perfect amount of "jumpiness" for a March. Some pianists' renditions don't even sound like a march!

[utki17]

Yes...RICHTER can...listen to it...its the best !

[demosj]

@DmitriMose

Horowitz himself played it rushed in his 1931 recording. It was insane.

This tempo is perfect.

[cattleman6420012000]

I have so much respect for Horowitz.

[84Fish48Fish]

I scroll down and I see a pile of words that really isn't all that important.

Word of advice:

If you don't like him don't watch his videos.

[xiaonoobiexd]

stfu everyone, listen to the music man

[DogzRock88]

@crapatitus,

why can't you be quiet for a while and enjoy the music like everyone else instead of being so criticizing??

[bxvcnz1]

This guy is the man!

[HarkAlAda]

He learned from best. Rachmaninov himself

[crapatitus]

no he didnt

[DonFrankos]

bravo, Horowitz, you will forever be the best!

[Ellinidara]

Yes,wonderful.I adore Ashkenazy's version too.

[John19182004]

where's the rest of it?

[siebhirn]

genius...

[maxhansendk]

Perfection!!!

I cant se how this can be played any better...

And Horowitz is past his best days by 30-40 years...

Impressive and legendary piano player!!

Vladimir Horowitz!

[Sidvicious100]

Horowitz is the best, is awesome.

[cross147]

at the begin of film you wrote "op23 no 9" -.-

[johnp234]

I think agree with gothiq, if he means that you poseurs and pretenders are incapable of even understanding what you are hearing, much less criticizing it with any modicum of intelligent discourse. (overlapse especially. It's like diarrhea of the mouth with constipation of brain.) And David Gray, saying he was a great musician, but not a great pianist, when the EXACT OPPOSITE is true!

[mooneyexecutive]

His hands move so fast you cant see them moving in the video....

[Attila19101960]

horowitz in the best...

[MetalNicola]

Preferisco di gran lunga l'interpretazione di Gilels, anche se Horowitz è dopo...tutte le altre che sono state messe su youtube non mi piacciono..

[demosj]

Overlapse1000, that post was almost completely incoherent. Who is hello world and what voting do you speak of?

[Overlapse1000]

hello was a student of Horowitz, and 'mozart coach', to the maestro, who was assistant conductor in Vienna under Klieber, he arranged all the music of Chopin for orchestra, the piano musics of Debbussy, "ravel", and Liszt his arrangements of Etudes are heaven to listen to, as well the the sonata in B minor of Liszt "for Violin and orchestra", and the Chopin Ballades no. 1 for violin und Orchestra" and the Ballades for orchestra, etudes waltzes, impromptus, arrangements of JS Bach, "Jesu" ...

[Overlapse1000]

more reply also these preludes for orchestra in ' 85' recorded with the New Philharmonia Symphony Orchestra", "on and on", if you can find the hello version of Rach'a Vespers, and the arrangement for Orchestra of Liszt's Annees de pelerinage is 3 hours of ear message, ,., nice, and I had a recording of the rach preludes arr. violin and orchestra and the arrangement of Schubert sonatina # 2 for orchestra and piano was the theme music of tv's wings "ergo nicknamed hello world" my apologies

[Overlapse1000]

voting of the" society of recording engineers", not well know but important for certain types of musicians

[gothiq]

Always comments on people that were far upper than the ones who usually comment. I don't perform on any instrument but I have listened tones of music and I simply can't comment artists as Horowitz, Cziffra and many others because in my honest opinion they had done something I didn't and will never be able to do. Why it's so hard to just listen their performance and stfu if you can't reach at least 10 levels under ?!?

[microball]

This is exactly what music exploding on the key broad...

Amazing.

[EinbeinigerLee]

there are some faults in the theme.

I prefer Gilels interpretation.

But nice organ points

[BalletCava]

yea.. there were a lot of mistakes.. and yes, I prefer Gilels' Rachmaninoff Prelude Op. 23 No.5 much more. but I like Horowitz's other played pieces too. And this one isn't complete!

[elbartorowitz]

i like it , but not my favourite

[tan73h]

incomplete!

[mltube]

I have one word to describe this performance: NUTTY! But the other one is even more weird.

[FourtySven]

This version is very Clear and concise, gotta love Vladimirs accuracy and timing

[CodyNelsonMusic]

Great Countermelodies, the performance overall is much to jumpy. He has some rare gems that other pianists overlook, but he lacks the musicallity of other performers.

[elevenwhy]

This is Horowitz we are talking about here! I'm not an expert myself, but I do know that if you are gonna say Horowitz lacks musicality that is a pretty bold statement for two reasons.

Primarily, Horowitz is often argued as one of the greatest pianists of all time. Secondly however, musicality is a delicate and subjective thing to quantify so casually.

As you can tell, I love Horowitz, but ultimately, you are entitled to your opinion, just don't be so blase!

[jetibest]

one of the greatest pianists of ALL time??

dont forget to mention Chopin, the greatest pianist:-)

but i agree with your second reason; )

[zosopage2]

Chopin was certainly not the greatest pianist. He is I think the greatest composer for piano, but definitely not the greatest pianist.

[88Woland]

Chopin was definitely one of the greatest ever...remember Heine, who heard Liszt, Thalberg and others. He said Chopin was greatest of all. Also Balzac..he said the same thing

[jetibest]

i dont know why the author removed ur comment, but i know u said: "how could we know? are there any records of him playing piano? or any references from other profesionals?? i guess there aren't so one should be carefully when talking about "greatest pianist" ever...."

Well, I think we DO have records of him playing, not on our computer or on CD.. but we see the notes he has written down.. we know he made composed music, and what a beautiful pieces some are..

ok ok, hes not the only greatest!:P

[davidgray2]

He may have been one of the greatest musicians, but definitely not pianist...he himself stated he was too physically weak to play the piano fully. He was quite jealous of Liszt, who I reckon by all accoutns was the better pianist.

[goodguysdoll]

hey "elevenwhy". no i don't think it's a "bold" thing to say that Horowitz lacked anything, for he lacked so much. SO WHAT IF PEOPLE SAY HE WAS THE GREATEST. does that make it true? people said the world was flat until they were proven wrong. people are not being "blase" when stating the facts about his shockingly distorted, rushed, childish, missed-notes, dropped measures, added measures; all the things that entitle them to say he lacked the elements of a true artist.

[DirectAm500]

I love how people take the time to debate others on youtube and to mark everybody's comment as a "poor comment"

[Ellinidara]

Agree.!

[crapatitus]

i kinda agree with goodguysdoll. horowitz is good, but hes overhyped. its like brett favre retiring (the first time) and then coming back and playing mediocre as a jet. horowitz should have stayed retired. but his music is still pretty decent. i mean, the fact that youre fuckin 200 years old and youre playing music better than 99.9999 percent of the population. congrats old man, i mean, am i right? fuck, if he wants to come back and play mediocre music, LET HIM!!!

[L1ttl3Karl0s]

@crapatitus why and how would his music be mediocre??? he's been one of the best (if not the best) of all pianists of the century

[crapatitus]

idk, i cant read my comments because you guys keep giving me thumbs down.

honestly, i just dont see why hes so good. you ask me why hes so mediocre, and i can state that he makes mistakes, and rushes through phrases, thats my opinion. plenty of pianists out there who make half the number of mistakes with tons of gorgeous phrasing. again, thats my opinion. if i ask you why he's so amazing and what makes him the greatest out there, youd probably say, his musicality or some shit like that. eh

[L1ttl3Karl0s]

@crapatitus well all pianist make mistakes and i guess he doesn't rushes but he interpretates it the way he wants... and well not his musicality or some shit like that as u say but... Horowitz is simply Horowitz =D

[crapatitus]

well, i guess i get it. i dont really like him cuz i dont like his interpretations. you like him cuz you like his interpretations. i just dont understand why so many people love this guy. i'll definitely say HE IS A GOOD PIANIST, but there are many many good pianists and better ones too. sometimes, my favorite interpretations are done by people ive never even heard of before, and it makes me think: should the name of a performer matter, or should the music he plays matter more?

[bluemonolith88]

about 3 years into taking piano lessons when i was a kid, i heard horowitz playing schumann's traumerei, and i was like, "wow." i've played it myself, and i've heard brendel play it, but horowitz, to me, did it so much better. he definitely had a distinct style that worked very well for chopin, rachmanioff, scriabin, and more - perhaps not so much for beethoven, though - to the ears of many people. and who really knows how musics that were written so long ago should really be played.

[thiswastoogood]

@crapatitus it's very difficult to explain why horowitz is good

i'll do what i can. I will admit to him making a lot of mistakes from :36 to :50, but mistakes are fixable, and he probably didn't bother fixing them. Still if you listen to 1:16 onwards, through a lot of dynamic control and rubato manipulations, he manages to control 2-4 lines all the way through. That takes skill beyond practice. I have yet to heard anyone else come close in that regard.

[crapatitus]

the middle section is played with stunning clarity, ill give you that. he does maintain all moving lines within a distinctly audible level. however, im never fully impressed with his shaping of lines and his phrasing. it usually feels rushed, but i guess thats just based on my own preference. his music has always felt somewhat rushed though, wouldn't you agree? dragging out some phrases can make the music almost painfully beautiful....

[thiswastoogood]

@crapatitus I would agree that some stuff he plays is a little fast, at which I now ask, who drags phrases out effectively? Now here, making it sound pretty wasn't his primary goal. His primary goal was to get those lines to sound out, which would explain why he's playing it "rushed" because if he left too much room between notes, he wouldn't be able to maintain his clarity. However, I think you could agree that even though it's somewhat rushed, the pulse is still there.

[crapatitus]

no yeah, i only feel his music is slightly rushed. and that slightly rushed method does allow him to bring out each line. this is where our opinions begin to differ: i don't emphasize each line. to me, its okay if countermelody doesnt come out as distinctly as melody. and due to the fact that its harder for a piano to bring out individual lines when compared to an orchestra, i dont expect every little line to come out with clear distinction. my emphasis is on the beauty and the shaping of lines.

[chomskyFTW]

I don't like much about this performance, but I am truly astonished at the power of his second F#-Bb-D octave at 0:13. This is really remarkably good, and I'm surprised other performers have not appropriated this brilliant insight in their playing of this piece.

[AfroPoli]

It's a trick. I have seen it. He plays octaves with the left. The Bb in the middle is a single note played with the right. That's why it is so powerful. Cheers.

[tchebinai71]

why couldn't it be as powerful with only the left hand ?

[tchebinai71]

i was nicely surprised too, by these octaves. With the timbre of the piano, that's a real delight :)

[oOHaceFrioOo]

EVGENY KISSIN FTW

[crapatitus]

HELL YEA!

[john9487]

from which year is this recording?

[RAMkid]

its op 23 no. 5 <---!! not 9

[ajlee1216]

Love how he uses no pedal in the "march" section---appropriately gives it the military flavor. The way he strikes those explosive chords (some ppl may consider that showy though....) are awesome, too! Overall, I love his rhythm.

[sultanov10]

Ohh, it's good version...

But, is the best version, the Sviatoslav Richter's version...

Obvius!

[Rakurah]

idk... it wuz really good. I understand that he's probably the best pianist of the last century but I really prefer Weissenburg's and Gilel's interpretations to this. Sorry horowitz fans :) Btw did he add some extra notes in there?

[markhallansen]

well. I'm a huge Horowitz fan, but i agree with you. especially Gilel's version is good

[ManWithManyShurikens]

wow this recording really is far more more better than others! Too bad this is only half of it :(

[Strino87]

In the first 40 second of this piece Horo. Shows us his sensibility in touch. How can he gives importance to every key. Simply magic.

[cdaskala]

That's it? What happened to the rest? I wish people would not put up such crappy vids.

[schlaget]

It's Horowitz and even half of his genius is worth posting...

[mayablanca]

He plays with such passion and ferocity! I'm attempting this piece right now, and this recording has really helped me understand the voicing... thank you!

[CupidThePianist]

rachmaninov hated this song ,because everybody only compared this song to him,everybody always wanted to hear this on his concerts and he hated it,but I'm loving it^^

[Jannie2044]

No.... You're the thinking of the Prelude in C# minor, op.3/2. And please, it's a piece not a song. A song is something you sing, hence the name. A instrumental work is referred to as a piece or a work, why do so many people get this wrong?

[Spiritakis]

Excellent comment! Congratulations. It's a very rare thing to read something sensible and well written in youtube, but it's a pleasure. Thank you for this, Jannie2044.

[crapatitus]

@jannie2044, hey wouldnt you say metaphorically that this piece could be sung? isnt music at its most fundamental level (at least romantic music) something that is sung. the essence of romantic music is its ability to be sung. the rubato/give and take/dynamics/phrasing all fit to the style of singing. i dont see why you have to dog on cupid for calling it a song rather than a piece. i find myself singing the middle section of this piece all the time. idk, something for you to think about...

[Jannie2044]

Crapatitus, Michael Kennedy's Dictionary of Music defines as song as a "SHort vocal composition, solo or accompanied" (2006: 687). So on that basis, no, the proper term is, although not acknowledged by the dictionary, piece or if you want to follow the dictionary, composition. I would think it appropriate especially for you who critises mistakes in Horowitz's playing to at least express yourself in a linguistically correct fashion. English isn't even my first language, so if I can...

[crapatitus]

why do people think im critical of horowitz? all ive said is that he's not my taste in music. and i have even acknowledged that he is a good musician, at a level where most of us will never reach (including myself, a dedicated pianist of 14 years/music major/blahblahblah). still, if you want to be technical, you can call it a piece. i personally never refer to these kinda things as songs, but my point is, CHILL, you get the idea, maybe not everyone's as learned as you :)

[tedbohne]

@crapatitus Very simple son, only an ignominious ignoramus would call this PIECE, a song. A song is a work of music designed to be rendered by the human voice. Just the way it is.

[crapatitus]

ignominious ignoramus?

lol

what are you, trying to be funny? trying to be clever? ooooh look! fuckin alliteration! you're soooo smart, you deserve a gold star for that!

next time, leave your dumbass insults in your dumbass imagination

[LoftyProduction]

Yeah, I thought it was good alliteration too. so how about you go make yourself a nice hot cup of shut the fuck up with extra fuck?

[crapatitus]

@LoftyProduction holy fuckin shit man. if youve been around you woulda seen that ive shut the fuck up for about a month. maybe if douchebags like you don't keep taunting me, i wont keep coming back on to this goddamn worthless page with some 300 year old shitfag playing some mediocre music.

hey btw mr lofty production dude, i love your fuckin gay ass taylor swift uploads. man, youre 20 years old, and you UPLOAD that shit. i mean, for fucks sake, dude, GROW SOME

[LoftyProduction]

lol, well if you keep falling for it then you wouldn't keep coming back now would you? Now do everyone a favour and take your worthless arse elswhere.

[demosj]

@crapatitus

People might think you're critical of Horowitz because called him a 300 year old shitfag. I have no idea WTF you're doing, but cut that shit out.

[crapatitus]

@demosj touche

[0blacone]

@crapatitus ( i know this is one year old, but these unresolved conflicts just kill me) could i maybe just say, um, i think you misunderstood a little, you see, you thought he rushed it a little riiight? - and so Jannie said, that a person like you - criticizing Horowitz should not come up with such ideas as - saying a piece is a song because it can be sung. that's a bit like saying a novel can be a fairytale - it's possible, but we just don't say that.

[0blacone]

@crapatitus also, it was very obvious, that "Cupidthepianist" - didn't seem to have much knowledge about this kind of music, especially since he/she mixed up Op 3 no 2 with Op 23 no 5 - you must admit, hearing people call Chopin's works songs, it makes his works seem almost childish, and easy - however thats my opinion... just trying to clear things up a little - oh and also all the other raging youtubers, they just can't express them selves properly here.

[crapatitus]

@0blacone i have no idea what your point is. what unresolved conflicts?

[0blacone]

@crapatitus this one " holy fuckin shit man. if youve been around you woulda seen that ive shut the fuck up for about a month. maybe if douchebags like you don't keep taunting me, i wont keep coming back on to this goddamn worthless page with some 300 year old shitfag playing some mediocre music.

hey btw mr lofty production dude, i love your fuckin gay ass taylor swift uploads. man, youre 20 years old, and you UPLOAD that shit. i mean, for fucks sake, dude, GROW SOME"

[crapatitus]

@0blacone yes, those are my comments. what is your point? as in, what you hope to achieve?

[0blacone]

@crapatitus Oh my god! .... I just told you! but never mind -.- "

[crapatitus]

@0blacone i hardly think quoting random comments of mine makes for a point, but whatever. think, "thesis"

[0blacone]

@crapatitus OH MY GOD!!!!! ARE YOU STUPID???? - LOOOOOOOK!! - You were arguing with EVERYONE else, SO! I decided to try to sort it, however you just start arguing again! What the hell is wrooong! - now don't come with some smart ass reply, just let i be.

[crapatitus]

@0blacone im sorry that your lack of clarity confused me. okay, so you were simply sorting my arguments out. WHY THE FUCK DO I GIVE A SHIT ABOUT IT? next time sort it out in your own brain and dont click the reply button, because your sorting does not pertain to me in any way. and i wasnt arguing at first; i was only asking you what your point in responding to me was (since when you respond to someone, you usually have something to say to them). i wanted to understand what you were saying is all

[0blacone]

word

[TrevorKingKwong]

jannie2044 is right

[Sinneo91]

I actually think your talking about the Prelude in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 3, No. 2, but whatever.

[Sinneo91]

And I was completely oblivious to Jannie's post... Sorry

[tomokioh]

haha it happens :)

[demosj]

I recognize the recording from Horowitz At the Met. It is remastered and sounds better than what is posted here.

Excellent recording, and CD in general.

[voolare]

unbelievable middle section!!!

[phynesse2000]

His voicing and balance in the middle section are out of this world.

[sagalat]

Grand! ABSOLUTELY compares favorably with Richter's. Too bad about the missing end. BRAVO

[Pattafox]

Do you know the version of S. Richter?

That's a liiiiiittle bit better i think ;)

But Horowitz is good, too :D

[StefanoF87]

where is the end of the prelude?