The best Kreisleriana ever - Horowitz Carnegie Hall, November 1968

Mandryka

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Sep 9, 2019, 3:21:53 PM9/9/19

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https://www.amazon.fr/Vladimir-Horowitz-live-Carnegie-Hall/dp/B01FDP31LG

This is one for people who can access it on a streaming service or who are prepared to pay to download it. There’s an upload on YouTube but the sound is dreadful, the official recording sounds great.

The performance is beyond praise and beyond description, if Horowitz played consistently like this he’d be undeniably one of the greatest pianist on record.

Bozo

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Sep 9, 2019, 3:45:18 PM9/9/19

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>On Monday, September 9, 2019 at 2:21:53 PM UTC-5, Mandryka wrote:
> https://www.amazon.fr/Vladimir-Horowitz-live-Carnegie-Hall/dp/B01FDP31LG

Thanks. I have his earlier recording I'll have to compare.

Not a work I warm too, often, even the earlier recording. Here is one I did connect with, Phillip Kopachevsky at the 2011 Tchaikovsky Competition:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNXKvyr9_is

Mandryka

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Sep 9, 2019, 4:28:41 PM9/9/19

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On Monday, 9 September 2019 20:45:18 UTC+1, Bozo wrote:
> >On Monday, September 9, 2019 at 2:21:53 PM UTC-5, Mandryka wrote:
> > https://www.amazon.fr/Vladimir-Horowitz-live-Carnegie-Hall/dp/B01FDP31LG
>
> Thanks. I have his earlier recording I'll have to compare.
>

There is no comparison.

(I'm starting to sound like DK.

That's it. I'm out of here.)

ctimb...@gmail.com

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Sep 9, 2019, 9:11:57 PM9/9/19

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In the International Piano magazine (Sept/Oct 2011), I did a detailed evaluation of the 12 (then) known recordings by Horowitz (2 studio, 10 live; since then 2 more live performances have been issued). I based my conclusions on my research for my own edition (published by Alfred Publications) and the fact that I had performed the work in public at least 6 times. The 1968 Carnegie Hall performance is not at all Horowitz's best, which is his extraordinary studio recording of 1969 for Sony. I also did earlier article on Kreisleriana for Piano & Keyboard magazine (Jan/Feb 1995) and reached similar conclusions based on the 129 recordings of the work that I had then collected (more than 270 now).

Frank Berger

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Sep 9, 2019, 10:46:08 PM9/9/19

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Are you aware that there were two 1968 Carnegie performances, one in
November and another in December? Did you compare them both to the
studio performance?

Mandryka

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Sep 10, 2019, 1:17:54 AM9/10/19

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November.

Mandryka

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Sep 10, 2019, 1:20:52 AM9/10/19

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The reason the 1968 Kreisleriana is better than the studio recordings etc mentioned above is that, on that afternoon in New York, Horowitz achieved an extraordinary state of abandon of self, of freedom and spontaneity.

Hank Drake

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Sep 10, 2019, 7:56:17 AM9/10/19

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Sorry, this is not even remotely the best, nor even Horowitz's best, Kreisleriana. The pianist was apparently even more nervous that usual ("revved up" according to Carnegie Hall's manager) before this concert. There's all sorts of scrambling during Kreisleriana's opening movement, which he doesn't come close to getting right. Even Harold Schonberg, who was generally positive toward Horowitz, panned the performance in his NYT review.

Of course, what this concert is most known for is not the Schumann, but the middle movement of Rachmaninoff's Second Sonata where the string snaps, bringing the concert to a temporary halt.

Horowitz repeated this program more successfully that December 1st in Philadelphia and again at Carnegie on December 15.

Hank

Mandryka

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Sep 10, 2019, 8:04:19 AM9/10/19

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You're wrong Hank. But I should say that I haven't heard the Rachmaninov.

Bozo

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Sep 10, 2019, 8:05:44 AM9/10/19

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What do y'all think of Kopachevsky's posted ? TIA.

Hank Drake

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Sep 10, 2019, 8:18:19 AM9/10/19

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How many renditions of Kreisleriana have you heard? Have you studied the score?

Hank

Hank Drake

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Sep 10, 2019, 8:45:56 AM9/10/19

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My review with a bit of background on the convoluted history of the 1969 Horowitz recording's issues and reissues - including alternate takes.

https://hankdrake.blogspot.com/2009/11/new-review-horowitz-plays-schumann.html

Mandryka

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Sep 10, 2019, 12:13:44 PM9/10/19

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Quite a few in fact, it was at one time a real favourite and I accumulated recordings. Of course these days I have more than enough via Qobuz.

The best Horowitz, i.e. Horowitz NY Nov 1968, seems to capture a spirit of 1968, trippy hippy, that is also there in the Natan Brand live recording.

christian....@gmail.com

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Sep 10, 2019, 5:56:37 PM9/10/19

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Den tisdag 10 september 2019 kl. 13:56:17 UTC+2 skrev Hank Drake:
> Sorry, this is not even remotely the best, nor even Horowitz's best,

Hank - which is your favorite Kreisleriana, outside of VH?

As to the present discussion... my vote is on Dec.15!

Hank Drake

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Sep 10, 2019, 6:00:59 PM9/10/19

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Hmmm. Probably Argerich.

ctimb...@gmail.com

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Sep 10, 2019, 6:33:33 PM9/10/19

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I have compared, in print, all 12 of his performances and now have added the Berlin and Paris accounts, making 14. There are in fact 3 recorded Carnegie Hall performances, including the pirated never-issued one of December 15, 1985. The best of these 3 is the Academy of Music performance on December 1, 1968.