< h1 class= "pgc-h-center-line" > talk about pianist Horowitz</h1>
VLADIMIR HOROWITZ (October 1, 1903 – 1989) was one of America's most prestigious pianists, a Russian-American. Born in 1903 in Kiev, Ukraine, he revealed his musical genius at an early age, and studied under Russian and German performance masters, combining the Russian school and the German school. In 1924, he held travel performances in Berlin and Paris, and achieved great success. After 1928, he settled in the United States and married the daughter of the master conductor Tuscanini. The Concerto Record (RCA) recorded by Horowitz in collaboration with Tuscanini in the 1940s is still cherished by philharmonics today. He stopped playing for twelve years, and with the exception of two recitals at Carnegie Hall in New York in 1965 and 1968 and his return to the Soviet Union in Moscow in the 1980s, Horowitz has played essentially only for record recordings since 1953.
Horowitz's playing skills are brilliant and elegant, and the music tends to be deep and perfect, and the means of expression are rich. Some music critics believe that his piano tone is like seven basic colors, which can be called up in a variety of different tones, thus expressing a variety of thoughts and feelings. In addition, his performance can fully express the content of the music, but it is not blindly respectful of the original. The most valuable thing is that he is very much like a skilled editor, who can correct the "typos" and "missing words" of the composer to make the work perfect. His repertoire is extensive, especially those played by Chopin, Scaratti, and famous artists such as Schumann, Liszt, and Scriabin.
Horowitz's musical performance is extremely distinctive, and his music is so unique that anyone who has listened to him can easily distinguish his music from many other pianists in the future; and it is difficult for those who have never appreciated the charm of his piano to speculate by experience.
Horowitz was the last giant of the classical Romantic piano. Many people equate "romance" with "femininity". However, in the presence of Horowitz, they realized how taken for granted this error in understanding. His performance will make it clear to you that the essence of romance is "passion". Horowitz's passion is invigorated with his music. This is different from the excitement shown by many piano players with exaggerated movements of the body. Especially in the later years of the master, the amplitude of movement during the performance was already very small. You must not think that this is the old man's slowness, at this time Horowitz has entered the realm of weight. Don't forget that when he was young, he often played short strings in performances, and the tuner was often helpless against the Steinway piano that he played almost apart.
Horowitz's piano tone is sharp and clear, and he has the left hand that earned him the title of "Thor". Throughout his life, Horowitz emphasized the importance of the left hand. Not only did he not consider the left hand to be an appendage in the performance, but he even called the left hand the conductor in the piano performance. Timbre, the unique keystrokes of his left hand in the bass section make the music he plays full and extremely impactful, with strong acoustics.
Horowitz has a pair of soft hands, and he can even bend the little finger completely at the same time as the other four fingers hit the key. If you watch him play in slow motion, the graceful gesture of ten fingers unfolding and rotating will remind you of the wings of a bird. This pair of talented hands, combined with steely elbows, perfectly combines softness and rigidity, serenity and intensity in music.
Horowitz adopts a completely personal parallel touch hand to play the piano, unlike the piano textbook requires the palm of the hand to be empty, the fingertip touch is different, he lays the palm flat on the keyboard, with the finger belly of each finger to touch the key, each tone is not struck, almost with the finger to press out, the unique technique can produce an unusual soft tone. In order to pursue the change of timbre, Horowitz is also very careful about the part of the finger touching the key. The closer you are to the root touch of the key, the lighter the tone and the softer the timbre; the closer you are to the end of the key, the louder the tone, and the stronger the bounce of the timbre. Even sometimes, during the process of playing the extension, his fingers would slide from one end of the key to the other in pursuit of subtle changes in the lengthening tone. Playing in different key positions, combined with the changes in the strength and speed of the fingers as they play, makes Horowitz's piano tone as magnificent and varied as a rainbow, and rich in layers. Horowitz's use of timbre to express music is more abundant. Some music critics believe that he is like a painter, using colorful to create different shades to express various musical feelings. What perfects Horowitz's piano sound, however, is his brilliant use of the piano pedal. Regarding the importance and understanding of the piano pedal, among the pianists of the 20th century, Horowitz is definitely a master unparalleled. The only scholarly work of his life was on the use of the piano pedal. The master himself has said that "as a pianist, his achievements are not in the hands, but in the soles of the feet that are often overlooked." ”
Horowitz's playing skills are brilliant and free, many of the difficult works in the performance, in his performance are so dashing and comfortable, such as Liszt's "Super Master Etude", "Rachmanilov No. 3 Piano Concerto" such a very difficult work, listening to his performance has a kind of climbing the peak like walking on the flat river relaxed, so that the listener but feel the music is moving and not worry about others.
Horowitz has a jaw-dropping playing skill, and he is arguably the most perfect piano master since recording. For him, piano playing does not seem to be "technically difficult". If you've seen the maestro playing The Carmen Themed Variations at Carnegie Hall in 1968, you'll be stunned by his electric flint-like performance on the keyboard. This work is a very difficult performance work created by the master for himself. In playing this work, Horowitz has transformed piano playing into a highly intense competitive sport: one after another, large-span jumping keystrokes, dense arpeggios, and the confrontation between the left hand and the right hand. By this time the master had fully become a magician on the keyboard, giving the viewer one marvel after another. The variations are so difficult that few pianists are willing to touch it. Only many years later did the talented piano teenager ARCADI VOLODOS try to play on his piano album of the same name.
But Horowitz was more than just a technically superior pianist. In that case, Horowitz could not be called Horowitz. He believes that the performer should interpret the work with heartfelt feelings. The master said: "A player should be a re-creator of the work, [a perfect performer] should have three conditions: a well-trained, imaginative brain, a free and generous heart and the ability to control the instrument freely." Few musicians can harmoniously possess the above three qualities. This is a very high artistic situation, and it is also the goal of my lifelong efforts. ”
In 1936, Horowitz left the stage for the first time on the grounds of poor health, announcing his retirement, and the master was only 32 years old at the time. In the quiet life of retreat, he focused on the contemplation and exploration of music. Three years later, Horowitz had gone from being a fiery technocrat to an introspective, mature artist. In the years that followed, for the same purpose, the master retired twice in 1953 and 1970, the longest of which lasted for 12 years. Each retirement life gave Horowitz a qualitative breakthrough in music. It is precisely with such a courage to ignore fame and fortune and the unremitting pursuit of music that the master finally enters perfection.
As a pianist, Horowitz was first and foremost a knowledgeable musician. He had publicly declared that his greatest ambition was to become a composer. Although with the exception of the Carmen-themed Variations mentioned above, the master has rarely produced his own works. But as the successor of Anton Rubenstein and the son-in-law of the great conductor Toscanini, Horowitz has a comprehensive musical literacy that is incomparable to his peers. Horowitz has his own unique understanding of many musical works, and his performances can fully display the charm of the works, without blindly adhering to the original. What is remarkable is that he is like a clever editor, who can keenly find flaws in his work and correct them, so that the work becomes flawless. Scarlatti's sonatas, played by Horowitz, have a detached detachment from the world. Without Horowitz's performance, these moving works do not know how long they will sleep on the sheet music stand. He played Clementi's work in one go, with a dramatic musical expression. The delicate and beautiful tone of the piano when playing Chopin's works fully reflects Chopin's quiet and contemplative poetic temperament.
In comparison with other pianists, it is more and more possible to appreciate the creative reproduction of horowitz's initiative in the spiritual essence of the work when playing. Horowitz plays Mozart's Turkish March (SONATA NO.11, K331. 3RD MOVEMENT) fully demonstrates the control of the inner rhythm of the music. His 1966 Carnegie Hall version, four minutes and seven seconds long, is more than a third longer than Brundel's version, but compared to Bröndel's rushing, marching playing, Horowitz plays calmly, smoothly, compactly, and in a lively rhythm with the elegance of French court dance.
Horowitz's music is a kind of personalized music. He was naturally romantically passionate. He can always grab what is most in line with his temperament in a work and carry it forward. And it was often this part of the flickering aura that fascinated his audience. Compared with Horowitz's flamboyant playing, Licht's so-called precision and hard playing seems stiff and rigid. When Horowitz plays, he often has some unexpected strokes. The audience loved these wonderful creations, but he was often not understood by the music critics. Among the 20th-century classical music masters, he may have been the most criticized pianist. His numerous and wonderful performances are not recognized by conservative classical music experts. However, Horowitz has two interpretations of musical works that are indisputable classics: Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 and Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1.
Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30), is one of the greatest piano works in the history of music. Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 under Horowitz's finger flowed out of the magnificence of a thousand miles of glaciers and long forests, as well as the beauty of meandering streams and flowers. The sound of the piano is full of his love for his hometown, and it is also filled with sadness that he will not return to the country. Shortly after the beginning of the first movement, the few bars introduced by the piano calmly were clearly the master's low whisper: "Ah, this is my motherland." ”
Having the same cultural background and exile experience as the composer, Horowitz has an unattainable understanding of this work; with his superb playing ability, he can easily play this work that deters most performers, especially the master's grasp of rhythm, so that the whole work unfolds calmly and is particularly moving. Rachmanilov, also a great pianist, after hearing his performance, also sincerely praised Horowitz's Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3 as the most perfect.
Every time I listen to Horowitz's performance, I can't help but sigh: only in such a vast and beautiful country can it be possible to give birth to such a moving movement that is sometimes thick and sometimes light, sometimes majestic, sometimes timeless, sometimes agitated, sometimes soothing. In particular, the grandeur of the music is unmatched by other European-born musicians. Even for the most powerful Beethoven, his momentum was only a personal struggle against fate. Horowitz's majestic vigour in his performance of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 is a true manifestation of the heritage of such a vast country as Russia.
Horowitz has performed this work publicly many times in his life, and has successively recorded records with albert coates, Reiner, Omandy and other masters. The most famous of these is the live recording of the New York Symphony Orchestra conducted by the master and the New York Symphony Orchestra conducted by Omandi at Carnegie Hall, and even this recording has been produced by the record company in several versions. The best acoustics are the HP version of the CD record.
Video loading...
Concert at the Musikverein in Horowitz Vienna (1987)
Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No.1 in B-Flat Minor (Op.23) is Horowitz's famous work. His astonishing performance of the piece earned him great fame in the world music scene in his twenties. Horowitz's performance is majestic, magnificent, and extremely infectious and shocking. This track allows the master to fully display his strong keystrokes. During his performance of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1, he recorded breaking the strings several times. Horowitz performed the song for the first time in the United States in 1928, and the amazing sound he popped up on the keyboard made the conductor of the orchestra at the time feel unbelievable, and repeatedly asked to see if there was such a magic in the palm of his hand.
I have listened to recordings of several pianists playing Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1, each with its own characteristics: Agridge's lyricism, Licht's precision, Rubenstein's agility, and Clayburn's exquisite timbre. But no one has been able to perform this concerto with the same grandeur and excitement as Horowitz. Horowitz's spirited, galloping performance has a sweeping momentum, and it sounds very enjoyable.
Unfortunately, the master rarely played this work after middle age, so that he played Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 earlier. The more famous ones are the studio recording in 1941 and the live recording at Carnegie Hall in 1943. On both occasions Horowitz collaborated with the National Broadcasting Corporation Symphony Orchestra (NBC Orchestra) under the direction of his father-in-law, Toscanini. Despite the mono recording, we can still hear the thrilling intensity of the master's performance in the first overture, the fresh, idyllic timbre expression in the second movement of the complex trilogy, and the festive joy that permeates the third movement of the sonata melody. The toscanini-conducted orchestra also showed great enthusiasm, complementing the undulating piano parts played by Horowitz.
Special mention should be made of Chopin's Improv Fantasia (Fantaisie-Impromptu, Op. 66) played by the master. My favorite Chopin piano piece, Horowitz's performance, is the most touching. The beginning of the music begins with a small, small and fast note, like the carefree playful laughter of a teenager; the beautiful theme part in the middle appears repeatedly in the form of variations, where the master controls the beauty of the timbre, as if recalling the sweet and green love; then the melody of the beginning part sounds again, but there is no longer the initial carefree, an uneasy mood is brewing and accumulating, and this restless force finally reaches its climax with a string of beaded jade-like loud notes, when the master's famous left hand bass sounds calmly , ending the song with the muffled sound of a morning bell and a twilight drum.
Every time I listen to this piece of music played by Horowitz, it is like listening to the master recount the whole life. Coincidentally: the master played this improv fantasy in the last recording. It seemed that he was feeling something in his mind.
In 1989, Horowitz died in his new York home with his unprecedented musical talent. The last shreds of classical Romantic music dissipated permanently in reality. Since then, the golden age of piano has come to an end.