horowitz's 1965 carnegie hall performance

[pianistimo]

was listening to WRTI tonight as i was waiting for hubby and guess what! they played horowitz's 1965 recording of the busoni arrangement of bach's toccata and fugue? in C major.  it was amazing!  did anyone else hear it.  it's like he was 'into the mind' of busoni and played it with so much daftness.  i really liked it.  the bringing out of all the voices and the different volumes of playing.  you have to hear it just to get an idea of what the words 'palette of sound' mean to great artists.

[alejo_90]

I've heard both the Organ original version and the Busoni arrangement.
It's the Toccata, Adagio & Fugue in C major BWV 564. It's a very nice piece. I really enjoyed it. BTW have you got an mp3 of the Busoni arrangement?

 Alex

[pianistimo]

i don't have either, but which version (omitting the idea of horowitz playing) do you like better?  busoni sometimes improves and sometimes gets carried away - but do you think he outdid himself with the toccata, adagio, and fugue.  it really seems to bring out the unique qualities of a grand piano as well as the organ.  loved the bass notes especially.

[alejo_90]

i don't have either, but which version (omitting the idea of horowitz playing) do you like better?  busoni sometimes improves and sometimes gets carried away - but do you think he outdid himself with the toccata, adagio, and fugue.  it really seems to bring out the unique qualities of a grand piano as well as the organ.  loved the bass notes especially.

Boy that's a hard one! I like them both a lot. But...I don't know...The organ has a special sound that makes me float, specially when I hear Bach. I would choose the Organ version for this beatiful piece. If you haven't heard it I'd be glad to post it. And yes I think Busoni outdid himself with this one !

Alex

[kriskicksass]

I've never heard Bach in transcription (I've always somehow thought of it as sinful to transcribe Bach, probably because everyone's so interested with original Bach these days) and I'd love to hear this one, especially if it's a particularly good transcription. Please post it.

[pianistimo]

it would be interesting to hear both side by side. 

[da jake]

Horowitz's Carnegie hall performance of the Bach-Busoni Toccata is luminous.

Toccata: https://rapidshare.de/files/18319425/1-01_Bach__JS___Toccata__Adagio___Fu.mp3.html (Pay special attention to the infamous screw up at around  and the audience gasp at around 48 s.  _

Adagio: https://rapidshare.de/files/18319848/1-02_Bach__JS___Toccata__Adagio___Fu.mp3.html

Fugue:
https://rapidshare.de/files/18320218/1-03_Bach__JS___Toccata__Adagio___Fu.mp3.html

Horowitz is the only one who can play so sloppily and still sound great in Bach.

I've never heard Bach in transcription (I've always somehow thought of it as sinful to transcribe Bach, probably because everyone's so interested with original Bach these days) and I'd love to hear this one, especially if it's a particularly good transcription. Please post it.

Bach was one of the greatest transcribers of all time, and I'm sure he would have been appreciative of good transcriptions of his own music. 

Have a listen to Rachmaninov playing his own transcription of the 3rd Violin Partita. Also of interest are the Godowsky Cello Suite trans for piano and the famous Busoni trans of D minor Violin Ciaconna.

[pianistimo]

thanks so much!! i thought i'd only hear it when they played it on the radio.  he almost gets the piano to sound like an organ in the toccata with the way he pedals and plays the notes (and it still sounds fairly clear).

[nomis]

Pianistimo: You haven't bought the recording of it? It's well worth it, particularly the Unedited version as it also contains outtakes from "The Last Romantic". I think the Schumann Phantasie is absolutely wonderful, and he doesn't mess up that badly in the 2nd movement coda.

[bach-liszt]

As an organist on this forum, I would like to strongly suggest that you pick up an outstanding cd of this work played by the great organist Virgil Fox.  It is, by the way, the  first commercially made digital recording in the U.S.   The c.d. is entitled "The Fox Touch" and is available at virgilfoxlegacy.com.  The playing is beyond luminous!

[superstition2]

My opinion is that the Bach (organ) original is superior to the piano conversion Horowitz played.

[nomis]

My opinion is that the Bach (organ) original is superior to the piano conversion Horowitz played.

It may be (I haven't heard it yet) but Horowitz doesn't play the organ.

[matt haley]

   If your refferring to the toccata adagio and fugue then it s one hell of a piece...
   
    personally i prefer the busconi arrangement.it was played in a concert programme a few years ago by russian pianist evgenny kissin,along with the pictures at an exhibition and a schumann sonata i think.... i must know coz i went!!

his playing was absoulutely incredible, especially in a musical sense as so much clarity is needed in the tocatta and you need great technical ability in my eyes to have the staying power needed in the fugue....

did any of you attend this programme as it was performed worldwide...

[pianistimo]

will look for virgil fox's rendition of the original piece.  so glad that horowitz's rendition was uploaded to listen to.  it's so cool.  yes, must buy it and fox's.

[bach-liszt]

will look for virgil fox's rendition of the original piece.  so glad that horowitz's rendition was uploaded to listen to.  it's so cool.  yes, must buy it and fox's.

Yes, by all means!  Please let me know how you enjoy the cd. 

The website I noted (virgilfoxlegacy.com) has some video clips of Fox's playing if you click the "chronology" section.  It includes a 1978 video of his performance of the Bach T., Adagio and F. we have been talking about.  This is not the same as the 1977 c.d. which is of a superior sound quality.   In the late 70's he did a Bach Gamut concert in which, in varying concerts, he played, by memory, various monumental works of Bach in all the different keys.  It is SO difficult to memorize all of that polyphonic music!  At one venue (St. Mary's in San Francisco in 1976), he played before 5,000 people!  

Also, be sure to click on Fox's performance of the Perpetum Mobile by W. Middleschulte.  It is a virtuoso work for the feet (pedals) only.  Very few could ever play this piece!  It is like watching the Cziffra video posted on this site, except this blinding speed is done with the feet!! He not only plays individual notes, but at one point plays an incredibly fast ascending chromatic scale with his left foot while playing thirds (with his heel and toe) on the right foot! 

By the way, for those of you studying  music in school, Virgil Fox became the first one year graduate at Peabody to complete his studies with the school's highest honor, the Artist's Diploma.  During this one year period he performed five concerts by memory and completed 18 exams with the highest grades in his class!  whew!

[superstition2]

It may be (I haven't heard it yet) but Horowitz doesn't play the organ.

Amazing.

[alejo_90]

Pay special attention to the infamous screw up at around  and the audience gasp at around 48 s.  _

Huh? I didn't hear any mistake in that part. Just a C low octave played very strong, but I did hear a screw up when he starts right after that C. I heard no gasps also. Maybe I should listen to it at max volume. 

Cheers
Alex

[superstition2]

Huh? I didn't hear any mistake in that part. Just a C low octave played very strong, but I did hear a screw up when he starts right after that C. I heard no gasps also. Maybe I should listen to it at max volume. 

There are two versions of his recital, the original CD release with dubs, and the recent re-release with no studio dubs.