Horowitz's infamous Heroic Polonaise(now with mp3)

[allchopin]

Is it just me or is this possibly the worst performance/recording of this piece that has ever come out of such a well-known performer?  I mean, it's downright laughable.  I figure that he needed the piece with short notice and worked it up, like in his spare time on the counter while brushing his teeth maybe.
If you get the chance to listen to it, do indeed.  

ps- his reputation still precedes him however.  Just a fluke...

[puppetmaster]

I just heard it...

Wow man that was bad, I was cracking up.

[f0bul0us]

Send it to me over MSN!

*uhhhh...to anyone wondering about why I edited my post...lol, just shut up   *

[Motrax]

Van Cliburn did a worse job with fluking up. The concert he gave recently (after about 20 years of absence from the performance scene) was an absolute disaster. It was really sad to see such a legend completely botch a performance like that.  

[f0bul0us]

All great pianists have butchered a major performance.

1. Ashkenazy...I can't remember when, but  I read somewhere that he completely destroyed one of his solo concerts. After playing with orchestras for so long.
2. Horowitz...(anything?)
3. Pollini...disgraced Op. 10 of the chopin etudes in one of his concerts, completely "nurfing" the first two.
4. Argerich... first solo recital at carnegie hall in 20 years.
5...why doesn't everyone just list as many incidents as possible where "the immortals" messed up?

[donjuan]

Personally, I love Horowitz's recording of the heroic Polonaise.  What is disgusting is Cziffra's recording of Chopin Waltzes......eeeyuck!!

Or, Leslie Howard's recording of certain Opera Transcriptions,like Reminiscences des Puritains...He butchers it up so badly in a number of places.
donjuan

[etuden88]

Listening Emil Gilels' performance of Chopin's Third Sonata makes me physically ill...sounds like he's wallowing through mollasses...especially the forth movement...ick!

[Tash]

can i ask why people always have to pay out others when they screw up? big deal everyone has a bad day and i think i'd be nicer just to appreciate the fact that they do play, badly or not. everyone should stop looking at everything so negatively! (and ironically here i am paying you all out how much of a hypocrite am i maybe i'll just shut up now...)

[allchopin]

can i ask why people always have to pay out others when they screw up?

Because it's hilarious.... c'mon, who wouldn't want to listen to one of the world's great masters sound like they played blindfolded?  Plus, it put's the piano more in perspective - these guys don't play perfectly all the time and it's okay.  And he's dead, so who are we honestly offending?  But a more contributing post would be beneficial.

[thracozaag]

Is it just me or is this possibly the worst performance/recording of this piece that has ever come out of such a well-known performer?  I mean, it's downright laughable.  I figure that he needed the piece with short notice and worked it up, like in his spare time on the counter while brushing his teeth maybe.
If you get the chance to listen to it, do indeed.  

ps- his reputation still precedes him however.  Just a fluke...

 Which recording are you referring to?  The one I heard (live performance from the 40's) is tremendous.

koji

[allchopin]

 Which recording are you referring to?  The one I heard (live performance from the 40's) is tremendous.

Oh, I'm sorry - I wasn't aware of another one.  Um.. the recording I have is not live, because there is no end clapping.  Then again, there probably wouldn't be any in a live performance either...
I think you'll know it when you hear it.

[puppetmaster]

https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000026FJ/102-3952488-2825755?v=glance

You can get a preview for about the first minute from there.

[donjuan]

Listening Emil Gilels' performance of Chopin's Third Sonata makes me physically ill...sounds like he's wallowing through mollasses...especially the forth movement...ick!

Ha! reading your post reminded me of the recording of Gilels playing Liszts Spanish Rhapsody, which is all too painful to listen to.

[allchopin]

https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000026FJ/102-3952488-2825755?v=glance

You can get a preview for about the first minute from there.

No, actually that is not the recording I am referring to either.  I must have a third recording of him when he was much older.  You know what, I'll get around to posting it later.

[DarkWind]

c'mon, who wouldn't want to listen to one of the world's great masters sound like they played blindfolded?

Well, that really wouldn't make a difference. I could play most of my pieces blindfolded, just show me where middle C is and I'm set! People saying that playing blindfolded is more difficult has been going on for quite a while to a point where it has gotten me really angry. Argerich could play Liszt's Sonata with or without blindfold and you'd listen to the same exact performance. Now if they were playing with their back to the piano, that's a whole different story...

[donjuan]

Now if they were playing with their back to the piano, that's a whole different story...

haha that reminds me of the scene from "Amadeus"!! Has anyone seen it?
donjuan

[DarkWind]

haha that reminds me of the scene from "Amadeus"!! Has anyone seen it?
donjuan

I personally felt really bad for Salieri at that point .

[Nana_Ama]

haha that reminds me of the scene from "Amadeus"!! Has anyone seen it?
donjuan

Yes! That was pretty funny

[allchopin]

Well I promised I'd tack up the piece of 'artwork' on this thread, so here she blows (er.. here He blows).
It's about 4 megs, so dial up users, dont try this at home!  Remember your safety goggles.
https://geocities.com/matrix_man44/poor.mp3

[pseudopianist]

Well I promised I'd tack up the piece of 'artwork' on this thread, so here she blows (er.. here He blows).
It's about 4 megs, so dial up users, dont try this at home!  Remember your safety goggles.
https://geocities.com/matrix_man44/poor.mp3

Internal Server Error
The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request.
Please contact the server administrator, wh-contact@yahoo-inc.com and inform them of the time the error occurred, and anything you might have done that may have caused the error.

More information about this error may be available in the server error log.

[donjuan]

"This page is not available.  
We're sorry, but this page is currently unavailable for viewing."

hmmm

[allchopin]

Sheesh, you'd think a multi billiion dollar company like Yahoo could make a 4 meg file accessible.  This one should work. Enjoy;
https://allchopin.tripod.com/poor.mp3

[donjuan]

"This file is hosted by Tripod, a Lycos®Network Site, and is not available for download. Please check out Tripod's Help system for more information about Remote Loading and our Remote Loading policy.
"
??

[allchopin]

Screw it All
I
Give
Up

[donjuan]

That's the Spirit!

You know, you could just ask if anyone is interested, and then email it to those individuals.  
donjuan

[johnjwong]

i have the mp3, i can post it up if u guys want and send the url....... let me start a new geocities account

[allchopin]

What I'm thinking is happening is that the file is too big and these free web space hosters cannot handle the bandwidth - hence the repeated failings.  I have done the same thing several times with several different hosts but to no avail.  Emailing it is kinda too big... ftp's really the only option left.  Hm..

johnjwong: are you sure that this is the same version?  He apparently had a live one (which was well done, according to koji) and a studio one (one or more) which is 7:24 in length

[allchopin]

As promised, here is the recording of the polonaise (it's been a while I know ).
ftp://64.229.112.249/Upload/Chopin%20-%20Polonaise%20Op.%2053%20in%20Ab%20'Heroic'%20(Horowitz).mp3

[donjuan]

As promised, here is the recording of the polonaise (it's been a while I know ).
ftp://64.229.112.249/Upload/Chopin%20-%20Polonaise%20Op.%2053%20in%20Ab%20'Heroic'%20(Horowitz).mp3

wow, that's a good recording!! -a little messy, but thats just Horowitz.. I dont know what you dont like about it.. 

[chopinisque]

421 Anonymous access not allowed.  Goodbye.

[jlh]

Try this:

https://www.putfile.com/

They let you post almost anything and don't make you sign up.  Not sure if they allow mp3's... you may need to convert to .mov or something.

[fnork]

I listened to it. Not a great recording of it, and in a few places he made a couple of wrong notes too many.... which was funny. But it's an ok recording.

[pseudopianist]

  That was awful, I can guess he feelt pretty frustrated.

[donjuan]

That was awful, I can guess he feelt pretty frustrated.

well come on, if that were the case, he wouldnt have put it on a CD.  Everything that happened, happened just the way Horowitz intended.
donjuan

[allchopin]

421 Anonymous access not allowed.  Goodbye.

Dikai, my man!  What's goin on? 

[Brian Healey]

well come on, if that were the case, he wouldnt have put it on a CD.  Everything that happened, happened just the way Horowitz intended.

Well, yeah, you would think. Unless it was released posthumously. He may have never intended for that particular recording to be released, but it may have been authorized after he died in an effort to release "new" material. That kind of stuff always happens. Look at that rapper Tupac, he's come out with like five albums worth of "new" material since he died.

But then, I don't know anything about the recording, so that's just speculation. Was it released during his lifetime?


Provolone,
Bri

[Dikai]

yo, allchopin, sorry man, i shut down the anonymous account for a while because i was doing some heavy bt downloading...
it's re-opened...
----
by the way, i listened to it, at first i didn't see the name of the person playing it...
then when i looked at this thread, then it all made sense...
----
well, i guess he was just way too old when he recorded this one...
really hoping to hear some recordings from his youth...

[brewtality]

it has nothing to do with his age. He recorded Liebestod 4 days before he died and it is one of his most wonderful recordings.

[Brian Healey]

I just listened to the recording, and I honestly can't tell what you're considering so horrible about it. I was expecting to hear him fumbling cluelessly around on the keys the way you guys talked about it, but I think it actually sounds pretty good. There are maybe a couple spots where he might be unsure of himself for a second, but nothing that really stands out to me.

Granted, I'm not terribly familiar with that piece, so maybe I'm not the best judge.


Peace,
Bri

[donjuan]

it has nothing to do with his age. He recorded Liebestod 4 days before he died and it is one of his most wonderful recordings.

is this the recording of Liebestod? (please say yes-I love this recording)
https://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000009IG6/qid%3D1107903148/702-3835464-0692003

[brewtality]

yep, thats the one.

[puma]

    From the way you guys were talking, I was expecting something horrible - incorrect notes, bad rhythm, but it seemed fine to me!  Maybe just a few minor mistakes here or there, but most likely noticed because I was paying attention to the mistakes of the piece, since everyone posted about how bad it was.  Otherwise I would just have listened and thought it's a regular recording. 

[allchopin]

Well, I find it to be the worst of all Horowitz's recordings... quite a few missed notes, strange-ed out rhythms (what is that around 0:45 I hear, swing?), odd voicing and craggy dynamics, often ignored completely... I realize Horowitz's quirky style often works, but it is not compatible at all with this piece.
Maybe it's just me, but I stand my ground. 

[lenny]

Well, I find it to be the worst of all Horowitz's recordings... quite a few missed notes, strange-ed out rhythms (what is that around 0:45 I hear, swing?), odd voicing and craggy dynamics, often ignored completely... I realize Horowitz's quirky style often works, but it is not compatible at all with this piece.
Maybe it's just me, but I stand my ground. 

i think its obviously not his greatest recording, but with such a spontanious and experimental pianistic personality - you can forgive horowitz for trying something new.

to play it in a normal way would be safe, and 'good', but to be able to do extraordinary things one must throw caution to the wind and blaze a new trail.

this is what horowitz did, and obviously the results are often hit-and-miss, but i for one would rather take the risk of being dreadful in the pursuit of new wonders, than play it safe and 'good'.

sorry if i strayed from the point of this topic, but this is what great artists like horowitz and richter did, and this is why they are so revered and famous.