Vladimir Horowitz: A Reminiscence

It was 1993 and four years after Vladimir Horowitz died and left the world with an amazing array of some of the most brilliant and amazing examples of recorded music the world has ever known when Sony Classical, Horowitz's last record company, produced and released the video Vladimir Horowitz: A Reminiscence. Quickly, it was snatched up by the many serious Horowitz aficionados that knew of its existence. On many PBS stations throughout America, it was presented and well received by the public. It was also offered as a gift for those who pledged at a high enough level of membership. At the time I was fifteen and this level of membership was well out of my price range, and besides, who in the heck was Vladimir Horowitz anyway. I look back now and I can't even imagine such a time! As I became more an more interested in piano, I naturally learned more and more about Vladimir Horowitz. I finally found this video just last year, not in a video store at the mall, not at a snobby book store, but on the Internet at CD Universe. When I watched this for the first time, I was glued to the television. When I watched it the second time, I was glued to the television. The third and fourth time and every time after it was the same thing.

This film was produced in three parts. The first part is a documentary of the life of Horowitz. Much of the information presented is from his wife, Wanda Toscanini Horowitz, but there is a fair amount from Horowitz himself. We hear Horowitz speak about his early days at the Moscow Conservatory, his meeting with Alexander Scriabin, his very personal relationship with Sergei Rachmaninoff and Arturo Toscanini, his thoughts on music and the piano in general and his personal takes on some of his most endeared composers such as Chopin, Clementi, Scriabin, and, of course, Rachmaninoff. In the first section we hear Mrs. Horowitz and Horowitz give the background on the early years and Horowitz's general musicality. In one spot he plays just a segment from a couple of different pieces just to show he still knows the music! He plays a very short couple of segments from his own transcription of Vincent Youmans's Tea for Two which was famously popular in the Horowitz glory days and quite a pleasant surprise of virtuosity from the eighty-two year old Horowitz. At one point the interviewer, Charles Kuralt, tells Horowitz that Rachmaninoff said Horowitz played his Second Sonata better than he did! Horowitz answers yes, but for the Third Concerto instead! In the section where Horowitz is reminiscing about Scirabin, he performs Scriabin's Vers la flamme, op. 72. I have always been strangely fascinated and adoring of all of Scriabin's music, from the Chopinesque to that which is only Scriabin, and Vers la flamme is the epitome of Scriabin's later music. This performance , for me, is completely enthralling. This a supreme example of Horowitz trying to balance technical control with the emotions he is trying to transmit. Much of this has to do with the type of music, but much also has to do with the interpretation and skill of the artist. In his introduction, Horowitz warns us of what is to come. Twice, he says it is very percussive which indeed it is; there are many fff's, single and two handed trills and tremolos, and loud harmonies that if in anybody else's music would be completely unacceptable. Finally he says be prepared for big sound. If I do not collapse, that's all right. In fact, upon finishing the piece, he can hardly stand at first and says twice This is difficult! The next segment has footage from the film Vladimir Horowitz: The Last Romantic of Horowitz performing the last scherzo passage from Chopin's Scherzo no. 1 in B minor, op. 20. This recording is one of the best of his four or so recordings of this piece. He chooses an abnormally slow tempo which at first observation is just wrong, but the more you hear it, the more fitting it becomes to the piece. This tempo allows you to hear new expressions and harmonies that were never able to be properly heard at the lightening fast tempos usually used in the performance of this piece. In fact, Horowitz said elsewhere that this was the most virtuosic piece he played in this later period of his life.  He seems to make it even more difficult with his notoriously unconventional wrist positions. For those who have seen it, you know the exact spot that I'm referring to!  When he completed this piece he was actually quite impressed with his performance. We can tell this by the hilarious face he makes on the second-to-last chord and because he exclaims Is not bad, you know, for an old man! There is much presented on his triumphant return to Moscow including footage from his poignant meeting with Scriabin's daughter, his first time back on the stage of the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, and his performances of Etincelles and Träumerei, two of his favorite encores. There were several people seen crying during Horowitz's performance of Träumerei including the transcriptionist Yuri Olenev who was one of Horowitz's greatest Russian admirers. In the last part, there is some very emotionally stirring footage of Horowitz's funeral and the Toscanini family mausoleum where Horowitz was laid to rest all with Horowitz playing the Liszt Consolation no. 3 in the background (it is quite emotional.) During the credits, there are some really great photographs of Horowitz with people who were important to him through his life while, in the background, we hear Horowitz perform a piece that was a crucial part of his concert repertoire throughout his 65 year career, the Scarlatti Sonata in E major, K. 380 (L. 23)

In the second part of this fantastic film we see the Horowitz of 1974, fresh out of his deal with Columbia and ready for his new lease on life. We hear Horowitz play the Introduction and Rondo of Chopin (op. 19) This is simply astounding! Horowitz demonstrates his tyrannical command of the the keyboard in this suprisingly virtuosic piece. With the heart-felt introduction, the spunky rondo, and the witty mazurka in the middle the piece we see the many sides of Chopin and Horowitz's ability to express them in the most superlative of ways. The end culminates in a huge sound that can move the soul and open the eyes to what Chopin was really about. I agree strongly with Horowitz in that we both wonder why this rarely-heard of and even more rarely-performed piece never caught on with the public. It takes quite a person to adequately express it. It's quite virtuosic. Again Chopin really surprises me here. It was a welcome surprise to hear this piece and realize that Chopin still has a few tricks of his sleeve that haven't been exploited like the "Minute Waltz" or "Funeral March Sonata". The performance is not without flaws, but this is the Horowitz who had just finished making the fantastic Chopin and Beethoven recordings for Columbia. This performance alone is worth the $20 that the video costs.

Then, as if this wasn't enough to keep a Horowitz fan happy for life, we get a fair portion of the 1982 London charity concert where Horowitz played such pieces as Schumann's Kinderszenen, Chopin's Polonaise-Fantasie and Ballade in G minor, Scarlatti Sonatas, Rachmaninoff's Sonata no. 2, op. 36 and Polka de V.R., and more. In this edit of the concert we see Horowitz play several great Scarlatti Sonatas including K 135 and others that were at the heart of his repertoire. Then we hear the Chopin L'adieu Waltz This piece is very touching and not too difficult like some of the master's Waltzes. Next is the biggest treat of all, the only video recording of one of Rachmaninoff's greatest works for piano, the Sonata no. 2 in B flat minor, op. 36. This piece was and still is OWNED by Horowitz. Nobody else has had the phenomenal success that he had with it. This piece comes to him like breathing! Rachmaninoff even said that Horowitz played it better than he did! Of course, Rachmainoff also said that he didn't realize the possibilities of the piano until he heard Horowitz play! This last recording of the piece by Horowitz was full of suprises, awe, and some disappointments. As is aparent in many of the works from this concert, Horowitz was having a bad day.  He was seeing a phycotherapist and was on some detrimental antidepressants.  This was also at the time when he was losing his supreme virtuosity and control. Nonetheless, Horowitz still comes in first place (by a great deal) when one considers the recordings of the other artists who have dared to record this monumental piece. The first and third movements are fantastic! The second movement was a bit uncomfortable to hear. Overall it is still legenday as being the only video recording of the work. See my web page on this work for more info. The final work performed on this tape is Rachmainoff's Polka de V.R. This piece as well, is a piece that comes naturally to Horowitz. Written in that neo-romantic style that WAS Horowitz and Rachmaninoff, this piece has some of Rachmaninoff's polyphony that Horowitz is able to bring out clearly without drowning the melody. This was a fine representation of the concert.

This entire video does a great job of informing the Horowitz newcomer and astounding the long time dedicated fans, I only wish it would come out on DVD soon!