Sergei Rachmaninoff Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-Flat Minor Op.36 Horowitz Nov 1968 Broken String NYC

Описание: Hello, so so sorry for not posting score videos in a long time! I have been very busy at school and the device i normally use for score videos broke. But here I am with another one, which i was planning to make for a long time. This might be one of my last score videos

This rare performance was by Vladimir Horowitz on November 24, 1968, and is one of many performances of the monumental Rachmaninoff second piano sonata, a specialtiy piece that he made it uniquely his. There is another score video of a performance of this piece the same year, but this is my all time favourite and one a once in lifetime one. Mainly because he accidentally broke a piano string around 12:52 and had to redo the section again after the Steinway piano tuner, Franc Mohr, swiftly replaced the string whilst the crowd applauded, but also due to the immense sound that horowitz produces on his piano. The bass is unlike anything I have heard in a recording of this piece. It tops Hamelin and other horowitz recordings in my opinion.

The second movement is played with such heartbreaking passion that gives justice the sadness of the second movement. All the other movements sound like a cannon but still clear, as Horowitz plays without much pedal. As you can see he changes the piece a lot, hence the changing scores and edits I made, and includes the original 1913 version and the revised 1931 edition. Rachmaninoff gave him permission, so he took some parts out and wove them together. I wish he played the thing in full but it still sounds very clean.

You can tell by the first measure how magical of a performance this would be. The dynamics, transcendental voicing, improvisation, added bass notes, musicality add up and here, given the broken string, I believe he put his full power in this performance. The way Horowitz plays the ending is absolutely iconic, adding low b flat octaves and extending the final run down two octaves for more intensity, and the last few bars are changed in the left hand. (Left hand b flat octaves go higher for tension and he improvised in the last measure) The crowd justifiably went absolutely wild in the end!

I need to mention FULL credit to the channels who provided the performance and sheet music.

Thank you to PeerlessPerformances for posting the sheet music score video of his other 1968 performance as well as the necessary tweaks, edits, and cuts to the score that helped me make this.

   • Rachmaninoff - Piano Sonata No. 2 in b fla...   (part one)

   • Rachmaninoff - Piano Sonata No. 2 in b fla...   (part 2)

Thank you to Goruchannel for supplying this very rare recording onto youtube!

   • Horowitz plays Rachmaninoff Sonata No.2 (b...  

Sheet music from IMSLP


And finally, I do not own any of this audio.