The single greatest recording by the greatest classical pianist of the modern era.

I'm sorry to contradict the reviewer Oregonscientist, but the 1941 Rach 3 with Barbirolli - AND NOT Martha Argerich's - is the fastest on record. In fact, Horowitz here plays faster than Argerich in all the most virtuosic passages, and much faster in the climactic end. So, it's exactly the opposite of what the reviewer said: Argerich is the one who cannot equal Horowitz's speed and power (not to mention dynamic range, in which Horowitz puts the Argentine pianist to shame), and she knew it: my compatriot Nelson Freire, also a superpianist and one of Argerich's closest friends, once said in an interview that the two of them wouldn't miss a Horowitz concert if they happened to be around and could get a ticket, because they considered him the most extraordinary pianist of all time. And Rach 3 was really Horowitz's property.

I bought this Rachmaninoff 3 in 1962, and played it so loud... screaming distorted monaural volume, i was a teenager then. the rach 3 is a postmodern masterpiece. Horowitz plays here his own version of the second sonata, what virtuosity of color, rhythm, and of course he was still the loudest pianist alive. the cd release is good, but the vinyl was even better.
Too bad Richter never recorded the Rach 3.
There are other versions, Byron Janis is wonderful, Argerich is awful, she plays Rachmaninoff like Horowitz plays Mozart, her chief inspiration is the metronome. the first horowitz rach 3 is faster than sound, like all of his 30s recordings, but the Coates orchestra sounds like a Universal horror movie.
Since i think all pianists have something to say, i can't recommend a single rach 3, but horowitz is wonderful. if i did believe there was such a thing as a BEST, then i would wait for Volodos, because he will play just like Horowitz but with 48 bit sound.

I treasure this disk. The opening groan and crash of the huge Sonata #2 is a great piece of pianistic writing and sets up the rest of the sonata so well. However, the way Horowitz plays it is so convincing and so unique, in my experience, that it seems as if it is being improvised on the spot and just pouring white hot from Horowitz. The is breathtaking pianism. This is a version created by Horowitz from two versions by Rachmaninoff with some other changes by the pianist. Since he and the composer were close friends and Rachmaninoff was a mentor to Horowitz, I trust this version. And in the final analysis, it is very effective.

The three smaller works and quite nice and are more than filler. I especially like the Prelude Op. 32 No. 5.

This recording of the Concerto #3 was made in 1951 and the recorded sound has more noise and a less full sound than most listeners today enjoy. But I encourage you, I implore you, to do yourself a favor and hear this recording. It is brilliant beyond words. It is Horowitz at the peak of his powers. Yes, the later Ormandy recoding sounds better, but Horowitz has lost a bit of what he had in 1951. It is a performance for the ages. It is one of the greatest of all pianists in one of the major works of the literature at the height of his virtuosity with the great Fritz Reiner leading the orchestra. Fabulous.

Vladmir Horowitz dominated and owned this piece throughout his life. Nobody could touch him in terms of virtuosity, or musical comprehension. Rachmaninoff himself said that he "pounced on it with the voraciousness of a tiger and swallowed it whole". This was after a performance at the Hollywood Bowl in 1941. Barbirolli was the conductor, but this performance is not on record, only it was a concert that Rachmaninoff attended. In this 1951 performance Horowitz plays with incredible brio and flawless fingerwork. For a long time this was the performance to beat, but there is one problem. For every reason that this performance was hailed as the "Greatest", (Speed, Clarity, dignity at high velocities, dairing, and most of all the way Rachmaninoff intended it to be played). It has been outdone in all of these aspects by the Great "Martha Agerich". Her performance is highly controversial because of the speed that she plays it at, (Her performance is the fastest on record). But this is the way it was meant to be played. Rachmaninoff himself performed it at a very fast pace, and you can tell that Horowitz is trying to go as fast as he can. Her finale is completely breathtaking. She climaxes with incredible power! Horowitz does a poor job at achieving the proper energy level that is needed to bring this concerto to a closer. Horowitz just didn't have the speed that she had to perform this at the very highest level possible. His performance is a treasury, but Agerich's is the one to get!

Vladmir Horowitz dominated and owned this piece throughout his life. Nobody could touch him in terms of virtuosity, or musical comprehension. Rachmaninoff himself said that he "pounced on it with the voraciousness of a tiger and swallowed it whole". This was after a performance at the Hollywood Bowl in 1941. Barbirolli was the conductor, but this performance is not on record, only it was a concert that Rachmaninoff attended. In this 1951 performance Horowitz plays with incredible brio and flawless fingerwork. For a long time this was the performance to beat, but there is one problem. For every reason that this performance was hailed as the "Greatest", (Speed, Clarity, dignity at high velocities, dairing, and most of all the way Rachmaninoff intended it to be played). It has been outdone in all of these aspects by the Great "Martha Agerich". Her performance is highly controversial because of the speed that she plays it at, (Her performance is the fastest on record). But this is the way it was meant to be played. Rachmaninoff himself performed it at a very fast pace, and you can tell that Horowitz is trying to go as fast as he can. Her finale is completely breathtaking. She climaxes with incredible power! Horowitz does a poor job at achieving the proper energy level that is needed to bring this concerto to a closer. Horowitz just didn't have the speed that she had to perform this at the very highest level possible. His performance is a treasury, but Agerich's is the one to get!

Vladmir Horowitz dominated and owned this piece throughout his life. Nobody could touch him in terms of virtuosity, or musical comprehension. Rachmaninoff himself said that he "pounced on it with the voraciousness of a tiger and swallowed it whole". This was after a performance at the Hollywood Bowl in 1941. Barbirolli was the conductor, but this performance is not on record, only it was a concert that Rachmaninoff attended. In this 1951 performance Horowitz plays with incredible brio and flawless fingerwork. For a long time this was the performance to beat, but there is one problem. For every reason that this performance was hailed as the "Greatest", (Speed, Clarity, dignity at high velocities, dairing, and most of all the way Rachmaninoff intended it to be played). It has been outdone in all of these aspects by the Great "Martha Agerich". Her performance is highly controversial because of the speed that she plays it at, (Her performance is the fastest on record). But this is the way it was meant to be played. Rachmaninoff himself performed it at a very fast pace, and you can tell that Horowitz is trying to go as fast as he can. Her finale is completely breathtaking. She climaxes with incredible power! Horowitz does a poor job at achieving the proper energy level that is needed to bring this concerto to a closer. Horowitz just didn't have the speed that she had to perform this at the very highest level possible. His performance is a treasury, but Agerich's is the one to get!

Well this is your definite recording of the Rach's 3rd, the War-horse of Mr. Horowitz! A recording full of passion and energy, very electryifing indeed. In fact, the only recording that's compareable to this (in my opinion) is the Ashkenazy's Rach's 3rd with the London Symphony Orchestra and Previn (gasp if you will, but I whole-heartedly enjoyed that recoridng).

However, I have given this recording 4 stars instead of 5. One of the main reasons for this is because of the recording quality of the Rachmaninov. Personally, I hate hearing static on the background while listening to good music through the head-phones, , and the static (though not overly loud, but quite audiable) is very frustrating when you are trying to pay attention or "getting into the mood". Also, I did not find Rachmaninov's 2nd piano sonata all the great! (Gasp again! I am criticising Rachmaninov's composition!) OR it might be the fact that Mr. Horowitz's playing did not move me as much as it should. In either case, I usually go straight for the concerto when I put on this CD and skip the first few piano pieces.

Should you buy the CD then? Absoutely. This is a once-in-a-life-time recording. No pianist ever came CLOSE to reaching Horowitz's intensity and passion when he played the Rachmaninov (not even David Helfgot of the movie "Shine" (gasp again!)). Buy this CD for the concerto, and who knows, you might even come to like the sonata as well ;)

This most famous of recordings of Rachmaninoff's towering concerto, deserves all the credit it is given. It is quite simply, an exhibition of the best pianist the world has ever seen, playing at such as stage in his career, that he has outgrown the youthful over-exuberance of his 1930 recording and performs this concerto with towering, awe-inspiring virtuosity. His recording is dynamically fast, nobody has ever played it quicker, but unlike other rapid performances such as that by Argerich, Horowitz never loses his discipline. His timing is impeccable, his phrasing superb. I doubt whether a greater example of virtuosity than Horowitz's first movement cadenza, can be found anywhere in recorded music. With such unbelievable pianism, slightly poor sound quality and Reiner's (comparitively) uninspired, but still competent, conducting, are unimportant. The are mistakes to be found in Horowitz's work, but if you are not a concert pianist reading the score as you listen, do not expect to notice them. This recording will NEVER be bettered. By all means buy other versions, but this is, and will remain to be, the performance to beat.

This is one of Horowitz's very best. The Polka is broght out in the way that only Horowitz can. It is a must!! The concerto is truly wonderful.

In this, the most coherent and perfect musical rendering of Rachmaninoff's 3rd piano concerto Horowitz seems to hit everything right on the nose. Tempos don't seem rushed and unphrased as they are in Argerich's tacky pianissimo staccatissimo murder of the peice(which is in fact not very fast at all, and for christ sake, does she have a left hand?) and they aren't incredibly, painfully slow either as in Kissin's punishing drone. In fact compared to Horowitz just about every major pianist layed eggs with this concerto. As for Horowitz' speed, Horowitz could go much, much faster if he wanted, but he makes the correct choices in the final movement. I have a recording of him playing the finale in 10 minutes with the same cuts shown here. Of course that recording seemed to cheapen the music, but Horowitz and the conductor were having a very good time and so was the audience. As for the tone, he is HOROWITZ what else needs to be said. The balance with the orchestra could not be better. When the music calls for it he swamps the orchestra, and we are talking the Reiner strings, but when it doesn't he plays just right. As for phrasing, he seems to calm it down here a bit from his very active singing line(which is still uniquely strong, clear and well judged) and it works very well, he even goes so far as to cover up physical problems with the orchestration brilliantly. There is really nothing more to say, this is THE recording of the Rachy 3 perfect in every way. It ennobles the music better than any other performance I have heard, and I have heard dozens. So buy it, and enjoy it, you'll see what I mean.

Horowitz probably had all the advantages to deliver the finest Rachmaninov playing possible: perfect technique, temperament that tiptoes between romanticism and modern piano playing, and he was a close friend to the composer. The Rachmninov 3rd as recorded here is amazing in its drive, strength, and introversion. The recording balance is off and favors the piano too much, but the piano show is worth this mishap. The sonata is taken from live recordings around 1980 and is brutal all through. Not the best Horowitz recorded (try to get the live performance from the 60's), but still comparable only to the pianist's other recordings of the same work. The shorter works are marvels of technique, elan, and grace. This is probably enough to affirm that i absolutely recommend this recording, but then i should add that this may also be that unique cd on which Horowitz' justly deserved reputation for greatness finds no objections.

Vladimir Horowitz made three "official" recordings of Rachmaninoff's formidable Third Concerto. There are wonderful things in the 1930 recording with Coates, but that performance was severely cut. The 1978 version with Ormandy is also marvelous in its own way, but this 1951 studio recording with Reiner is the probably Horowitz's high water mark in this piece. There are a few cuts here, but not as severe as the version with Coates or Rachmaninoff's 1939 recording with Ormandy. Reiner is a sympathetic collaborator and draws some virtuoso playing from the pickup orchestra. The recording balance favors the piano, but Horowitz dazzling virtuosity and clarity deserve to be highlighted. On the whole, this is my favorite Rachmaninoff Third on CD.

The solo pieces were recorded live later in Horowitz's career. Personally, I prefer the lithe, panther-like 1968 recording of the Rachmaninoff Sonata over this brooding version from 1980--but I wouldn't want to be without either recording. The G Major Prelude, recorded in 1977 is more lovingly played here than the more casual 1986 version recorded in Moscow. The E-Flat Minor Moment musical is electrifying in a way that could be only termed Horowitzian. Rachmaninoff's Polka was a favorite Horowitz encore, and his timing of the two "blues" chords in the coda brings a murmur of amusement from the audience. The sound here is a bit hard and airless, but a substantial improvement over the LP.

This album is a must for piano lovers.

This is the second of Horowitz three commercial recordings Rachmaninoff's Third and arguably the best. The first, from the early 1930's was marred by brutal cuts in accord with the fashion of that time. This one restores a few cuts but retains others, leaving out considerable material from the last movement. (Janis, Wild, and Rachmaninoff himself made the same cuts, but today audiences expect and get the whole thing.)

RCA's monaural sound is OK but hardly up to what other companies were doing in 1951. Reiner's superb accompaniment is sometimes overwhelmed by too-close piano miking.

This recording couples two signature works in Horowitz's piano repertoire: the 2nd Piano Sonata and the 3rd Piano Concerto of Rachmaninoff. In the former, the Horowitz version (an editing of the two previous editions of the work) is highly pianistic, exciting, and full of the big, earthy tone that is his trademark. In the latter, it is sufficient to say that Rachmaninoff stopped performing the 3rd Concerto after hearing Horowitz play it. There has been no recording in the half century since which can compare with Horowitz's agression, daring, and big sound (which easily fights the thick orchestral scoring). Just wait until you hear the Presto he flies through in the cadenza of the first movement, and you will also be a convert to this performance.

If you enjoy the sound of Horowitz playing Rachmaninoff, check out John McArthur's Rachmaninov on his album HIDDEN, equally as moving.

The legendary Vladimir Horowitz, poet laureate of the piano and beloved cultural icon, here performs his favorite repetoire: Rachmaninoff. This CD has all the "essentials": the intense, difficult and transcendental 2nd Sontata (modeled closely after the 2nd Sonata of Chopin); the lyricism of the smaller pieces: the G major Prelude is made of glimmers and whispers, the Ebm Musical Moment is sad, whirling, complex, and elegiac, and the Polka de V.R. is witty, intelligent, playful, and completely musical. Then we come to the real blockbuster of this CD: the infamous 3rd Concerto in D minor, Op. 30. Horowitz recorded this many times from 1930 to 1978, but the 1951 recording here is the most revered. It has nearly homicidal voltage, an explosion of incredible pianism, beauty, romance, adventure, and nail-biting excitement. Even after many listens, something about this recording leaves you breathless and utterly thrilled. This CD is an excellant testament to Horowitz and Rachmaninoff, and is a must-buy for any lover of good piano music.

This CD is more than one could ever hope for in a CD. We hear the amazing Vladimir Horowitz first in the Rachmaninoff Sonata no. 2, op. 36. After Rachmaninoff revised this piece in 1931 Horowitz asked Rachmaninoff's permission to make his own arrangment that consisted of both the grandeur of the original 1913 version and the sleekness and conciseness of the 1931 revision. The result is what we hear on this CD. Played in 1980 by a 77 year old Horowitz, this recording has the vivaciousnes of a young man. The playing is not as mannered as many Horowitz recordings around this time. My favorite recording PERIOD! Then we hear three short pieces recorded in the late 70's, the Prelude in G major, op. 32, no. 5, the Moment Musical, op. 16, no. 2, and the witty Polka de. VR (Vassily Rachmaninoff, the father) This is more of a transcription of a piece that Rachmaninoff's father played called Scherzpolka, by Nicholas Behr. Horowitz must do something funny at the end because the audience erupts with laughter! Finally we hear Horowitz perform his favorite work in his repertoire, Rachmaninoff's Third Concerto in D minor, op. 30 What can one say. This consiedered by many experts to be the definitive recording of this work. Rachmaninoff in fact never played this work in public after hearing Horowitz play it in 1928.

The account of the 3rd concerto by Rach. is the most flawless and electrical account I have heard on record. He "smokes" the work. The 1st movement cadenza makes your hair stand on end. The 3rd movement is taken at a wonderfully flying tempo. This is a work that every pianist should have in their collection.