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I recently came into possession of a bootleg recording of Mr. Horowitz playing Rachmaninoff's third concerto. The source only told me that it was a 1950s recording, and he didn't know anything else. I was wondering if any of you would be able to have a listen to a part of this recording and see if you could tell me the orchestra and conductor. Venue would be nice too.

Don't get excited, though, I won't be sending the entire concerto for your analysis, as I don't find that necessary. Unless of course, you're able to prove your answer correct, in which case I think we'd be able to work something out.

If you think you could do me this favor, let me know. I'd owe you one.

Thanks,
Anthony

Probably the RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra from 1951 with Fritz Reiner conducting. It's a studio recording.

I don't think so. I was told it was a bootleg recording. A bootleg recording is made (illegally) by an audience member with a tape recorder is his/her pocket. The sound quality is pitiful, but it's fascinating for Horowitz fans such as myself. I actually own the 1951 Reiner recording and it is quite different from this one. It's live, so there are several mistakes.

Update:

Thanks to an extremely comprehensive Horowitz site, I've been able to determine that the recording I have is a pirated (not necessarily bootleg...find the difference between these terms on the website) issue of a 1978 performance with Eugene Ormandy. Problem is, he played this concerto with Ormandy a few times in that year, so I don't know the orchestra or venue.

Incidentally, all Horowitz fans will appreciate this site:

http://web.telia.com/~u85420275/

If Ormandy is conducting, it's the Philadelphia Orchestra. Who knows about the venue, though...I'm sure that the venues in NYC, LA, Ann Arbor, and Philly all underwent some sort of reconstruction between '78 and now, so it's probably imossible to tell based on acoustics alone.

Good find. How does it compare to his studio recordings?

If I'm not mistaken - and I may well be - I don't believe that there were such things as pocket tape recorders in the 1950s. In those days, the recording medium was reel-to-reel, and the smallest reels were around 5" dia., so a reel-to-reel recorder had to have a footprint of at least 12" x 6", and were, in fact much larger.

Not to say that one of these recorders couldn't be the size of a briefcase, but there was not the kind of portable battery power that we know today to drive those machines. I'm hardpressed to imagine how an audience member - unless in "cahoots" with the management of a concert hall - would find the space to set up a recorder.

What about wire recorders? I don't think that they were any smaller.

The first cassette recorders were not on the market until 1965.

Regards,

Sorry, I assumed you meant pirated.
I would be fascinated to see how anyone fit a 50s recording device in their bootleg though.

There was a recorder from the 50's built into a briefcase, sort of spy hardware. The sound quality would have been pretty bad, though. Josef Hofmann's Jubilee concert was a bootleg recording, with a microphone hidden somewhere, and someone changing acetate disks!

My follow-up post said that I'm pretty sure it's a recording from 1978. My first post did assume that tape recorders were present in the 50s, so that was a blonde moment.

It's a great recording. Mono, of course, and the sound overall is surprisingly good for what I'm assuming was a tape recorder. Performance-wise, although mistakes abound, it's certainly Horowitz's own Rach 3.

As far as the orchestra is concerned, that webpage I listed above claims to list Horowitz's complete discography, including unoffical recordings. In 1978 he apparently performed the concerto at Carnegie Hall with Ormandy, but, oddly, under the New York Philharmonic. To find this, go that page, click Chronological Listing, then hit Ctrl+F and search for Pirate Recording: January 8, 1978. That same year he performed in a handful of venues with Ormandy, though most were with Ormandy's Philadelphia Orchestra.

OMG your r IE user wtfbbq?!?!1111

Firefox, actually...it works for me.

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pwned >_>

There are several bootleg Rach 3rds from the 40's-50's, the most impressive being the 1944 performance with Rodzinksi, imo.

koji (STSD)