I got my Gilels Tchaikovsky 1 dvd in the mail the other day, and have become completely enthralled by the nostalgia of it. I also have the Richter Toronto performance of Brahms, Prokofiev, and Ravel, which I cherish just as much. It's sort of ironic how I value the black and white video, crappy sound quality, and corny camera work as a benefit, but imo it just adds to the experience of watching these, what we refer to as, "greats" in their younger years.

I've also seen a couple of the b&w Cziffra vids that surface every now and then on various internet forums, and those are also quite amazing.

Basically the point of this post is to find out what other nostalgic video recordings are out there. The newer colour videos of Richter, Horowitz, Rubinstein, etc are still great and all, even though they are somewhere around 70 , but I'd like to find out what's out there of these guys in their youth. Any suggestions? What do you think of the ones you have in your collection? Are they still among your favs despite the poor(er) quality? I'd really like to order some more on Amazon in the near future, it'd be great if you could help me out.

DID SOMEONE MENTION GILELS??



I really like the Cziffra sound check he does, acquired that one and was well impressed.

Do you mean the one at the BBC? I've got the rest of that "recital" which includes Bach Busoni's D major P&F, two Scarlatti sonatas, Schumann's Toccata, and Liszt's 2nd Polonaise, 6th Hungarian Rhapsody, and...hmm seems like I'm forgetting something. Maybe not.

Also, there's the EMI: Classics DVD of him playing a recital at Theatre des Champs-Elysees, some studio recs at ORTF, and finally a really touching rendition of Franck's Symphonic Variations with his son and a Pleyel. It's all excellent footage!

To top it off, there's a bonus clip of Moiseiwitch playing one of the best Liszt/Wagner Tannhauser Overtures I've heard, in appropriately grainy black and white (for the nostalgia buffs! Myself included), and that even makes the price of admission worth it for people who aren't too keen on Cziffra. Or so I'm told.

Are there any oldies of Cliburn or Horowitz out there? I've only seen the ones of Horowitz when he's older, and none of Cliburn.

There is a Video of Cliburn's Tchaikovsky 1st at the Tchaikovsky Competition, there is also likely a video of his Rachmaninoff 3rd performance from the competition as well. These are likely VERY hard to find.

As for Horowitz, there is a great video of him playing at the White House for President Carter. He plays the Chopin 2nd Sonata and some great Encores.

Also, the Horowitz Broadcast from London where he plays the Rach 2nd Sonata, Chopin Ballade 1 and Polonaise Fantasie, Schumann Kinderszenen and some Scarlatti.

Heh, I forgot about my Glenn Gould videos. :rolleyes: They are all very priceless to me. I'm watching his Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 right now, and his first movement cadenza/solo (what ever you want to call it) is awesome. Really shows how climatic values can be brought to music without using excessive volume to illustrate them.

Oh yeah, not to harp too much on Cziffra, but there's also a reaaaaaaaally old recording out there somewhere from a French TV show of him playing when he was 12, studying at the Liszt Academy in Budapest. He plays Schubert's Ab major impromptu, op. 90 no. 4 I believe. Amazing, to say the least. It's also one of my favourite interpretations of that piece, incidentally, although I haven't seen the video in ages.

I would kill to see these videos... literally. Even if I just got to watch them once. How do you know these videos exist, and/or have you seen them?

I have seen clips of the Tchaikovsky, and it only makes sense that the Rachmaninoff performance was recorded also.

I'm not sure I'd kill for them. The audio recordings are enough for me.

Should it interest anyone, British Pathe has some brief clips of Cliburn in both a Tchaikovsky 1st and a 1960 Rachmaninoff 3rd performance:

http://www.britishpathe.com/product_display.php?searchword=cliburn

Emphasis on the word "brief", I'm afraid, but at least they're free to download.


David

The one where he looks like Quasimodo?