Horowitz in Moscow: Aspects of the original broadcast not included on commercially released videos

Vladimir Horowitz’s concert in Moscow was broadcast on Sunday 20 April 1986 on the weekly CBS Sunday Morning news program, hosted by Charles Kuralt. This was a special two-hour episode called “With Horowitz in Moscow”, starting at 9:00am Eastern Daylight Time in North America. On that broadcast, Kuralt provided commentary between musical selections on the first half. In addition, highlights from Kuralt’s interview with Horowitz in New York the week before the concert were aired. Further, a news story about piano traditions in Russia and the impact of Horowitz’s concerts in the Soviet Union, including an interview with pianist and teacher Sergei Dorensky, was broadcast during intermission. No commentary by Kuralt was included during the second half of the concert, which was broadcast without commercials (unlike the first half). Commentary and commercials resumed following Chopin’s Polonaise, the final work on the printed program. The footage of this concert that is presently posted on other YouTube channels all seems to be from the commercially released videos. They have better audio/video quality than the original television broadcast, and the commercial videos are tightly edited between musical selections, presumably for the sake of continuity and momentum. This posting is devoted exclusively to what was actually broadcast between the musical selections on 20 April 1986. Commercials have been removed, with the exception of a welcome by AT&T (the sponsor of the broadcast) by their spokesperson, John Rubinstein (son of Arthur Rubinstein) at 1:04. I’ve also included a “Read More About It” commercial featuring Van Cliburn that was part of the commercial break following Horowitz’s encore of Schumann’s Träumerei at 26:58. Excerpts from Kuralt’s interview with Horowitz differs from the version on commercial videos. Also, Rachmaninoff’s Polka de W.R. (the second of Horowitz’s three encores) was not included in the original television broadcast. Finally, Horowitz played a brief chord progression immediately before Schumann’s Träumerei. The audience had given him a round of applause after he sat at the piano to offer encores. He interrupted the applause with the chord progression, ending with a modest flourish, at which point the audience laughed. This was not included on any commercially released videos, but is present here at 25:30. Watching the VHS tape I made of Horowitz’s concert that Sunday morning reminded me of how riveting the event was in 1986. I imagine thousands of people, like me, went to bed early the night before in order not to sleep in, and set at least two alarms to be certain not to miss even a second of the unique event and experience. The commercial videos of the concert have been tidied and tightened. This posting of discarded crumbs from the original television broadcast is a reminder of what so many communally shared that Sunday morning in 1986. Reference points: 0:00- introduction to “With Horowitz in Moscow” 1:04- John Rubinstein sponsor announcement for AT&T 2:16- news brief, including portion of Kuralt/Horowitz interview and Horowitz’s arrival in Moscow 7:15- live commentary prior to Scarlatti Sonatas 9:11- bows and live commentary prior to Mozart Sonata 10:09- interview with Horowitz 13:30- live commentary prior to Rachmaninoff preludes 14:30- live commentary prior to Scriabin études 15:09- bows and live commentary at the end of the first half 16:12- news story about piano traditions in Russia and the impact of Horowitz’s concerts in the Soviet Union, including an interview with Sergei Dorensky (produced and narrated by Wyatt Andrews) 23:25- live commentary prior to the start of the second half 25:04- Horowitz returns to the stage to play encores 25:44- live commentary following Schumann’s Träumerei 26:58- “Read More About It” commercial narrated by Van Cliburn 27:28- epilogue with commentary prior to Moszkowski Étincelles ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------