Horowitz had played the 1913 version of the work for his graduation recital from the Kiev Conservatory, not to mention in many of his concerts in the earlier years.  Interestingly, after the final piece of that graduation recital, Liszt's Don Juan Fantasy, "the entire panel of teachers all stood up, the first time in the history of the conservatory." as stated by Horowitz. In 1931, when he saw the revision, he, along with others, realized the piece had changed, possibly too much.  It was no longer in the 'grand manner' that is so often associated with Rachmaninoff's works.  Horowitz prepared a combination of the two versions and presented it to Rachmaninoff; Rachmaninoff readily agreed.  My best description of the revision is that Horowitz kept many of the cuts that Rachmaninoff made, but when Rachmaninoff changed passagework, Horowitz used the revised version.  There are of course, excpetions, but this is an aproximate description. 

Charles Kurault once said to Horowitz "Rachmaninoff said you played his second sonata better than he did." To which Horowitz replies "Third Concerto! Yeah, that's true."

Horowitz played this work in concert in the West for the first time during the 1967-68 season. During the mid 70's, he frequently performed the third movement as an encore. He played the entire sonata for the 1979-80 season. He played it, I believe, for the last time in public in London at the charity concert for Prince Charles on May 28, 1982. For those who wish to perform to Horowitz's ideals, he favored his 1980 recording with RCA over the 1968 on Columbia (Sony).  He said that it wasn't better or worse, but "it's different." 

The picture shows Horowitz after striking the last chords at the end of his last performance of this sonata. Regarding the later performances of this work, it was said that 'the years just fell away.' Horowitz was already 78 in 1982. Around 1987, Horowitz seriously considered recording this work again.  He said to David Dubal, "I can still do it!" Unfourtunately we never had the opportunity to hear this impression of the piece.  One of the great losses in recorded music.

It was once said of Horowitz regarding this piece especially that he was guilty of the "heinus crime of making music sound better than it is." I feel, instead, that it took a Horowitz to really know what Rachmaninoff was saying in this piece and to express it effectively.

There is a funny anecdote regarding Horowitz and this piece. In a live performance in 1968 Horowitz was in the middle of the second movement and a string broke on his Steinway (CD 186) Horowitz turned this tragedy into an opportunity. That is to say, when his tecnician (Franz Mohr) came out to replace the string Horowitz leaned over and said "Take your time, this is really good!" He then picked up slightly before where he left off, without begining the movement and completed what even critics say was his most powerful and lucid performance of the work.

Third movement coda from Horowitz's live November 24, 1968 performance.

May 1968 Pirate Recording

Only big change is in the first movment:

1980 RCA Recording

1982 Horowitz in London Video Recording

Very similar to 1980 above, with the following alterations:

• Horowitz plays the original version in the first movement from measures 1-62. (He plays the extra notes in measures in A 24 and A 26 that aren't in B 24 and B 26))
• Horowitz finishes the first movement with the original, he doesn't skip back and play B 137-138.
• Horowitz adds a significant segment in the second movement that he hadn't played in the other recordings and cuts out another part. He finishes A 34 then plays from B 35-B 37.  He then returns to the revised version at A 46 and plays the "new" part through A 55 and then jumps to A 62 and contiunues as shown for the 1980 recording.
• Instead of repeating measure A 68 two times he repeats it five times.

Further Minor Alterations

• Starting in measure 371 Horowitz begins a chromatic scale in the bass. Instead of playing the B flats at the begining of each of the following measures, he starts by playing an octave on the lowest F then up to G flat in 373, G in 375, A flat in 376, A in 377, finally just before the descending sixteenth note chords he reaches the goal, the B flat

• Horowitz adds another measure of the descending sixteenth note chords after measure 382 and in the later recordings he added another measure still of sixteenth notes repeating the last chords.(see image below)

• Horowitz adds a very effective embellishment at the beginning of the last measure. The following is my working approximation:
  
  • Left => the lowest F-Bb-D-F chord, ie the second such chord below middle C
  • Right => Bb-F-D-Bb, the first such chord below middle C
  • Left => B flat ocatves and then the closing two octave jumping chords of the final measure.

There is something different about the 1980 recording in this passage, it's probably wrong notes, but it really sounds fantastic almost cataclysmic. Play it fast, play it loud! This is up in the air, since it sounds a little different depending on the recording you are listening to.  After viewing the video of the London performace,  I'm not so sure what he plays.

Many other pianists use this embellishment as well. (Marc-Andre Hamelin, Ruth Laredo)

Here's a picture of the last bars, Horowitz style.

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