Search - Frederic Chopin, Domenico Scarlatti, Sergey Rachmaninov :: Vladimir Horowitz: The Indispensable

An Effective Horowitz Grab-Bag

Hank Drake | Cleveland, OH United States | 02/02/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The recordings in this 2-CD set cover a span of 40 years of Horowitz's career, and demonstrate nearly all of the great pianist's virtues and shortcomings.



On the plus side, there are his elegant performances of Scarlatti, recorded live in spectacular digital sound in 1981. Hearing Horowitz play the baroque composer, one is easily convinced of the pianist's argument that this music needs the piano--and a master pianist--to bring it to life.



Several of Horowitz's legendary Liszt arrangements are here, also. Most successful are his arrangements of Liszt's warhorse Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 (where, among other things, Horowitz plays all three themes at once) and his leonine version of the Rakoczy March (which sounds more like Berlioz's orchestration than Liszt's piano version). Somewhat less successful is the Mephisto Waltz (recorded in comcert in 1979): demonic it is, but with many technical baubles.



Horowitz's Chopin was always a mixed bag, and so it is here. Why RCA chose to include the pianist's 1982 versions of Chopin's Polonaise-Fantasie and First Ballade is incomprehensible. Horowitz was in ill health and heavily medicated when these recordings were made, and the performances suffer badly. More noteworthy are two Scherzos and other short works recorded in the 1950s.



The Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, and Moszkowski pieces are wonderful examples of Horowitz doing what he did best, tossing off Romantic piano music with electric elegance, and the occasional bit of divine madness. But the highlight for many will be the last work on this set, Horowitz's own arrangement of Sousa's Stars and Stripes Forever. How two hands could produce such sonorities is still a thing of wonder.



The sound varies, understandably considering the various recording dates. Some reverberation has been added to the drier mono recordings, but they needed it. It is hoped that RCA will stop tantalizing us with bits and pieces from their vaults, and give Horowitz the red carpet treatment they recently afforded Arthur Rubinstein. Horowitz deserves no less."

A Mix of Sensitive, Passionate, and Vulgar Playing...

Al Magliano | Nesconset, NY USA | 07/07/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Horowitz has always been a controversial figure in the music world, and this CD can help explain why. It abounds in obscene playing of Chopin (it's an almost painful experience to listen to the reading of the first Ballade) and contains some ridiculously eccentric Liszt (it sounds as if Horowitz plays the last two chords of the first Mephisto Waltz with his elbows). Apart from these shenanagins, however, Horowitz offers up several sparkling Scarlatti Sonatas, beautifully passionate Scriabin Etudes, and demonically exciting original transcriptions such as The Stars and Stripes Forever and the Carmen Variations. The two other Liszt selections are also very entertaining. My rating of three stars is based on the overall quality of playing on this particular album and not on my opinion of Horowitz in general. Still, this recording is worth the money for the few treats I have mentioned."

Largely Dispensable

Stephen G Bowden | NC School of the Arts | 06/12/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Beginning with a rather tinny Polonaise-Fantaisie, Horowitz follows it up with three relatively stunning Scarlatti sonatas. I am terrified by his reading of the Rachmaninoff G Minor prelude, he uses practically NO pedal at all. The Hungarian Rhapsody by Liszt is borderlining on out of control throughout, as is typical by Horowitz. The Chopin B Major Nocturne is one of the few highlights on this first disc.Horowitz's Mephisto Waltz has always been horrific, blaring and, dare I say, bangy. I still can not fathom how the greatest pianist of the twentieth century could play a piece so poorly! The highlights of the second disc are certainly the Scriaban preludes. In concurrence with a previous reviewer, the Chopin Ballade is by no means acceptable. If you are looking for the best recording of this piece, Horowitz Live and Unedited, the recording of the 1965 Carnegie Hall return concert, is absolutely unsurpassable.RCA squeaked out a three-star rating with some fine selections, but others are, simply . . . not good. If you are looking for Horowitz at his best, the previously mentioned "Live and Unedited" CD is the best of his I own, out of about 12 CD's."