Horowitz Live and Unedited [includes Bonus DVD]

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Music reviews of Horowitz Live and Unedited [includes Bonus DVD]

Music Review: Welcome Back, Volodya
Rating: 5 Stars

Thus, the odds were against Horowitz when he stepped on stage to a tumultuous welcome. To deny the fact that his nerves got the better of him during the opening trial-by-fire Bach-Busoni Toccata is to deny reality. Mixed in with the grandeur of Horowitz's conception, and the dazzle of some passages, are numerous slips of finger. This recording serves to illustrate the fact that the merits of live and studio recordings are weighed in different scales. (There exists in RCA's vaults a 1950 studio recording from Horowitz which outdoes the 1965 version both musically and technically, but it has never been released.)

Schumann's Fantasy is given a rich, vibrant, and ardent performance, which recalls the composer's passionate love for Clara Wieck. The first movement features an array of tonal color which Horowitz could never achieve in the recording studio; in the March Horowitz brings to the fore Schumann's almost obsessive dotted rhythms. The most controversial edit of the original LP was during the coda of this march, a treacherous spot for any pianist. The unedited version proves that Horowitz's lapse was not the catastrophe some have claimed, but merely a few brief baubles. The final movement has some of the most moving playing, by turns reflective and exultant, Horowitz ever achieved.

In Scriabin's Sonata No. 9, and Poeme, Horowitz is in his element. Beyond the demonic/erotic temperament required for these works, Horowitz's Scriabin is also notable for its pianistic clarity, architectural solidity, and faithfulness to the score (one can almost take dictation from Horowitz's playing).

Horowitz recorded more Chopin than any other composer. By 1965, Horowitz was long regarded as one of the great Mazurka players, and the Mazurka here (C-sharp Minor) illustrates why. The pianist was able to balance the dance/poetic elements, preventing the Mazurka from sounding either straightjacketed or chaotic. The same can be said of the Etude in F, two minutes of musical ecstasy. Horowitz ended his 1965 program with the Ballade in G-minor, giving a performance which was by turns poetic, soaring, and epic.

The four encores from the 1965 concert demonstrate Horowitz's increased subtlety in the brooding Scriabin Etude, simplicity in the Debussy Serenade and Schumann's Träumerai, and the "old Horowitz" in the rippling Moszkowski Etude.

There is something about the release of this album in unedited form which reveals the recital to be a greater whole than the sum of its parts. Sony should consider further untouched releases from its live catalogue. Despite some overly close microphone placement, this recording captures the unique sound of Horowitz performing in Carnegie Hall (until its acoustics were spoiled in 1986, Horowitz's favorite American concert hall). The remastering has opened up the dynamics, and the piano sound is fuller than in previous issues.

Description of Horowitz Live and Unedited [includes Bonus DVD]

Classical CDs

• Music > Styles
• Dance & Electronic