Horowitz: Legendary RCA Recordings

Horowitz: Legendary RCA Recordings

Horowitz: Legendary RCA Recordings
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Composer: Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky
Composer: Sergey Rachmaninov
Composer: Frederic Chopin
Composer: Robert Schumann
Composer: Alexander Scriabin
Composer: Moritz Moszkowski
Composer: Vladimir Horowitz
Composer: Sergey Prokofiev
Composer: Muzio Clementi
Composer: Francis Poulenc
Composer: Domenico Scarlatti
Composer: Franz Liszt
Conductor: Arturo Toscanini
Conductor: Fritz Reiner
Orchestra: NBC Symphony Orchestra
Orchestra: RCA Victor Orchestra
Orchestra: RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra
Performer: Vladimir Horowitz
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2003-11-04
Music Label: RCA
Soundtracks:
Music CD 1
  1. Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor, Op. 23: Allegro non troppo e molto maestoso
  2. Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor, Op. 23: Andantino simplice
  3. Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor, Op. 23: Allegro con fuoco
  4. Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30: Allegro ma non tanto
  5. Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30: Intermezzo. Adagio
  6. Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30: Finale. Alla breve
Music CD 2
  1. Polonaise-fantasy for piano No. 7 in A flat major, Op. 61, CT. 156
  2. Kinderszenen No. 7 ('Träumerei'), for piano, Op. 15/7
  3. Prelude for piano in D flat major, Op. 48/3
  4. Prelude for piano in G flat major, Op. 11/13
  5. Prelude for piano in F sharp minor, Op. 15/2
  6. Ã?tincelles, for piano, Op. 36/6
  7. Mazurka for piano No. 21 in C sharp minor, Op. 30/4, CT. 71
  8. Variations on a Theme from Bizet's 'Carmen', for piano
  9. Toccata for piano in D minor, Op. 11
  10. Nocturne for piano No. 2 in E flat major, Op. 9/2, CT. 109
  11. Capriccio for piano in C major, Op. 47/2: Rondo
  12. Presto for piano in B flat major, FP 70
  13. Prelude for piano No.16 in G major, Op. 32/5
  14. Piano Sonata No. 3 in F minor ('Concerto Without Orchestra'), Op. 14: Wieck Variations
  15. Sonata for keyboard in F minor, K. 184 (L. 189)
  16. Sonata for keyboard in A major, K. 101 (L. 494)
  17. Mephisto Waltz (I & II), for piano No. 1 (Der Tanz in der Dorfschenke), S. 514 (LW A189)
  18. Etude for piano in D sharp minor, Op. 8/12

Music reviews of Horowitz: Legendary RCA Recordings

Music Review: Best of Horowitz
Rating: 5 Stars

Those of us who were fortunate to SEE as well as hear pianist Vladimir Horowitz perform in concert will long remember the quiet, nervous, and rather timid man who slowly walked on the stage. When I saw him at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland in 1978, he hadn't played on the West Coast in many years. Actually, Horowitz was absent from concert halls for years, only making recordings, either for RCA Victor or Columbia.

His Oakland appearance was recorded by RCA and portions of the concert were included in the commercial releases; the engineers would take the best from various performances and cleverly edit them together to give a strong performance. Actually, Horowitz was absolutely dazzling once he sat down at the piano. Despite the initial tentative appearance, he really came to life when he began to play. He was a living legend by 1978 and he did not disappoint the audience. Fortunately, recordings such as those included in this two-CD set give excellent examples of his virtuoso playing.

The 1941 recording session of Tchaikovsky's first piano concerto was made in Carnegie Hall with the NBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Horowitz's father-in-law, Arturo Toscanini. Yes, Horowitz had married Wanda Toscanini. One wonders what Toscanini thought about having Horowitz in his family. It's clear, however, the Toscanini and Horowitz had great respect for each other and they worked well together. This is quite apparent in this celebrated, very popular recording, originally issued on 78-rpm discs.

By 1941 RCA Victor had reached a new standard in high fidelity, which was only limited by the surface noise of the shellac discs. This digital remastering has reduced the noise slightly while maintaining as much of the fidelity as possible. The performance is very exciting throughout. Given the difficulty of the solo passages, it is amazing how well Horowitz played this music. Toscanini, who only occasionally conducted the music of Tchaikovsky, saw to it that the NBC Symphony provided strong accompaniment throughout. The memorable orchestral interlude in the first movement is especially dramatic and powerful. An interesting comparison is Horowitz's live concert performance (also in Carnegie Hall) with Toscanini and the NBC Symphony from 1943, also released by RCA Victor; that performance is more "fluid" and there is one section in the second movement where Horowitz and the orchestra got a little "out of synch" for a few moments.

Just ten years later, Horowitz recorded Rachmaninoff's third piano concerto with a "pick-up" orchestra of New York musicians conducted by Fritz Reiner. This was recorded in Carnegie Hall on magnetic tape and the sound is much improved. The performance was the second of three recordings that Horowitz made of the concerto and it may be the best of them. Certainly Rachmaninoff himself had admired Horowitz's performances of his music and this clearly demonstrates why.

The other disc includes numerous shorter works, all briliantly played and all evidence of the wonderful playing of Horowitz. Some of them are taken from live performances and have the extra value of showing how well Horowitz played in concert. A special treat is Horowitz's popular arrangement of music from Georges Bizet's "Carmen," one of the most dazzling pieces the pianist ever played. I also enjoyed his fiery performance of Lizst's "Mephisto Waltz," clearly a devilish piece inspired by part of the Faust legend.

This is a wonderful compilation and a good introduction to the excellent playing of Vladimir Horowitz.
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This seems to be RCA's attempt to create the perfect Horowitz sampler. It's a pretty good try. The Tchaikovsky First Concerto, considered definitive in its day, seems more of a technical than musical accomplishment today, but there's no denying the hyper-excitement generated by Horowitz and Toscanini. The Rachmaninov Third is one of Horowitz's great accomplishments, stunningly played and superbly accompanied by Reiner. The solo disc generally plays to Horowitz's strengths, with marvellous playing of such specialties as Schumann, Scriabin, Scarlatti, Rachmaninov, Prokofiev, and Clementi. (Horowitz was the only major pianist to appreciate Clementi, bless him.) The Chopin items include an unfortunately steely-sounding Polonaise-Fantaisie(along with a beautiful Mazurka), and the Liszt Mephisto Waltz gets pretty frantic at moments. Still, hearing this set will give you a well-rounded picture of Horowitz's art. RCA's producer-engineer Jon Samuels has gotten remarkably fine results with some of these antiquities. --Leslie Gerber

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