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Vladimir Horowitz: The complete solo European recordings, 1930-1936 | 
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| Creators: Ludwig Van Beethoven, Ferruccio Busoni, Frederic Chopin, Claude Debussy, Franz Joseph Haydn, Franz Liszt, Francis Poulenc, Sergey Prokofiev, Sergey Rachmaninov, Nikolai Rimsky-korsakov, Domenico Scarlatti, Robert Schumann, Igor Stravinsky, Vladimir Horowitz
Label: Apr UK
Category: Music
List Price: $21.98
Buy New: $13.24
You Save: $8.74 (40%)
New (10) Used (1) from $13.24
Rating:  1 reviews
Sales Rank: 127787
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 2
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
EAN: 5024709160044
ASIN: B000MEYHDU
Release Date: April 10, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: BRAND NEW Factory Sealed - Ready to be shipped within 24 hrs from California - Average 5 workdays delivery time - Excellent customer service - Buy with confidence!
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| Tracks:
Disc 1
| • | Grave - Doppio movimento | | • | Lento assai - Allegro energico - Grandioso | | • | Andante sostenuto - Quasi adagio | | • | Allegro energico - Piu mosso | | • | (cantando espressivo) - Stretta quasi Presto - Presto - Prestissimo | | • | Andante sostenuto - Allegro moderato - Lento assai |
Disc 2
| • | Allegro | | • | Adagio | | • | Presto | | • | No. 2 Toccata | | • | Danse Russe |
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| Customer Reviews:
The Young Horowitz May 11, 2007
Hank Drake (Cleveland, OH United States)
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
Vladimir Horowitz's earliest recordings, believed by some to be his finest, have been reissued numerous times since their initial appearance over 70 years ago.
This latest reissue contains some classics. The Liszt Sonata has never been equaled and is a must for any serious collector, as is the Funerailles. It's hard to imagine in this day and age that Horowitz's version of Haydn's E-flat sonata was a world premiere recording, but indeed it was. Its relaxed elegance continues to charm, and it remains more musicologically "correct" than Horowitz's 1951 live version. Horowitz was also an early champion of Scarlatti, and the two sonatas here are among the first of "pure" Scarlatti. The pianist preferred his Bach "un-pure", and the Choral Prelude as transcribed by Busoni is a miracle of line separation and clarity. Horowitz's early foray into Beethoven, the 32 Variations in C minor, is more straightforward and successful than many of his later attempts with this composer
Horowitz's early Schumann, though technically impeccable, did not quite plumb the depths as in his later recordings. So much the better then, that the pianist limited himself to recording shorter works, including an Arabeske with unmatched legato, an effortless Toccata, and whimsical Traumeswirren. Originally intended as the finale for Schumann's G minor sonata, the Presto Passionato was rejected by the composer's wife as unplayable. Horowitz makes it sound like child's play. (The piece is marred, however, by a clumsily handled 78RPM side change. Of all the reissues I've heard of this recording, only Pearl's gets the side change right.)
Horowitz once referred to Chopin and "the only truly great composer for the piano" and he invariably included a selection of the Polish master's music in his recitals. The sampling here includes four technically impeccable Etudes, three Mazurkas, and a remarkably up-tempo Scherzo in E major. Also included is a structurally solid first movement from Chopin's b-flat Sonata, which was never completed due to Horowitz's first retirement. Had fate not intervened, this would have been one of the great recordings of the piece.
Horowitz also championed "modern" composers like Rachmaninoff, Poulenc and Prokofiev. It says much about the changing mores of performing that Horowitz (often condemned these days for violating composers' intentions) received nothing but praise from the many composers he knew personally. Prokofiev's Toccata, intended as a filler for Rachmaninoff's Third Piano concerto, was replaced at the last moment in favor of Rachmaninoff's G minor Prelude (a rather sloppy performance). The irony of the two Russian composers sharing an album could not have been lost on Horowitz, given how they disliked each other.
Though advertised as all new transfers from optimum sources, the remastering here sounds suspiciously like EMI's 1990s Horowitz issue (which would explain the bad side change in the Presto Passionato). The sound heavily favors the midrange, the highs are a bit capped, and the bass has very little depth. Unless you have your heart set on the Chopin Sonata movement and Prokofiev Toccata, go with the Pearl.
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