Horowitz Plays Liszt (Limited Edition) [Box-Set]

Bad news first. There is absolutely nothing new here, and the collection is incomplete. Perhaps we are rather unwise to ask for 'new' recordings of Horowitz since quite a few previously unreleased ones have appeared in the last decade or so, and complete completeness would probably have swelled this collection with too many repetitions of the same work (especially from the late years where almost every concert of Horowitz was recorded and few were even released commercially). I am also rather glad that most of Horowitz's early recordings for EMI from the 1930s are missing here, including his legendary Sonata. Now the historical importance of this recording is indisputable - after all, it was made in a very hostile anti-Lisztian times and it later inspired Leslie Howard himself - but artistically the recording is rather ordinary; it has too much of Liszt and too little of Horowitz. The same, but aggravated, may be said of Horowitz's early recording of 'Funerailles': no match for the later one from 1950 (fortunately included here). That said, to omit Horowitz's late - and glorious - recording for DG of Schubert-Liszt's 'Valse caprice No. 7' is baffling; to omit his astonishing rendition of 'Ständchen' is a crime against music.

Never mind. On the positive side, the collection is almost complete and includes almost all of Horowitz's Liszt recordings, among which are some of his most beautiful and some of his most controversial ones. Despite the lack of completeness, the set doesn't shy away from multiple versions. So we get here two Sonatas in B minor (1949, 1977), two 'Au bord d'une source' (1949, 1975), two versions of Petrarch's 104th sonnet (1951, 1986), two versions of the Sixth Hungarian rhapsody (1947, 1951) and no fewer than five versions of 'Valse oubilee No. 1' (1930, two from 1950, 1975, 1986). None of these are identical - indeed, versions separated by decades are extremely different - and they all make fascinating comparison. So far as I can notice, no new remastering has been applied to any of the recordings, nor is there much need of it.

The box set is handsomely produced, the discs being inserted in a hardcover booklet. Apart from track listing and recording dates/locations, there is only one short but very perceptive essay by Jeremy Siepman in which he analyses the artistic personalities of Liszt and Horowitz in a most perspicacious manner, especially considering the limited space. Horowitz completists would probably have all these recordings already, but at such a great bargain price they might want to have these treasures collected together in a more or less fine chronological way. For newcomers to Horowitz the set, though limited to Liszt only, is an excellent introduction to the artistry of one of the most unique pianists of the last century. For a couple of bucks you get nearly four hours of music here; timings: 73:40, 60:42, 51:54, 54:51 (I didn't make the last two up).

Now let's have a look inside each of the four discs. In round brackets: year of recording. In square brackets: other editions where the recording in question can be found; all of them, of course, can also be found in the gigantic 'Original Jacket Collection' (70 CDs).

CD 1: CBS Studio Recordings and Horowitz's Return to Carnegie Hall.

Consolation No. 2 (1962)
[Sony Classical SK 53471: The Complete Masterworks Recordings, Volume VIII: The Romantic & Impressionist Era]

Hungarian rhapsody No. 19 (1962)
[Sony Classical S2K 53457: The Complete Masterworks Recordings, Volume I: The Studio Recordings 1962-1963]

Scherzo and March (1967, live)
[Sony Classical SK 53471: The Complete Masterworks Recordings, Volume VIII: The Romantic & Impressionist Era]

Valle d'Obermann (1966, live)
[Sony Classical S3K 53461: The Complete Masterworks Recordings, Volume III: The Historic Return - The 1966 Concerts]

Sonata in B minor (1977, live)
[RCA Victor 09026-61415-2: Horowitz plays Liszt]

Au bord d'une source (1975, live)
Valse oubilee No. 1 (1975, live)
[RCA Victor 82876-50749-2: Horowitz reDiscovered]

Even though these recordings were made in little over a decade, there is nothing unifying about them - highly characteristic for Horowitz, Liszt and especially the combination of both. Diversity is the word indeed. Those unfortunate fellows (for they don't know what they're missing) who still regard Horowitz merely as just another banger should listen to 'Au bord d'une source', Valse oubilee No. 1 and Consolation No. 2 on this disc. Horowitz's passion for revisions has often been criticised, too, but his rendition of the 19th Hungarian rhapsody remains classic all the same, and the powerful 'Scherzo and March' (Horowitz's editing being denounced by Leslie Howard himself) is among the finest on record as well. But the real gem here is the absolutely stupendous 'Valle d'Obermann' recorded live in Carnegie Hall in 1966. Only Arcadi Volodos has ever come close (but remains firmly at second place all the same) to Horowitz's blend of explosive pianism and fine musicianship in this particular piece. In short, one of these recordings that has to be heard to be believed. So is the Sonata on this disc. Much venom has been spilt on this recording - 'parody' it has been called - but I still consider this to be, perhaps, the finest of Horowitz's three currently available recordings. To be sure, this is a highly idiosyncratic performance, much more so than is typical for Horowitz, partly because in the late 1970s and early 1980s his playing was often compromised by going way over the top, but for me this recording remains a towering achievement. Very few pianists have captured the Romantic grandeur of the Sonata as Horowitz does here. His earlier live recording from 1949 (CD 3), though in greatly inferior sound and rather more conventional as an interpretation, does rival the majestic proportions of the later one.

The real problem with this recording of the Sonata - as well as with other live recordings of Horowitz from the late 1970s and the early 1980s (see CD 2) - is the sound. It is strikingly different than the gorgeous sonority of the live recordings from the late 1960s recorded by Columbia, and I am not sure Horowitz is more to blame than the RCA recording engineers. The bass is almost always overblown and the high register is almost always underpowered. The resulting (dis)balance is pretty jarring indeed.

CD 2: The Last Decade.

Consolation No. 3 (1979, live)
Mephisto Waltz No. 1 (1979, live)
Ballade No. 2 (1981, live)
[RCA Victor 09026-61415-2: Horowitz plays Liszt]

Soiree de Vienne, No. 6 (1986, live)
Sonetto 104 del Pertrarca (1986, live)
Valse oubilee No. 1 (1986, live)
[Sony Classical 88697573532 (2 CD): Das legendäre Berliner Konzert/The Legendary Berlin Concert]

Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen (1989)
Wagner-Liszt: Isolde's Liebestod (1989)
[Sony Classical SK 45818: The Last Recording]

Here the disparagement only too apparent in the first disc becomes almost outrageous. Talking of controversial interpretations, here is by far the most bizarre of all Liszt recordings Horowitz ever made: Mephisto Waltz No. 1. Leaving aside that this is a quite unique Liszt-Busoni-Horowitz version, everybody apparently thought that the previous version was not virtuoso enough for his fingers, nearly every bar of this performance is very weirdly played indeed. Yet I am glad that this recording, bizarre as it may be, is included here. The contrast with the simplicity of Consolation No. 3 could not have been greater. The Second Ballade also has Horowitz's awesome power, but the interpretation is a great deal more musical and subtle than that of Howard or Ciccolini, for example. For my part, this is of the finest interpretations on disc of this brilliant work.

The rest of the disc dates from the second half of the 1980s, that is after Horowitz's horrible mental breakdown and miraculous recovery, and therefore is hugely different than the rest. Volodya was still capable of great technical feats, but the fire and brimstone of the early years were gone, substituted with poetic tranquillity such as Horowitz's playing had never known before.

I am not sure the three pieces from Horowitz's concert in the hall of the Berlin Philharmonic in 1986 should have been here. There is a finer studio recording for DG of the last piece, and the first two were included in Horowitz's now legendary Moscow recital in 1986 where he played (and DG recorded) them miraculously. Nevertheless, these Berlin performances are almost as fine and the recording sound is first-rate.

The last two pieces come from Horowitz's 'Last Recording', as it was issued by SONY, and these recordings were indeed made literally days before Horowitz's death in November 1989, aged 86. It is difficult to disentangle the music from the extra-musical associations inevitably attached to it. But if one tries, one may well discover some of the most extraordinary versions of these poignant pieces on record - especially for such an age and at the end of such a career. Astonishingly, both pieces were new to Horowitz's discography - as well as all other pieces of 'The Last Recording'. I doubt that there are, or ever were, many pianists who could show such passion for learning at the age of 89, after nearly seven decades of active career.

CD 3: Horowitz at Carnegie Hall - Early Live Recordings.

Hungarian rhapsody No. 6 (1951)
[Original Jacket Collection (70 CDs)]

Hungarian rhapsody No. 2 (1953)
[RCA, Horowitz: The Indispensable (2 CDs)]

Sonata in B minor (1949)
[RCA/SONY, Horowitz: The Private Collection; together with Mussorgsky's 'Pictures']

Consolations Nos. Lesen Sie weiter... ›

Ein absolutes Muss! Einen besonderen Hinweis verdienen dieselben Stücke, die im Laufe der Jahre und Jahrzehnte mehrfach eingespielt wurden und zum interpretatorischen Vergleich nebeneinander stehen.