HOROWITZ Live and Unedited

Horowitz Live and Unedited

The Historic 1965 Carnegie Hall Return Concert

Sony Classical Legacy: SK 93023/0930232001

CD 1

Johann Sebastian Bach/Ferruccio Busoni
1-3. Toccata, Adagio & Fugue in C major, BWV 564

Robert Schumann
4-6. Fantasy in C major, Op.17

Alexander Scriabin
7. Sonata No.9, Op.68 (Black Mass)
8. Poème in F-sharp major, Op.32 No.1

CD 2

Frederic Chopin
1. Mazurka in C-sharp minor, Op.30 No.4
2. Etude in F major, Op.10 No.8
3. Ballade No.1 in G minor, Op.23

Claude Debussy
4. Serenade for the Doll

Alexander Scriabin
5. Etude in C-sharp minor, Op.2 No.1

Moritz Moszkowski
6. Etude in A-flat major, Op.72 No.11

Robert Schumann
7. Träumerei, Op.15 No.7

Robert Schumann
8-20. Kinderszenen, Op.15

Bonus DVD

Franz Liszt
2. Au bord d'une source (excerpt)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
3. Rondo alla Turca (3rd mvt from Sonata No.11 in A major, K.331) (excerpt)

Sergei Rachmaninoff
4. Polka de W.R. (excerpt)

Vladimir Horowitz
5. Variations on a theme from Bizet's opera Carmen (excerpt)

Frédéric Chopin
6. Etude in G-flat major, Op.10 No.5 (Black Key)

Moritz Moszkowski
7. Etude in F major, Op.72 No.6

Franz Liszt
8. Au bord d'une source

- All tracks on CD 1 & tracks 1-7 on CD 2 were recorded live in Carnegie Hall, NYC on May 9, 1965 -
- Tracks 8-20 on CD 2 were recorded in CBS' 30th Street Studio, NYC on November 6, 13, 29 & December 18, 1962 -
- All recordings featured on the Bonus DVD were recorded in Horowitz's NYC appartment in April 1985 -

Welcome Back, Volodya

After years of controversy, Sony has released Vladimir Horowitz's 1965 comeback recital for the first time in unedited form. The return of Horowitz to public performance after an absence of twelve years was the Classical music event of the 1960s. The pianist had been rehearsing in Carnegie Hall for months before he announced a recital, scheduled for May 9, 1965. He had reacquainted himself with the Hall's acoustics, but could not prevent his shaky nerves from asserting themselves on the day of the concert. Horowitz arrived at Carnegie Hall very late, and his tardiness made the audience as nervous as he was. To make matters worse, Columbia Records ordered the Hall's noisy air-conditioning turned off, which quickly turned the packed auditorium into a sauna.

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.

© Hank Drake

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