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A Vladimir Horowitz Sonata Collection from Sony/BMG · The Piano Maven with Jed Distler

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This is Jed Dissler and welcome to The Piano
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Maven, your friendly podcast guide to piano recordings.
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I apologize for not having any fresh new episodes
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in the last week or so because I was fighting
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a really bad head cold and my voice was totally
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shot, but I am feeling better now. And I'd like
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to talk about a box set. It's a budget box set
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from Sony BMG called Vladimir Horowitz Plays
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Great Sonatas. I doubt that it's in print right
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now, but it is not difficult to source. And in
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fact, all of The Vladimir Horowitz recordings
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that he did for Columbia Masterworks and for
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RCA Victor are relatively easy to source in different
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formats by downloading or streaming and certainly
1:03
in all kinds of physical CD incarnations. What
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I'm talking about are all the commercially released
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discs that Horowitz sanctioned for release or
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those that came out after his death that his
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wife Wanda Horowitz signed off on. Remember there
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was this disc that was called Discovered Treasures?
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It came out in the early 1990s and it consisted
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of unreleased Columbia Masterworks studio recordings
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that I do remember that Wanda Horowitz had sanctioned
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their release, because there was a press event
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when this disc came out at the old Steinway showroom
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on West 57th Street in New York City that was
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promoting the disc, and I distinctly remember
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that Mrs Horowitz was there. I didn't meet her,
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but I did see her at that press event. Anyway,
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Many works that have the word sonata affixed
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to them that Horowitz recorded for Columbia or
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RCA are contained in this box set and no repertoire
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is repeated for works that Horowitz may have
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recorded on more than one occasion for these
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labels. So let's go through this box set. Vladimir
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Horowitz plays great sonatas just to see what
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we get on these ten CDs, because it's a pretty
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good collection. On disc one, we get the Liszt
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Sonata. This is the 1976 performance from St.
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Louis that came out in 1977 in that Horowitz
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concert series. This performance actually draws
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upon both the live performance and rehearsal
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takes from the Powell Theater in St. Louis. And
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there's a lot of personality and a lot of galvanizing
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gestures in this performance, but sometimes the
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phrasing is a little contorted, and there are
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occasional struggles and octave passages. Now
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Horowitz had not played the Liszt sonata in public
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since the late 1940s by the time of this recording,
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so far as I know, and He definitely had not played
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it for at least 20 years, and he was really just
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getting the piece back in his fingers. But the
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Rachmaninoff second sonata on disc one comes
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from Carnegie Hall in December of 1968, and this
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was the one that Sony Columbia originally brought
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out. on an LP called Horowitz Plays Rachmaninoff.
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It's a fabulous performance and I'm actually
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glad that they chose this one over the 1980 RCA
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Victor remake because Horowitz is on better form
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in this earlier performance and he gives an incisive
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and powerfully projected interpretation and Those
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of you who are Horowitz mavens probably know
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that the pianist made his own edition of this
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sonata, combining elements of both the original
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1913 edition and the 1931 revision. CD number
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two starts off with Chopin's sonata number two,
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the Funeral March sonata. This is the 1962 studio
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recording that was on Horowitz's debut disc,
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for Columbia. It's a far better performance than
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the 1950 RCA recording, and I'm glad the Columbia
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remake was chosen. The RCA recording contained
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the first movement repeat, which I generally
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don't think is a good idea. But the 1962 recording
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forgoes the repeat, and in general it's a tighter
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and less fussy interpretation. It has plenty
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of affettuoso moments, but That's to be expected.
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I mean, this is Horowitz, after all. And then
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on this disc, there's the Schumann Concerto without
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Orchestra, which is the piano sonata number three
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in F minor, opus 14. This is the RCA recording
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drawn from Horowitz's live February 1976 Pasadena
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performance that incorporates both live and rehearsal
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takes. This is the one originally issued by RCA
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on LP as the Horowitz Concerts 1975 -76. It also
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contained the Scriabin 5th Sonata, which we'll
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get to in a little while. And this was the first
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Horowitz release after he returned to the RCA
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Victor Fold in 1975. Curiously, the recording
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date on this box says May 1976. I'm not sure
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why, because I'm pretty sure it is the February
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1976 Pasadena concert. But maybe I'm wrong. I
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don't know. I'm too lazy to look it up now. But
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what really matters is that Horowitz is on top
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form in the Schumann and what color and imagination
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and character and how he just keeps the music
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really alive and moving. And there have been
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unedited Horowitz versions of this sonata floating
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around in that box set of live, unissued performances.
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And some people may think that the unedited ones
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are more exciting and risk -taking. But, you
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know, I'm not going to split hairs. I just love
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this performance. Edited, however it may be.
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CD number three. Ah, this is great. This contains
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the classic 12 Scarlatti sonata performances
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recorded in the studio for Columbia in 1964,
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and this was a reference the moment it was released.
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But this disc also contains six sonatas from
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these very sessions that were not released on
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the original album, but they came out on that
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Discovered Treasures disc that I was talking
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about earlier. So that's 18 sonatas in all from
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the studio in 1964. Also on this disc are two
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live sonata performances from 1967 at Brooklyn
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College. F -sharp major Kirkpatrick number 319
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and the G major Kirkpatrick number 260. These
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first were issued in 1989 when Sony brought out
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a live disc of Horowitz concert performances
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that had not been released before, an all repertoire
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that was then new to his recorded body of works.
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CD number four opens with two Scarlatti sonatas,
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the ones that Horowitz played for his 1968 television
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concert recorded. at Carnegie Hall, the E major
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Kirkpatrick number 380 and the G major K -55.
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Then we have the three Scarlatti sonatas recorded
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on Horowitz's second Columbia studio album, which
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was originally titled The Sound of Horowitz,
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that was recorded in November and December 1962.
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And then we have five of the six sonatas from
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his November 1st, 1981 Metropolitan Opera recital.
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One sonata that was part of this group because
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it was originally six sonatas issued. One is
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left out from this group, which is the F minor.
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K -466 because Horowitz had recorded that in
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1964 in the studio, so I guess they didn't want
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to repeat any repertoire. By the way, these Metropolitan
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Opera recordings, when they were first issued,
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they did not contain the repeats, which Horowitz
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had actually played during the concert. The repeats
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were edited out. and the repeats are edited here.
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Eventually, when the complete and unedited November
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1st, 1981 recital was issued in that buck set
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I was talking about earlier, all the repeats
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were restored. And also, On CD number four, we
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have the Sonata No. 49 in E flat by Haydn from
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Horowitz's last recording. And this is when Sony
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Classical had just launched after Sony had taken
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over the Columbia and CBS catalog. We have this
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brand new label, Sony Classical, and a Horowitz
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recording for the label, and it turned out to
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be Horowitz's first and last recording for the
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label because he died just days after the final
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recording sessions for this album. This Haydn
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performance is lovely and relaxed and gorgeously
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inflected. Also on this disc, we have the Haydn
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sonata in F major from Carnegie Hall from 1966.
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It's just beautiful. And from the Philadelphia
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Academy of Music in 1968, a fabulous live recording
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of the two movement sonata in C major. That long
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opening movement is just played so eloquently,
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and the rondo is so pointed and witty. This is
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terrific Haydn playing, and Horowitz is on great
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form. I guess I'm still a little bit stuffed
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up, but at least I have my voice, more or less.
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A few days ago I sounded like a basso profundo.
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CD number five. It opens with the Mozart sonata
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and A major, crucial 331, the one with the rondo
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alla turca. And this is Horowitz at his most
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affettuoso, but it's all very musical. I like
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it very much. Then we have the C major sonata,
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opus 33, number three, by Clementi, which comes
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from his 1979 and 1980 concerts. The performance
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is a little hard tone and mannered, but, you
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know, it's still Horowitz and Clementi. But the
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three individual Clementi Sonata movements that
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Horowitz recorded in the studio for Columbia
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that were posthumously released are all here.
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The B -flat rondo and A major adagio and an E
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-flat rondo. And I think these are more representative
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about Horowitz's way with Clementi. CD number
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six contains the Columbia 1972 studio recordings
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of Beethoven's Moonlight, Waldstein, and Appassionata
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sonatas. The Moonlight is a bit fussy and contrived,
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but I think that the other two, the Waldstein
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and the Appassionata, really, really improve
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on Horowitz's 1950s RCA versions because they're
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actually more scrupulous in terms of following
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the text as far as phrasing and dynamics, but
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this kind of attention actually strengthens the
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performance's musical profile, at least to my
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ears. However, CD number seven contains what
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I think is Horowitz's most convincing studio
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Beethoven performance for Columbia Masterworks.
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It's the Pathetique Sonata, a 1963 recording.
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And it has outsized dynamics and some effetuoso
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legato phrasings, that's true, but I think the
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music can easily absorb these gestures, because
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it's very theatrical in many ways. And also here
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is the 1959 RCA studio recording of the Beethoven
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Op. 10 No. 3 Sonata in D major. This is a classic
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Horowitz recording, and it's stylistically aware,
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but it's always heartfelt and expressive. I really,
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really like this performance a lot, and it's
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really held up for me. Also on this disc is the
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live 1967 Sonata No. 28, Opus 101. It's an interesting
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interpretation. although sometimes I feel that
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the details are a bit overwrought and underlined
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to a fault. It's a little picky and pokey and
14:04
lacking in continuity sometimes, but it's still
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an interesting performance and you cannot deny
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the personality, honestly. You know, it's Horowitz,
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right? CD number eight is all Scriabin, and what
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is there to say except that Horowitz understood
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Scriabin's sense of tension and release and the
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necromantic underbelly of the music. And we have
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here the 1976 live 5th Sonata, the Sonata No.
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9 from Horowitz's historic May 9, 1965 comeback
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recital. We have the great Scriabin 10th Sonata
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from the following year at Kordegi Hall in 1966
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and the 1956 The third sonata, which was recorded
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in Horowitz's home. CD number nine goes back
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to RCA Victor entirely, and the 78 era, the early
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mono LP era. We have the 1947 Mozart Sonata,
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Kershaw III. 32 in F major. This is sparkling
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and singing and technically immaculate Mozart
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playing. It's not the kind of angular Mozart
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that you get from Artur Schnabel. It's more pianistically
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oriented, but I think the approach is very valid
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and very enjoyable. Also on this disc is the
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Schubert B -flat major sonata, the Opus possumus,
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from Horowitz's Silver Jubilee Carnegie Hall
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Concert of February 25, 1953. This always has
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been a controversial recording, and it still
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is. A lot of Schubert specialists and purists
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like to disparage Horowitz for his agogic phrasings
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and his smoldering contabiles. And the word effetuoso
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comes to mind. The performance does lack simplicity,
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I have to admit, and it is full of artifice.
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But yet Horowitz does make this conception work.
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I feel that he really thought through everything
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that he did. He really planned what he did. I
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never get a sense that his interpretive transgressions
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are capricious. I used to argue all the time
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with my friend, the late Harris Goldsmith, who
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could not stand this performance. And of course,
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he considered Schnabel and Leon Fleischer his
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benchmarks, and understandably so. But one does
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need virtuosity in this piece, and listen to
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Horowitz really play those left -hand accompaniments
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so clearly and evenly, and that's easier said
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than done. Also those dotted chords in the finale,
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how Horowitz totally nails them, and they make
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quite a dramatic and powerful impact. Whereas
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in the same passage, in a schnabel, is a little
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bit flustered, shall we say. Also on this ninth
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disc, there are two Scarlatti sonatas recorded
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in 1946 that Horowitz did not otherwise record
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for Columbia nor RCA. The E major Kirkpatrick
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46 and the E major Kirkpatrick 20, which he plays
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at the Carl Taussig arrangement, which was perfectly
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fine. Why not? And last but not least, CD number
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10. This is all 20th century music and all vintage
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Horowitz at his best. The Prokofiev 7th Sonata.
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This was his famous 1945 recording. I think this
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was the world premiere recording. I re -listened
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to it recently and I had not realized until just
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now that Horowitz adds a tiny, tiny repetition
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of a pattern in the first movement. I mean, not
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that it really matters that much. It's like an
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extra measure or maybe an extra half a measure.
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I can't remember. But I never caught this until
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just recently, and I never heard any critic mention
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it. Also, on this disc, the Kabalevsky third
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sonata recorded in 1947. Not the greatest piece
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of music in the universe, but Horowitz convinces
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you that it is great. And then we have the world
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premiere recording of Samuel Barber's piano sonata.
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And this is a work that Horowitz premiered in
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December of 1949. And he recorded the sonata
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in the studio in the spring of 1950. Barber himself
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was blown away by this recording and the sheer
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power and mastery and instinctive feeling that
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Horowitz had for Barber's neo -romantic yet very
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disciplined workmanship all comes through this
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performance and it still communicates like crazy.
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So if all of this repertoire attracts you, And
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you don't have any of these Horowitz recordings,
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and they interest you, and if you can find this
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10 -disc box set at a reasonable price, I would
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say go for it. This is Jed Dissler, and you've
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been listening to The Piano Maven, your friendly
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podcast guide to piano recordings. Thanks so
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much for tuning in, and I look forward to being
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with you for our next episode.