# Vladimir Horowitz



## Centropolis (Jul 8, 2013)

I am looking for recommendations for a small 2 or 3 CD sets of this great pianist that will give me a very good overview of his important recordings. I would love to get the big 42 CD box or the cmplete oiriginal jackets edition but can't afford to spend the money on that right now.

I don't want the set to focus on one or two composers or just from one period but an overview.

Would this be a really good set if I was to get just one set for now?

http://www.amazon.ca/Great-Moments-...&qid=1411060761&sr=1-1&keywords=0888837686020


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## bigshot (Nov 22, 2011)

It's really too bad the DVD in the Carnegie Hall box set isn't available individually. It is truly electrifying and totally distills what Horowitz was. I would suggest getting the Horowitz in Moscow DVD. When you get a sense of who he was as a person, not just as a disembodied piano sound coming out of speakers, it's easier to grasp his greatness. After that, just get any live concert recordings you happen to see, or early recordings. (With Toscanini in particular)


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

bigshot said:


> It's really too bad the DVD in the Carnegie Hall box set isn't available individually. It is truly electrifying and totally distills what Horowitz was. I would suggest getting the Horowitz in Moscow DVD. When you get a sense of who he was as a person, not just as a disembodied piano sound coming out of speakers, it's easier to grasp his greatness. After that, just get any live concert recordings you happen to see, or early recordings. (With Toscanini in particular)


Horowitz in Moscow? That's a disaster. If you must have one of the 'Last Tour' recordings, there are two from 'Horowitz in Italy' that caught him when the vitamins happened to be working.


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## bigshot (Nov 22, 2011)

No. The Carnegie Hall comeback concert. It is astounding. Never saw anything like it. (well except for Rubinstein in Moscow, but that is differently astounding) Horowitz in Moscow is good for learning about him as a person. He was very old by then, but it was wonderful he was still performing and vital.


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## Varick (Apr 30, 2014)

I have a boat load of single albums of his, but very few compilations and those usually concentrate on a single composer.

Two or three to get a broad spectrum of his works would be:

1. *"Portrait of Vladimir Horowitz"*
- Scarlatti
- Mozart
- Beethoven
- Chopin
- Moszkowski
- Sriabin
- Scriabin
- Horowitz (A variation on a theme from Carmen)

2. *"Prokofiev; Barber; Kabalevsky; Fauré; Poulenc: Piano Works"*

Title pretty much sums it up.

3. *Horowitz "Encores"*
- Horowitz
- Saint-Saëns
- Mozart
- Mendelssohn
- Debussy
- Moszkowski
- Chopin
- Schumann
- Liszt
- Rachmaninoff
- Souza

_"Horowitz in Moscow"_ was an historical moment and recording in music history because it was the first time he had been to his motherland for over 50 (probably much longer, I can't remember) years. Reading the story in the jacket cover brings you to tears, and almost worth buying the CD just for that. However, I think what Ukko may be alluding to is the actual performance. It certainly wasn't his best, but even at that age he could still emote from the piano like no one else. Remember, that Horowitz was one of the only pianists that the NY Times ever forgave for dropping notes. But he always dropped notes throughout his entire career. The man oozed passion, fire, emotion, color, and every other emotional adjective ever ascribed to music, but a technician he was not. But when he nailed a piece... My God!!

A great compilation that has three CD's of his that I do have is called "Emi Recordings Mono 1930-51." The sound is less than stellar but still not horrible. It has a good mix of composers, but if you get the above three, I think that may give you the most variety. Good luck!

V


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

I misfired on the Horowitz in Moscow recorded concert; that was fine. It was the earlier concert in Japan that failed. A friend had to correct me - rather forcibly I thought.


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## Chordalrock (Jan 21, 2014)

The Magic of Horowitz is pretty good. Horowitz had a period of about fifteen years when his playing had declined, reportedly due to use of antidepressants, but then he recovered in the 1980s and I think became even more interesting, although not as technically proficient, as in the 1950s and 1960s. This album collects recordings from this late period, so I'd say it's a must for fans of Horowitz unless you already have them from other sources.


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