Customer Reviews

Beethoven: Sonatas

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This CD is a true gem of piano literature. Mr. Horowitz demonstrates his legendary technique, flawless phrasing, and artistic pedaling throughout the works recorded here. His interpretations of the Beethoven Sonatas are very different from Brendel, et al. But they are very musically satisfying in his own unique, personal style. He truly was an uncannily magnificent artist at the piano. And I recommend this CD to anyone who wants to hear world-class playing! I treasure my copy of this CD among by absolute favorites.

This is the most amazing classical piano CD I've ever heard. I played it continually during the first weekend that I owned it. Horowitz makes many other pianists playing these songs sound dull. The Appassionata captivates me.

The technique is awesome, astonishing, impossible (don't give this one to your piano students to copy.) Over time, I've come to appreciate the Alfred Brendel's as musically superior, but the experience of these is not to be missed -- and the first time you hear it, it will knock your socks off!

I'm not an artist. I don't know how to write a review like other reviewers did. Basically I could fall asleep in a classical music concert.

What I can tell you is I LOVE this CD. Mr. Horowitz has brought me into a world which I never appreciated much. It's soooo good. Every time I listen to it, I'd be amazed how wonderful a pianist could be.

If you have a friend like me and you want to help him learn to appreciate classical music, this is what you should give him.

Vladimir Horowitz was not generally known as a great Beethoven interpreter. He played only a few scattered sonatas, the C minor Variations, and the Emperor Concerto.

Horowitz seemed more comfortable in Beethoven's well known "Appassionata" than in any other of the composer's solo works. This 1959 recording (Horowitz's first in stereo) shows a sober Horowitz concentrating on the structure, rather than the drama of the first movement--no heart on sleeve hysteria here! The second movement variations are played as simply and directly as Horowitz can manage. The finale is taken at a sensible tempo--more ma non troppo than allegro. But Horowitz tends to get caught up in detail, rather than maintaining forward motion. His Sony recording, made in 1972, is more successful in this respect.

The other items here were recorded in Horowitz's living room in 1956. They are in mono and the sound is clattery and constricted. Horowitz recorded the ubiquitous "Moonlight" sonata three times-each time at the behest of the recording company which wanted saleable repertoire. This is by far the most successful of his three recordings. The heart of this success lies in the deeply felt first movement-by far the slowest of Horowitz's three recordings. (Legend has it that Horowitz halted production of the record to rerecord the movement which he had initially played at a faster tempo.) The dynamics here are precisely controlled so that the melody is sustained and balanced with the accompaniment. The second movement is played with melancholy grace, while the third is burning with frustration and played at an astonishing tempo. The sonata as a whole emerges as fresh and vital.

The "Waldstein" is less successful. As in Arthur Rubinstein's 1954 recording, Horowitz seems to have overthought the piece. The first movement is played with portentous retards which undermine the motivic underpinning of the piece. The second movement is given with restrained dynamics. But when Horowitz unleashes his fortissimos in the finale, the sound becomes nearly unlistenable (more the fault of the recording engineers than his own). Horowitz's 1972 Waldstein features stricter tempi and far better sound.

Recommended for the "Moonlight" Sonata.

This record gives the opportunity to ear a total different approach to Beethoven music. The more current version of Beethoven music is that of German pianists or pianist of german culture (Fisher, Backaus, Schnabel, Arrau). In this case, we have Beethoven seen by a Russian. The tone is more rich than that of the Germans and the playing often more virtuosistic. German pianists, perhaps, give a rappresentation of the true Beethoven, but i feel that the audition of this record can give new ideas to all music lovers (and pianists!).

Horowtz's talent is beyond descriptions, so I will keep this short. I am a lover of all music and have had a fondness for classical since childhood, to meet me it would surprise you, but especially Beethoven. A must have.

Vladimir Horowitz is one of the greatest pianists of the twentieth century. His magisterial command of the piano is second to none for much of the Romantic repertoire. His Liszt, Scriabin, Schumann, Tchaikovsky, and, particularly, his Rachmaninoff (not to mention his Scarlatti) are superlative, and possibly even definitive. I am much less impressed with his interpretations of the works of the two greatest titans of the keyboard literature, Beethoven and Chopin (who I will refrain from discussing here). In my humble opinion, Horowitz sounds bored with the sonatas on this recording. It's as if he's playing them to fulfill a contractual obligation, not because he actually likes them. His playing is uneven, uninspired, awkward, and generally disappointing. In addition, the recording is harsh, which makes it thoroughly unlistenable. The third movement of Appassionata, with its strange use of rubato and lack of momentum, is particularly distasteful. I own recordings of these sonatas by Brendel, Ashkenazy, Richter, Barenboim, and Frank, and I recommend them all over Horowitz.

To say that Beethoven was an acquired taste of Horowitz in the editorial review is completely inane. His recital performances of op. 31, no. 3 eclipsed that of any other pianist. Even Casadesus was extremely impressed by the remarkable sensitivity that Horowitz brought to this sonata. Distler's comment reflects a basic musical ignorance. Moreover, most taste is acquired.

I have been listening to classical music since I was 12 years old. Horowitz was one of the first pianists I listened to, a 2-LP set on the old RCA Soria Series. I figured that it had to be great, after all, this was RCA Victor and Horowitz was a big, big name, but I did not particularly like what I heard. (I couldn't put my finger on it, but his playing just didn't sound to me as if it "flowed.") I just thought it was me, that I didn't know enough about classical music to understand the genius of Horowitz.

Fifteen years, a college education in music and several piano lessons later, I still didn't "get" Horowitz. My initial impression had turned into an intense dislike. I found (and still find) his style to be crude, lacking not only grace but legato flow, connectivity, "style" if you will. Nor am I alone. Other pianists also dislike Horowitz and consider him merely a media creation. I tend to agree. I have listened, hoping to find a great performance, to dozens of Horowitz recordings as well as seeing him perform on TV. In all of these, I have only found ONE performance that I consider to be great, the 1943 Tchaikovsky Concerto with his father-in-law, Toscanini, conducting.

Otherwise, as far as I am concerned, Vladimir Horowitz was a tuneless pounder--nothing more, nothing less. He had no artistry in him.