Customer Reviews

Horowitz: Favorite Chopin

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

 

 

Horowitz proves on this CD why he was/is recognized as one of the greatest performers of all time. This CD has a collection of music that ranges from soft and serene to vigorous and powerful. Horowitz himself adds more emotion to each piece, and this CD displays both his talent as a piano player and Chopin's wide variety of composition. Chopin wrote some of the hardest music to play, and very few people can play it well and consistent. Horowitz does both at an extraordinary level. If you like either Chopin or Horowitz, this is a MUST.

This cd is probably the best one cd collection of Chopin's work I have ever heard. The sound quality is excellent. Horowitz at his best. The first track gives me goosebumps. If you are contemplating buying only one classical piano cd, this should be it!

Horowitz was one of the greatest interpreters of the mazurkas and polonaises. He is at home with Chopin in these pieces. And on this record they are plays better than any I have heard. The Scherzo no. 1 is my favorite recording of this work, and I have owned and heard many. No one plays this piece with the fire and as feverishly as Horowitz. The rest of the cd is beautifully played although not as memorable as the others.

The other reviewers have pretty well covered almost everything I could have said. This recording has amazing performances if you like Horowitz, and for some purposes, I do. I realize there are certainly better minds at the keyboard and more subtle performances. Richter is usually my first choice among pianists; he famously said that Horowitz had a great talent and a trivial mind. I have to agree. But after decades of immersing myself in the Ballades, and especially the No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23, I recommend this recording above all others. Horowitz lets it rip, and in just the right way, at just the right moment. When you want real oomph, real emotional impact with pieces like this, there is no one like Horowitz. That Ballade is simply gorgeous, as attested by its central appearance in the movie "Impromptu," about Chopin's life, with Hugh Grant as Chopin. There, Emanuel Ax did the honors and he plays well, no question. I also have Rubinstein, Ax, Entremont, and Pollini, as well as other recordings by Horowitz. It can be tricky to play with good phrasing. Alas, the sound on this recording is not great, but it's good enough. For real sizzle and bodice-ripping passion, this one is just the best.

I love Chopin, but I have discovered that I don't like Horowitz. I find his style choppy and abrupt, which is not how I grew up listening to Chopin. Also, I found the recording quality medicore although it is on CD, so the age of the recording shows.

My guess is that if you know you already like Horowitz, then this CD is probably for you. But if you are not sure or haven't an opinon to try someone else.

Rate the playing of Maestro Horowitz as you like. Use every epithet you know. Things won't change a bit - Horowitz was a genius, even when performing the music of Fryderyk Chopin. It's not surprising that DG released a Horowitz disc under the title 'The Last Romantic'. Only a true Romantic can play Chopin as Horowitz does. Also present-day Chopinists can bang their Steinways - if they happen to know how and when.
The selection of this CD is very successful, the sound may not be the best available, but it certainly is rewarding to hear these performances. There was only one pianist who could play the Polonaises in a more aristocratic, folklore-like and with the poise of a Polish 19th century officer at a grand ball: that pianist was Ignacy Jan Paderewski.
All in all, this is a wonderful CD to own. This is a piece of music history. This is the Horowitz heritage. I cherish this disc - the full scale of human feelings seems to fit in 72 minutes of listening to Maestro Horowitz - The Last Romantic.

It should be noted that the recordings on this CD (originally issued in the 1980s) have been reissued with better remastering than this AAD, rather tinny sounding version. Search under Sony's complete Horowitz edition and you'll find the later versions.

I own this CD and volume 2. If they put the Funeral March on volume 1 (maybe removing one or two lesser pieces in the process), I would be happy with just the first volume. Volume 2 is weak.

Horowitz plays very well, certainly much better than I do. This disk is very quiet in places, and if you turn the volume up, other parts are too loud. I think this is more a complaint with the recording than with Horowitz.

This CD is exactly what I wanted. It truly is in like new condition, I feel I definitely got what I paid for.

I have all (that I know of) Horowitz' Chopin CDs. They are wonderful. Caution. There are live recordings mixed in with the studio, so be prepared for audience participation on some pieces. I used to think Rubinstein was the ultimate Chopin player. They're both superlative, but I prefer the crisp, clean, distinct sound of Horowitz now. I love Horowitz anyway. On an NPR program some years ago, a female music expert was played Chopin, once by Rubinstein and once by Horowitz and told to guess which was which. She guessed wrong, I was right. She went into rhapsodies over the Horowitz and thought it was Rubinstein. She was also played a fragment of something or other by Beethoven and asked to identify the composer. She didn't, I did. There for all the critics of my "reviews" who blatantly called me a musical ignoramus because I don't like Wagner, Sondheim or the operas of Mozart (except a few of the beer hall tunes out of Don Giovanni)! The Horowitz Chopins (all the collections) are wonderful, and all have technical drawbacks as recordings. The fact that there are so many badly recorded live recordings mixed in with the studio ones. Still worth the money.