Customer Reviews

Tchaikovsky: Concerto No.1/Beethoven: Concerto No. 5 "Emperor"

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a unique vision and outstanding version of the famous concerto. First of all it is a concert version made under exceptional circumstances - a war bond concert that raised vast sums of largesse towards the US second world war effort. In addition, the maestro was Toscanini who was at that time the unrivalled king of the US platform and had the talent, ego and personality enough to flatten the most prodigious talent.

Horowitz himself has a fantastic reputation as interpreter of the Tchai first but was heading towards his first - 12 year - self-enforced retirement and was already riddled with the self doubt that got him there. In addition, his relationship with Toscanini, his father-in-law, was one based primarily on fear. Quite understandably so by all accounts. Other recorded Horowitz concerto performances with the maestro bear testimony to the fact that he found it hard to overcome Toscanini's enormous personality.

This time however something genuinely clicked, possibly because Horowitz could dominate a concert performance in a way that he couldn't in the studio. The adrenaline and personality in this performance are truly astounding. In inimitable Horowitzian fashion there is some re-writing of the score most especially in the coda of the finale where the ascending interlocking octaves scream way past the point where normal piano keyboards have disappeared. Its quite an effect.

In this way and with the performance as a whole, it is impossible to compare it with any other performance before or since. It is a unique record that demands attention, occasional attention I would say, rather than representing a reading to live with every day. It is simply a recording you have to hear.

There is any number of fine performances of this concerto, but for a fascinating visual document try the new the new Gilels DVD on EMI. This a remarkable document of a simply divine performance even allowing for ropey sound and dodgy camera work from 1958. It also has a sensational account of Prokofiev's third piano sonata recorded by Gilels in London a year later. Such sweep and command of keyboard colour, musical structure and colour is simply awesome to behold.

Okay, it was recorded in 1943 so of course the sound is a bit compromised. But your ear will adjust. Just listen to the pianism in the Tchaikovsky! Some of the tempi are on the fast side as was customary for Toscanini, but Horowitz is completely dazzling here. The Beethoven is also very good, with better sound(it was recorded much later) and with an alert and sympathetic Fritz Reiner conducting. Engaging, powerful, and yet very tender in the central slow movement. All in all a great pairing.

Horowitz and Toscanini produce an electifying rendition of Tchiakovsky's First Piano Concerto. Although I have several renditions, this one remains the most memorable and exciting. As good as Toscanini and the orchestra are, this is Horowitz's and he dominates in a style that would probably be dismissed today as lacking subtlety. No matter - the overall impression is one of vitality and exileration.

The sound is very good for a mid 1940s recording. Indeed, it is better than some more recently recorded CDs I've heard.

This is Horowitz at his prime when he was the absolute king of the piano. He may have played the Tchaikowvsky faster when he was younger, but I don't think it is any better. I mean, when is faster an indication of better? Athleticism ain't music. In any case this is the best sounding recording we have (even if it isn't perfect).

I have to admit that most performances I hear of the Tchaikovsky concerto leave me pretty cold. Especially because I know this performance. Most people turn the last movement into mere passage work. Horowitz actually has the ability to shape it into exciting and powerful musical ideas.

And while this isn't my favorite "Emperor" of all time it is a pretty darn wonderful one.

Again, this disk should be in the library of anyone who cares about important pianistic recordings. Horowitz is one of the greatest pianists of all time and these are two of his greatest concerto recordings.

I am most suprised by the reactions of the other reviewers to this disc. First and foremost, the Tchaikovsky rendition is simply legendary. This recording (made in a war bond concert) is simply, and undoubtedly, the greatest performance of this vastly overplayed concerto. Forget every other recording you have ever heard, by Argerich, Gilels or Richter. These great pianists cannot do to this concerto what Horowitz did. This is the piece that made Horowitz the legend that he has become and the pianism in this, his greatest rendition of the concerto, is simply breath taking. If ever there was a piece of music to stop you in your tracks, it is Horowitz flying up and down the keyboard at the end of the finale. Nothing else compares. Yes the sound quality isn't perfect, but this in no way detracts from the electicity of the recording. The Beethoven is similarly well performed, in a very clean, crisp way. However, there are less moments of sheer pianistic genius to be found in it. All the same, I simply cannot give this CD too high a recommendation. To give it less than five stars is mere ignorance.

When I think Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No 1, I think Horowitz and Toscanini. Its simply unsurpassed. There are several recordings of Horowitz and Toscanini with the NBC Symphony Orchestra, and for me the finest is the May 6th 1941 recording - a couple of years earlier than the performance on this CD.

The quality of the CD is frankly terrible. If I can clean up the CD with little loss on my PC - albeit that I consider myself a professional - then surely RCA could have done better. Therefore the CD is disappointing on the one hand but still worthy of being added to your collection.

The recording quality is awful; the performance hasn't been surpassed. A signature piece for the young Horowitz, this performance is worth the price and the downside, hiss and cracking.

It's difficult to get the excitement and immediacy of live performance to translate to recording media. Yet this recording is the exception--one made in the 1940s, the other a few years later--and featuring three of the giants of 20th century performers, this more or less 'ancient' live recording delivers all of the electricity, excitement, and raw spontaneity of this concert given over 60 years ago (although, come to think of it, the relatively limited technology of that time period could not be used to "over produce" the sound, as is frankly, often the case with current recordings, with recordings of choral music being some of the worst offenders).
Most music lovers will already own a recording of these two staples of Romantic piano literature, but this one is definitely worth acquiring. As a professional musician, I've heard both of these works performed many times (ranging from truly outstanding to truly painful) but this recording reminded of me what it felt like to hear these works for the first time-- decades later, Horowitz's playing is still that fresh.

Not the absolute best recording. The sound seems muffled and "cloudy" in areas. Horowitz is absolutley dazzeling with his piano playing although I thought the tempo was alittle fast in the Tchaikovsky.

These are two of the best recordings ever made of these works. The sound is excellent, even in the live recording of the Tchaikovsky, made in 1943. Highly recommended.