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• Manufacturer: RCA
• Average Customer Rating: 2.5 / 5
• Amazon's Price: USD $7.99
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Customer Reviews

Good in parts

Rating: 3/5

This CD is let down by a truly terrible rendition of the G Minor Ballade, which crashes and groans to a ludicrously over-stated climax. There are many better recordings of this timeless masterpiece available. (Particularly impressive from the pre-stereo era is a 1953 recording by Claudio Arrau.) The rest of the CD, however, is saved by a magical performance of the F Minor Ballade (one of the best I've heard) and some lovely etudes and waltzes. In short, it's a mixed bag - good in places, but don't buy it for the 1st Ballade.

mixed review

Rating: 4/5

Two of the disk's main pieces are the first Ballade and the Polonaise-Fantasie. Somehow RCA believed his mannered London performances were the ones to reissue on this package. Too bad, as the other pieces are quite nice. Interestingly his Ballade #4 and Barcarolle are rather similar to his earlier mono RCA recordings (ironically). The Andante Spianato and Grand Polonaise is an incredible performance from the mid-40's (which really doesn't fit in the rest of the disk - but certainly worth having!).

Hideous Performance; CD Fit For Use As Frisbee

Rating: 1/5

I'm so thankful I borrowed this CD from a friend. Thankful, not because the playing was nice, but thankful because I didn't have to buy the CD! I've never particularly enjoyed Horowitz's playing. I really don't see how people can worship the ground he walked on and still worship the tomb he resides in. True, he may have had his dazzling moments during his years but this CD recording certainly isn't one of them.

His Ballade No.1 was like sitting in a 4x4 and going over many, many humps in the road, banging on every other beat and making so many mistakes it will make you cry, utterly no finesse. Similarly with the Barcarolle, I would think I was sitting in a gondola in the rocky ocean about to meet my fate! The only thing he's good for is the black keys etudes, but even in this recording he's getting complacent when playing it. The Ballade No.4 was just the same, almost like driving a car but constantly stepping on the brakes, drive, brakes, drive, brakes, very, very sloppy playing riddled with mistakes and people seem to sing praises on his interpretation of this Ballade, can they be any more deaf, or perhaps his reputation preceeded him? The waltzes may sound nice, but even the Viennese wouldn't dare dance to these.

To anyone wishing or hoping to buy this CD, I would say forget it. I'd rather you get something Martha Argerich or Maurizio Pollini or Vladimir Ashkenazy instead, those are better pianists and hey, they're still alive. I would even give a chance at listening to Li Yundi, something refreshing for a change.

Horowitz the legend (and his many, many recordings and re-recordings) is stale, dead and decomposing, leave him be!

I wouldn't even give this CD a star if I had the choice, it's fit to be use as a frisbee, just like all the other Horowitz recordings I've heard! 'Nuff said.

RCA's Chopin Horowitz Grab-Bag

Rating: 3/5

This CD reissue contains all of Horowitz's stereo RCA Chopin recordings, along with an early mono item.

Chopin's Polonaise-Fantasy was a Horowitz specialty for many years. He was playing this piece as far back as the 1920s, when few pianists dared to touch such a structurally complex work. His best recording of this piece remains the 1966 version taped live in Carnegie Hall. This can be found on Volume 3 of Sony's complete Horowitz issue. The 1982 version is among the most mannered playing Horowitz ever approved for commercial release. The phrasing and metric pulse sag, and the piece fails to cohere.

Chopin's Ballade in G minor was another piece Horowitz played constantly. Again, his best version of this work can be found elsewhere, including Volumes 3 (1965) and 4 (1968) of the Sony set. The aforementioned problems are also in evidence here. In addition, some of Horowitz's playing is technically sub-par, with an awkward coda that sounds banged.

Horowitz recorded the Barcarolle several times. His 1980 live recording contains the typical Horowitz mannerisms of that period, with an erotically charged coda. The old charmer is present for the "Black Key" Etude, while the C-sharp minor Etude is given rather perfunctory treatment.

Horowitz seemed more at home in Chopin's Ballade No. 4 than he did in the first Ballade. The phrasing, dynamics, and dramatic build up are just so "right" here, that one can scarcely imagine a better performance--even with the occasional minor slip of finger.

The Chopin Waltz combines both--very different--editions of Chopin's text, with perhaps a dash of Horowitz's melancholy.

Also included is a 1945 recording of Chopin's Andante Spianato and Grand Polonaise. This is an excellent sampling of the incendiary Chopin Horowitz favored until the 1960s. Relatively unmannered, this is riveting playing.

The sound quality varies, which is understandable considering the range of recordings times and venues. These performances have already received multiple releases on CD. One wishes RCA would do Horowitz's memory a real service--instead of merely exploiting it--and undertake a full Horowitz reissue as they've done for Rubinstein and William Kapell.

Slam, bang -- Ta daaah!

Rating: 1/5

Horowitz was never highly regarded as a Chopin player. Yes, he could play really fast and really loud (and sometimes, both at once!!), but the tone often turned clangorous and the interpretations were often showy and downright vulgar. Thankfully, we now live in an era of more respectable musicianship. Many of our current Chopinists (eg. Biret, Pollini, Ohlsson) have technique to spare, but are infinitely more subtle and probing musicians.