2CDs
COMPACT DISC 1 (68.39)
CHOPIN Étude in C sharp minor Op 10 No 4; Étude in G flat major ‘Black key’ Op 10 No 5; Étude in F major Op 10 No 8; Étude in F major Op 25 No 3; Mazurka in F minor Op 7 No 3; Mazurka in E minor Op 41 No 2; Mazurka in C sharp minor Op 50 No 3; Scherzo No 4 in E major Op 54; Sonata No 2 in B flat minor Op 35 First movement; LISZT Funérailles Harmonies poétiques et réligieuses, S173 No 7; Sonata in B minor S178
COMPACT DISC 2 (70.55)
D SCARLATTI Sonata in B minor Kk87; Sonata in G major Kk125; BACH–BUSONI Nun freut euch, lieben Christen gmein BWV734; HAYDN Sonata in E flat major Hob XVI/52; BEETHOVEN 32 Variations on an original theme in C minor WoO80; SCHUMANN Presto passionato in G minor; Arabeske in C major Op 18; Traumes Wirren (Fantasiestücke), Op 12 No 7; Toccata in C major Op 7; DEBUSSY Étude XI: Pour les arpèges composés; POULENC Pastourelle; Toccata (Trois pièces pour piano, No 2); RIMSKY-KORSAKOV/RACHMANINOV The Flight of the Bumble-bee; STRAVINSKY Danse Russe (Petrushka); RACHMANINOV Prelude in G minor Op 23 No 5; PROKOFIEV Toccata in C major Op 11
These two CDs contain some of the most impressive piano playing ever commited to disc and are a must for every pianophile's collection. They capture the young Horowitz just after his sensational arrival in the west and, apart from a few 78s made in the previous two years in the US, they are his earliest solo recordings. Though most of the chosen pieces were short enough to fit onto a 78rpm side Horowitz did record the Liszt Sonata, a performance which quickly achieved a legendary status.
Unique to APR is the originally unissued performance of the the first movement of Chopin's Sonata in B flat minor, all the remains of a projected recording of the complete work. The Prokofiev Toccata was also originally unissued and is not otherwise currently available.
Self-respecting pianophiles will already have most of these seminal recordings. But, compared with earlier issues, APR reveal a fuller, richer piano sound where every nuance is crystal clear and in a judiciously-enhanced ambience...APR's presentation,as usual, leaves its peers standing, fully worthy of the great artist enshrined in these magical recordings. Classic CD