Mieczyslaw Horszowski Plays Mozart, Chopin, Debussy, Beethoven

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
The pianist who made this recording was in his nineties and could hardly see or even hear. Yet Mieczyslaw Horszowski could still get around the keys well enough. (The recordings weren't all splicing; I heard him live at about this time.) You won't hear the most powerful virtuosity here; it isn't required by the music anyway. But you will hear some of the most beautifully expressive, nuanced, communicative piano playing ever recorded by anyone. It seemed the older Horszowski got, the better he played. We are fortunate he lived long enough to make recordings as great as this one, in such good sound. --Leslie Gerber

Tracks:

Fantasia In D Minor, K. 397
Nocturne In F-Sharp Major, Op. 15, No. 2
Nocturne In D-Flat Major, Op. 27, No. 2
Children's Corner: Doctor Gradus ad Parmassum
Children's Corner: Jimbo's Lullaby
Children's Corner: Serenade For The Doll
Children's Corner: The Snow Is Dancing
Children's Corner: The Little Shepherd
Children's Corner: Gilliwogg's Cake-Walk
Piano Sonata No. 2 In A Major, Op. 2, No. 2: Allegor vivace
Piano Sonata No. 2 In A Major, Op. 2, No. 2: Largo appassionato
Piano Sonata No. 2 In A Major, Op. 2, No.2: Scherzo: Allegretto
Piano Sonata No. 2 In A Major, Op. 2, No. 2: Rondo: Grazioso

Amazon.com

The pianist who made this recording was in his nineties and could hardly see or even hear. Yet Mieczyslaw Horszowski could still get around the keys well enough. (The recordings weren't all splicing; I heard him live at about this time.) You won't hear the most powerful virtuosity here; it isn't required by the music anyway. But you will hear some of the most beautifully expressive, nuanced, communicative piano playing ever recorded by anyone. It seemed the older Horszowski got, the better he played. We are fortunate he lived long enough to make recordings as great as this one, in such good sound. --Leslie Gerber

Customer Reviews:

The life blessed Horzowski!.......2004-11-04

The cantablie line and the sincere sound ; the clarity and purity given for his golden fingers will impress you much more keeping in mind we are in presence of a man who lived his ninth decade .
Horzkowski was a fellow partner of Casals and once more the Casals spell seemed to cover all the musician who joined him in Prades .
The list is enormous and remarkable : Istomin, Serkin , Vegh, Stern , Grumiaux , Haskill and Horszkowski .
Prades Festival was a happy encounter place where a special energy seemed to flow and load all those artists who definitively improved his skills and even more after these musical meetings.
The Mozart of Horzskwoski is so natural and specially soulfelt that hardly we will be able to find such kind of original approach.
What happened with this magnificencent artistic level ?
May be Andras Schiff and Daniel Barenboim have still the gift to play this way.
Great choice and best buy for you in case you decide to get this CD.

If We Have to Compare the Greats.......2003-02-11

I agree entirely with the previous reviewer save that I won't compare Horszowki with either Rubinstein or Horowitz.

Not so much that Horszowski didn't care so much about publicity as the other two did, rather for the fact that Rubinstein lacked what Heifetz possessed and the strongest point of the latter is exactly the weakest point of the former: not just technique, but the thorough understanding and over all command of the whole piece. As a result, when Rubinstein comes to more intricate parts or before the climax, like what Toscanini said of Bruno Walter, he melts...

Horowitz is great but he is too much a showman to compare with Horszowski's naturalness. He scarcely touched Bach or Beethoven. For his Chopin, there are too many better ( and of course different ) comparables, and for his Scriabin, I would prefer the deeper Sofronitsky...

Accepted that Horowitz had left with us dozens of his nice recordings, I would still invite readers to explore Simon Barere for a better comparable, in terms of technique or touch or even musicianship...well, in almost every way: both are explosive, both taught by Blumenfeld, both had to support themselves early by playing the piano though in the case of Barere, even earlier. Even Horowitz admitted that Barere is a miracle maker and Glazunov went so far as describing him "Lizst in one hand and Rubinstein the other"...

Coming back to Horszowski, he is just unique: it's a great tradition well recorded and well preserved. If we have to compare him with any other pianists, one wouldn't choose Schnabel, the Schubert of his time, but Edwin Fischer: both sound celestial and very soothing. Even his teacher Leschetisky said Horszowski had Mozart in his blood.

Given that he was already ninety something, his playing is most astonishing and pleasantly surprising. Highly recommended.

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