There's good news for true blue Horowitz fans. Sony has just issued the first in a series of recordings made live at Carnegie Hall between 1945 and 1950. The story goes something like this: a year before his death in 1989, Horowitz donated an array of recordings to Yale. These recordings preserved performances he had given at Carnegie in the 30s, 40s, and 50s, and only existed because Horowitz had employed a sound engineer to carve out some 78s that could be used in assessing the playing. Most of these mono recordings were originally contained on 12- and 16-inch acetate discs, which ought to give you an inkling of their sound quality. Sony has remastered a few of the recordings, and their plan is to release the discs over the next few months, with this most recent album serving as a bellwether.
The cd contains Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition and Liszt's inimitable B minor sonata, both of which are played in devastating fashion by a fighting trim Horowitz. The only trouble is the sound, which I'd call seashell-like at times. I imagine the engineers at Sony had their hands full with this one, and probably had to do quite a lot of sieving to minimize the static that plagued the disc. Still, in minimizing the static, they've also occasionally minimized the piano's sonority, which is to be expected I suppose, and probably a necessary evil. All told, I'd say this is a must-have for Horowitz enthusiasts, most of whom are familiar enough with his playing to be able to fill in the blanks a bit and consequently still enjoy the performances, which really are spectacular.
Horowitz elicited a good deal of controversy when he changed the score of Pictures at an Exhibition to suit his tastes, and while I understand the complaints, I've always thought his changes were for the better, at least in comparison to Ravel's transcription for orchestra. Whatever your take on the matter, there's no denying the quality of the performance. Il vecchio castello is threatening and heart rending all at once, and as usual the ostenato G sharp in the bass made those little hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. I had a similar response to Con mortius in lingua mortua, which showcases Horowitz unbelievable sense of timing and phrasing and paves the way for what was one of my favourite bits of music growing up, Hut on Fowl's Legs. It's a horrifying piece, and I mean that in the best possible sense. The playing is incredibly evocative and scary, and Horowitz's enfant terrible side certainly comes to the fore in order to have its way with a captive Carnegie audience.
The Liszt sonata is something else entirely, and not just where Pictures at an Exhibition is concerned. The sound quality is still a bit iffy, but what does it really matter when the playing is so singular. The opening sees Horowitz striving for turmoil and conjuring a storm that at times seems like it literally might twist out of control. The little moments of respite that come along are hardly relaxing, and if anything are charged with the anxiety of knowing the ceiling's about to fall on our heads. It's not until the arrival of the delicate second movement that we feel it might be safe to exhale. We're wrong, of course, but it's easy to forget about lingering threats when we're treated to such luscious playing. Horowitz handles the section with great care, pushing some phrases this way, pulling others that, and adorning the whole business with light ornaments that hover on the surface like a filigree of foam. Boom! Gasp! Sigh. The first two movements are done.
The third is wild, and certainly worth the price of admission on its own. Horowitz provides us with pure excitement from start to finish, and despite the manic changes in the music's tempo and mood, doesn't lose the thread once. It's an incredible performance, and undeniably "live." Horowitz clearly decided that there'd be no holding back at Carnegie, and we're lucky to be able to hear the byproduct of that decision now, thanks to some good old 78s.
