Works on This Recording
1.
Mazurkas (4) for Piano, B 77/Op. 17: no 4 in A minor by Frédéric Chopin
Performer:
Vladimir Horowitz (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1832-1833; Paris, France
Date of Recording: 04/14/1971
Venue: 30th St Studio, CBS Records, New York
Length: 4 Minutes 1 Secs.
2.
Etudes (12) for Piano, Op. 10: no 5 in G flat major "Black Keys" by Frédéric Chopin
Performer:
Vladimir Horowitz (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1830; Poland
Date of Recording: 04/14/1971
Venue: 30th St Studio, CBS Records, New York
Length: 1 Minutes 34 Secs.
3.
Introduction in C minor and Rondo in E flat major for Piano, B 76/Op. 16 by Frédéric Chopin
Performer:
Vladimir Horowitz (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1832
Date of Recording: 04/14/1971
Venue: 30th St Studio, CBS Records, New York
Length: 10 Minutes 12 Secs.
4.
Waltzes (3) for Piano, Op. 34: no 2 in A minor, B 64 by Frédéric Chopin
Performer:
Vladimir Horowitz (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1831; Poland
Date of Recording: 05/04/1971
Venue: 30th St Studio, CBS Records, New York
Length: 4 Minutes 56 Secs.
5.
Polonaise for Piano in A flat major, B 147/Op. 53 "Heroic" by Frédéric Chopin
Performer:
Vladimir Horowitz (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1842; Paris, France
Date of Recording: 05/04/1971
Venue: 30th St Studio, CBS Records, New York
Length: 6 Minutes 22 Secs.
6.
Mazurkas (3) for Piano, B 157/Op. 59: no 3 in F sharp minor by Frédéric Chopin
Performer:
Vladimir Horowitz (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1845; Paris, France
Date of Recording: 02/15/1973
Venue: 30th St Studio, CBS Records, New York
Length: 3 Minutes 26 Secs.
7.
Mazurkas (3) for Piano, B 145/Op. 50: no 3 in C sharp minor by Frédéric Chopin
Performer:
Vladimir Horowitz (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1842; Paris, France
Date of Recording: 02/1973
Venue: 30th St Studio, CBS Records, New York
Length: 5 Minutes 7 Secs.
8.
Mazurkas (4) for Piano, B 105/Op. 30: no 3 in D flat major by Frédéric Chopin
Performer:
Vladimir Horowitz (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1836-1837; Paris, France
Date of Recording: 02/1973
Venue: 30th St Studio, CBS Records, New York
Length: 2 Minutes 51 Secs.
9.
Mazurkas (4) for Piano, Op. 41: no 2 in E minor by Frédéric Chopin
Performer:
Vladimir Horowitz (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1838; Paris, France
Date of Recording: 02/15/1973
Venue: 30th St Studio, CBS Records, New York
Length: 2 Minutes 7 Secs.
10.
Mazurkas (4) for Piano, B 115/Op. 33: no 2 in D major by Frédéric Chopin
Performer:
Vladimir Horowitz (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1837-1838; Paris, France
Date of Recording: 02/1973
Venue: 30th St Studio, CBS Records, New York
Length: 2 Minutes 45 Secs.
11.
Etudes (12) for Piano, Op. 10: no 4 in C sharp minor, B 74 by Frédéric Chopin
Performer:
Vladimir Horowitz (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1832; Poland
Date of Recording: 02/1973
Venue: 30th St Studio, CBS Records, New York
Length: 2 Minutes 1 Secs.
12.
Etudes (12) for Piano, Op. 10: no 3 in E major, B 74 "Tristesse" by Frédéric Chopin
Performer:
Vladimir Horowitz (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1836-1839; Paris, France
Date of Recording: 07/06/1972
Venue: 30th St Studio, CBS Records, New York
Length: 3 Minutes 32 Secs.
13.
Etudes (12) for Piano, Op. 10: no 12 in C minor, B 67 "Revolutionary" by Frédéric Chopin
Performer:
Vladimir Horowitz (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1830; Poland
Date of Recording: 07/06/1972
Venue: 30th St Studio, CBS Records, New York
Length: 2 Minutes 38 Secs.
14.
Preludes (24) for Piano, Op. 28: no 6 in B minor by Frédéric Chopin
Performer:
Vladimir Horowitz (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1836-1839; Paris, France
Date of Recording: 07/06/1972
Venue: 30th St Studio, CBS Records, New York
Length: 2 Minutes 6 Secs.
15.
Polonaises (2) for Piano, Op. 40: no 1 in A major, B 120 "Military" by Frédéric Chopin
Performer:
Vladimir Horowitz (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1838; Poland
Date of Recording: 07/06/1972
Venue: 30th St Studio, CBS Records, New York
Length: 4 Minutes 50 Secs.
16.
Preludes (24) for Piano, Op. 28: no 15 in D flat major "Raindrop" by Frédéric Chopin
Performer:
Vladimir Horowitz (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1838-1839; Paris, France
Venue: 30th St Studio, CBS Records, New York
Length: 5 Minutes 8 Secs.
Notes: Selection recorded April 14 and May 4, 1971.
17.
Etudes (12) for Piano, Op. 10: no 6 in E flat minor by Frédéric Chopin
Performer:
Vladimir Horowitz (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1830; Poland
Date of Recording: 11/04/1963
Venue: 30th St Studio, CBS Records, New York
Length: 3 Minutes 40 Secs.
18.
Nouvelles Etudes (3) for Piano, B 130: no 2 in A flat major by Frédéric Chopin
Performer:
Vladimir Horowitz (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1839; Paris, France
Date of Recording: 04/07/1965
Venue: Carnegie Hall, New York City
Length: 1 Minutes 58 Secs.
19.
Mazurkas (5) for Piano, B 61/Op. 7: no 3 in F minor by Frédéric Chopin
Performer:
Vladimir Horowitz (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1831; Vienna, Austria
Date of Recording: 05/12/1968
Venue: Live Orchestra Hall, Chicago, Illinois
Length: 2 Minutes 15 Secs.
20.
Waltzes (3) for Piano, B 164/Op. 64: no 2 in C sharp minor by Frédéric Chopin
Performer:
Vladimir Horowitz (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1846-1847; Paris, France
Date of Recording: 04/07/1968
Venue: Live Symphony Hall, Boston, Massachusetts
Length: 3 Minutes 14 Secs.
21.
Kreisleriana, Op. 16 by Robert Schumann
Performer:
Vladimir Horowitz (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1838; Germany
Date of Recording: 12/01/1969
Venue: 30th St Studio, CBS Records, New York
Length: 30 Minutes 12 Secs.
22.
Sonata for Piano no 3 in F minor, Op. 14 "Concert sans orchestre": 4th movement, Quasi variazioni by Robert Schumann
Performer:
Vladimir Horowitz (Piano)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1835-1836; Germany
Date of Recording: 02/1969
Venue: 30th St Studio, CBS Records, New York
Length: 7 Minutes 18 Secs.
Sound Samples
Mazurka in A minor, Op. 17, No. 4: Lento, ma non troppo
Étude in G-flat Major, Op. 10, No. 5: Vivace
Introduction and Rondo in E-flat Major, Op. 16: Introduzione. Andante - Rondo. Allegro vivace
Waltz in A minor, Op. 34, No. 2: Lento
Polonaise in A-flat Major, Op. 53 "Heroic": Maestoso
Mazurka in F-sharp minor, Op. 59, No. 3: Vivace
Mazurka in C-sharp minor, Op. 50, No. 3: Moderato
Mazurka in D-flat Major, Op. 30, No. 3: Allegro non troppo
Mazurka in E minor, Op. 41, No. 2: Andantino
Mazurka in D Major, Op. 33, No. 2: Vivace
Étude in C-sharp minor, Op. 10, No. 4: Presto
Étude in E Major, Op. 10, No. 3: Lento, ma non troppo
Étude in C minor, Op. 10, No. 12: Allegro con fuoco
Prélude in B minor, Op. 28, No. 6: Lento assai
Polonaise in A Major, Op. 40, No. 1: Allegro con brio
Prélude in D-flat Major, Op. 28, No. 15: Sostenuto
Étude in E-flat minor, Op. 10, No. 6: Andante
Étude No. 2 in A-flat Major from "Trois Nouvelles Études":Allegretto
Mazurka in F minor, Op. 7, No. 3
Waltz in C-sharp minor, Op. 64, No.2: Tempo giusto
Variations on a Theme by Clara Wieck from Sonata No. 3 "Concert sans Orchestra" in F minor, Op. 14: Andantino
2. Sehr innig und nicht zu rasch
Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review: 
( 1 Customer Review )
Chopin + Schumann + Horowitz = Unforgettable Play December 16, 2011
By T. Drake (South Euclid, OH) See All My Reviews
"Volume Seven of Sony's Horowitz reissue contains very convincing performances of Chopin and Schumann, Romantic composers whose music was sympathetic to the pianist's interpretive style.
It was not uncommon for Horowitz to bring to light a rarely played work by a well known composer, which is the case with Chopin's Introduction & Rondo in E-flat. This early composition (probably written for Chopin's most advanced pupils) abounds with glittery passagework and technical configurations similar to his Concertos (which Horowitz never recorded). Under Horowitz's hands, the work exceeds the boundaries of mere salon piece and emerges as a virtuoso tour de force.
Horowitz (who had a Polish grandmother and was fond of pointing out that he was "half as much a Pole as Chopin") considered the Mazurkas to be Chopin's greatest works, and often stated that there was more music in the shortest Chopin Mazurka than in the longest Mahler Symphony. The pianist treated the Mazurkas less as dance pieces than as "dance-fantasies" and his playing of the works was freer than the more straightforward Rubinstein. Highlights of this set include a seductive F-sharp Minor, Op. 59 No. 3.
Horowitz made several recordings of the ever popular A-flat Polonaise, and this one adheres most closely to Chopin's text. The introduction is very sparsely pedalled (as if Horowitz were saying "Look! I can play the tricky introduction without using the pedal to cover up insufficient fingerwork. Take THAT, Rubinstein!"). The remainder of the piece goes with gusto and flair (too fast to be a Maestoso), but he somehow misses the grandeur which Rubinstein brought to the piece--and which Horowitz himself would attain in his last years. The A-major Polonaise is also taken at a fast clip, but this somehow seems more appropriate to this work, and one is reminded of Chopin's remark that if he were able to play the piece the way he meant it to be played, the piano would lay in ruins afterward.
If anyone thought Horowitz, then approaching 70, had lost any of his fire, their worries were quickly dispelled with the Etudes included here. The C-sharp Minor goes at a rapid clip, but unlike many pianists, there is no loss of clarity. The famous Revolutionary Etude is given a more outwardly virtuosic performance then the pianist's 1963 recording, yet somehow the piece has less impact here.
The ubiquitous C-sharp Minor Waltz is from the Boston concert of April 7, 1968. Three days previously, the Reverend Martin Luther King had been murdered in Memphis. At the beginning of this concert, Horowitz came onstage with an African-American minister, and played Chopin's Funeral March in memory of Dr. King.
Horowitz learned Shumann's Kreisleriana in the 1930s, but did not play it in public until 1968. Several attempts to record the work in concert were not successful, and Horowitz came to the conclusion that he needed the peace and quiet of a recording studio to achieve the concentration for a performance suitable for posterity. Horowitz recorded the work at one inspired session on December 1, 1969, and this may well be the most successful Kreisleriana ever recorded. Ironically, Horowitz, who often had trouble holding together a Beethoven Sonata, makes this structurally splintered work emerge as one piece. This is one Kriesleriana which is never rambling or boring. There is virtuosity here, but never for its own sake, and there is poetry in plenty. This stands alongside the 1932 Liszt Sonata and 1951 Rachmaninoff Third Concerto as one of Horowitz's greatest recordings. However, it should be pointed out that this reissue of Kriesleriana uses a few alternate takes, which are markedly different from the original LP and an earlier CD issue (MK42409). Although the performance is basically similar, there are several differences in detail.
Schumann's Variations on a Theme by Clara Wieck, originally included as a filler for the Kriesleriana record, is given a straightforward reading here. It a lovely little work, but it is even more beautiful in its original context: as the third movement from the composer's Sonata in F Minor, another rarely played work Horowitz would bring to light in 1975.
The sound is more than acceptable here, and especially fine in the Schumann works. "
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