Best of the Best: Vladimir Horowitz Edition

Posted by mwblogger

April 23, 2009

I had some bad information about Vladimir Horowitz, not being spectacularly familiar with his recordings (I prefer Claudio Arrau, but that’s just between us). One was that he was a heavy-handed player who opted for volume over nuance, which, as I listen to The Essential Vladimir Horowitz I discover the opposite is true. His aching and slow-calm reading of Schumann’s “Träamerei” proves me wrong there, so painfully slow and darkly nuanced. I also thought he was a relentless snob (photos of him at Studio 54 aside) with little sense of humor. This disproven by his hilarious variations on Carmen and his high-cheek take on “Stars and Stripes Forever,” which actually had me giggling aloud. So, once again, how wrong I was (and once again how easy these compilations make it to just dip into the more brilliant aspects of a single composer or performer and go later to get other recordings to augment one’s new-but-cursory understanding).

I think, though, it was his moody and broad performance of Saint-Saëns’ Danse macabre that had me. So plush, so dark, so spirited. I love this piece, now I love it even more.

But then again, maybe it was his charming rendition of Debussy’s “Serenade for the Doll.” Or perhaps his sprawling portrayal of Chopin’s “Raindrop” Prelude. No, I know, it was his profound “Pathétique.” No, no, it was his crisp and brilliant Scarlatti. His Shumann “Arabeske.” Oh hell, the whole disc is really great, and what did (do?) I know?

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