Chapter 6.6
6.6.1 Non-major Labels and Mixed Album
6.6.1.1 Rare recitals/lives
6.6.1.1 (A) Newly published recital/live CDs
A great number of live performance CDs were released by EMI, BMG, CBS, SONY and DG (Deutsche Grammophon) as well as by non-major labels. The following is a list of live performances that have been released only recently. I regard them as important and fundamental because of their rarity. The pieces these CDs contain are listed in Appendix III.11.
6.6.1.1(A) Newly published recital CDs: 20 discs
1.1948.2.2 Carnegie Hall, Released in 2017, Pristine, France
2. 1966.11.13 Yale University. Released in 2011, VIBRATO, U.S.
Note: Debussy BOOK I in the song list should be Debussy BOOK II.
3. 1969.10.26 Boston. Released in 2003, Living Stage, Germany.
Note: This two-CD set contains many rare performances as a bonus. One is the last part of a previously unreleased performance of the first movement of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 (conductor: Frederick Martin Reiner) in 1932 and another is Stars and Stripes Forever that Horowitz played for the radio program Guest Star in 1946.
4. 1974.11.17 Metropolitan Opera House. Released in 2011, VIBRATO, U.S.
5. 1975.4.20 Ann Arbor. Released in 2013, VIBRATO, U.S.
Note: The CD wrongly says it was released on April 4.
6. 1976.11.14 Boston. Released in 2011, VIBRATO, U.S.
7. 1977.10.8 Ann Arbor. Released in 2010, VIBRATO, U.S.
8. 1978.2.26 White House. Released in 2009, W.M. Xpress, U.S.
Note: This was broadcast on TV, so the footage is also available. It was also broadcast in Japan.
9. 1979.11.4 Toronto. Released in 2009, PALEXA, Canada
10. 1980.5.4 New York. Released in 2011, VIBRATO, U.S.
11. 1980.11.16 Eastman Theater. Released in 2012, VIBRATO, U.S.
12. 1985.10.26 Paris. Released in 2010, VIBRATO, U.S.
13. 1985.11.17 & 24 Milan. Released in 1994, ARTISTS, Italy.
Unknown release date, Exclusive, Italy.
Note: The Exclusive EX92T39/40 two-CD set contains two days of recitals on two separate CDs, but they do not cover all of the recitals. The omitted parts are included in ARTISTS FED062.
14. 1986.4.27 Leningrad (Saint. Peterburg)
Released in 1995, Artistotipia, Russia
Released in 2005, PALEXA, Canada.
15. 1986.6.21 Tokyo. Released in 2010, Fachmann für Klassischer Musik, U.S.
16. 1986.6.28 Tokyo
Released in 1999, Fachmann für Klassischer Musik, U.S.
Released in 2014, The Uphill Road in Cleveland, U.S.
17. 1986.7.6 Tokyo. Released in 2010, Fachmann für Klassischer Musik, U.S.
6.6.1.1 (A) Non-Major Label Recitals
6.6.1.1 (B) CDs featuring alternative takes of already released recitals
The following CDs are remasters or (apparently) secret recordings of already released performances or contain recitals that were formally released by major recording companies on a later date.
6.6.1.1 (B) 6 CDs
1. 1953.2.25 25th Anniversary at Carnegie Hall
1. Presented in 1997, C. Alder
1.1 Released in 2003, Archipel Records, Germany
The two-CD set that C. Alder gave me in 1997 contains all the unedited pieces played in the recital. On the other hand, the German version released in 2003 is on one CD and many pieces are omitted. The CD box set Vladimir Horowitz Live at Carnegie Hall released by SONY in 2013 contains the same CDs as Alder’s (CDs 13/14).
2. 1982.5.22 London. Released in 2013, BBC Music Magazine, U.K.
The CD was a supplement of The BBC Music Magazine Collection vol. 21, no. 12 in December 2013. BBC radio put on a live broadcast of Horowitz’s piano recital at the Royal Festival Hall in 1982 that he gave on the invitation of Prince Charles, and the source was contained in this CD.
The content of the BBC Music Magazine CD is slightly different from that of previously released videos and CDs of this performance in that the opening British national anthem, two Scarlatti sonatas and Chopin’s Polonaise-fantaisie are not included. The recording date on the BBC Music Magazine CD is May 22, 1982, so this take is different from that of the already published CDs that contain a selection of performances given on May 18, 20 and 22.
3. 1986.4.18 & 20 Moscow. Released in 1998, Musical Heritage Society, U.S.
DG also released a live recording of these performances. The Musical Heritage Society CD does not contain three pieces (two Scarlatti sonatas and Träumerei) that are on the DG version.
4. 1986.5.18 Berlin. Released in 2003, Live Supreme, U.S.
This recital was broadcast on radio. The formal CD produced by SONY Classical in 2003 contains the radio presenter’s initial announcement. This CD is different from the SONY version as it does not include the announcement.
5. 1987.6.21 Hamburg. Released in 2003, Live Supreme, U.S.
This recital was broadcast on radio. The formal CD was released by DG, but the Live Supreme CD is different from that one in that the first piece (Mozart’s Rondo K. 485) is not included.
The CDs above are important and fundamental, and all the pieces on them are listed in Appendix III.12.
6.6.1.1 (C) CDs containing unpublished recording sources
CDs released by SONY, BMG and Carnegie Hall include many unpublished performances, which I discussed in previous chapters. This section is a catalog of CDs produced by minor companies that contain at least one newly released piece. In the list below, the titles with an asterisk (*) are important and fundamental. The pieces contained in each CD are listed in Appendix III.13.
･Music & Arts 666*, Living Stage LS 1045*
These CDs contain some extracts of the performances given on November 26, 1967, November 23, 1975, May 9, 1976 and November 4, 1979. The jacket wrongly states that the performances were given in 1967 and 1970. Parts of these performances are also included in the 2013 CD box set “Vladimir Horowitz Live at Carnegie Hall.”
APR (Appian Publication & Recordings) APR 2000*, 5516*, 6004*, 7014*
These CDs include Brahms’ Waltz op. 39-15 played on January 30, 1942, Chopin’s Sonata No. 2 (first movement only) played in 1936, Horowitz’s Carmen Fantasy and Schubert-Horowitz’s Military March in January, 1942.
･Naxos 8.110696*, 8.111282*
The newly released pieces on CD 8.110696 are Chopin’s Étuden op. 10-8, Lizst’s Grandes études de Paganini No. 5, while on CD 8.111282, Schubert-Liszt’s Liebesbotschaft was newly released.
Chopin’s Ballade No. 4 on CD 8.111282 was previously released on 78 by HMV, but not on an LP.
･The Piano Lib. PL239*
This CD contains Barber’s Excursion, Kabalevsky’s Preludes and Sonata No. 2, which were performed on March 28, 1945, February 3, 1947 and April 28, 1947. These recordings are included in the Yale Collection, but this was their first release on CD.
･URANIA SP4214*
This CD contains sources recorded by RCA. As 50 years had passed since then and they were now in the public domain, URANIA released them on CD. The CD includes Liszt’s Valse Oubliee No. 1 and Liszt-Horowitz’s Rakoczy March, recorded on December 29, 1950 at Hunter College and was newly released on this CD.
･Stradivarius STR 10037*, Radio Years RY92*, ARPCD0057*, The Piano Lib.332*
STR 10037 contains Moszkowski’s Etude op. 72-11, Scarlatti’s Sonata K. 380, Schumann’s Träumerei and Souza-Horowitz’s The Stars and Stripes Forever, which were performed on August 2, 1949 and released on this CD for the first time.
･Legato LCD. 222. 1*
This CD contains Debussy’s Serenade of the Doll, Moszkowski’s Etude op. 72-6 and Rachmaninoff’s Sonata No. 2, which were performed on November 24, 1968.
･Musical Heritage 514882A*
This CD contains Rachmaninoff’s Polka de V.R. and Prelude op. 32-5, which were performed in Moscow on April 20, 1986. The CD from DG contains his performance on April 18, but the performance on April 20 is only available on VHS, LD and DVD. CD 514882A can be seen in the above image.
(C) 16 CDs
6.6.1.2 Rare Live Piano Concerto Recordings
Horowitz recorded six piano concertos as shown in the table below. There is proof that he played other pieces and some of them were informally recorded, but they have not been released. More details are provided in Appendices IV and V.
The following are CDs of performances by Horowitz including piano concertos that had not previously been released by major labels on 78, 45 or LP.
6.6.1.2 (A) Newly Released Live Piano Concerto Performances
There are many live recordings, but nine CDs that contain newly released recording sources are regarded as important and fundamental. Among them, one (no. 1 below) was already discussed in section 6.6.1.1, while two (nos. 3 and 4 below) are included on one CD. The important and fundamental CDs are marked with an asterisk (*) and the pieces contained in them are listed in Appendix III.14.
(A) ８CDs
1. 1932.2.5 & 6 Philadelphia, Philadelphia Philharmonic
Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1, conducted by Reiner.
Note: This was a test recording by the Bell Laboratory and released as a bonus with the Living Stage CD, LS4035177, “The Boston Recital.”
*Released in 2003, Living Stage, Germany
This CD was already shown in 6.6.1.1(A), so the jacket image is omitted here.
2. 1939.8.29 Luzern, the Lucerne Festival Orchestra
Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 2, conducted by Toscanini
*Released in 2000, APR, U.K.
3. 1940.3.31 New York, New York Philharmonic
Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1, conducted by Barbirolli
*Released in 1997, APR, U.K.
3.1 Unknown release date, Memories Reverence, Italy
4. 1941.5.4 New York, New York Philharmonic
Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3, conducted by Barbirolli
*Released in 1997, APR, U.K.
4.1 Released in 2000, URANIA, Italy
4.2. Unknown release date, Memories Reverence, Italy
5. 1945.2.19 New York, NBC Symphony Orchestra
Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2, conducted by Toscanini
*Released in 2009, Pristine, France
Note: This belongs to Horowitz’s private collection. See Appendix IV for further details.
6. 1948.10.23 New York, NBC Symphony Orchestra
Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2, conducted by Toscanini
*Released in 1987, Stradivarius, Italy
6.1. Released in 1990, The Classical Society, Italy
6.2. Released in 199?, Bellaphon, West Germany
6.3. Released in 1991, Arkadia, Italy
6.4. Released in 1999, Arkadia, Italy
6.5. Released in 2000, Music & Arts, U.S.
6.6. Released in 2007, Pristine, France
7. 1950.8.31 California, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra
Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3, conducted by Koussevitzky
* Released in1989, AS Disc, Italy
7.1. Released in 1994, Legend, Italy
7.2. Released in 1996, Music & Arts, U.S.
7.3. Released in 1998, IRON Needle, Italy
7.4. Released in 2001, URANIA, Italy
7.5. Released in 2006, URANIA, Italy
7.6. Unknown release date, Memories Reverence, Italy
Note: CD 7, 7.1 and 7.3~7.5 read “Los Angeles Philharmonic,” but this should be read as Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. Also, CD 7.3 (IN1398, IRON Needle, Italy, released in 1998) reads “Los Angeles Philharmonic in August, 1948”, but this should also be rectified.
8. 1978.2.5 Los Angeles, Los Angeles Philharmonic
Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3, conducted by Mehta
*Released in 2009, VIBRATO, U.S.
9･1978.4.16 Philadelphia, Philadelphia Philharmonic
Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3, conducted by Ormandy
*Released in 2009, VIBRATO, U.S.
(A) 12 CDs
6.6.1.2 (B) Re-pressed CDs of LPs from Minor Labels
Performances released on LP by minor labels were rare and Horowitz’s fans awaited their release on CD for a long time. In the following list, those with an asterisk (*) are considered important and fundamental. The pieces included in them are listed in Appendix III.15.
(B) 7 CDs
1. 1934.10.18 Copenhagen, DR SymfoniOrkestret
Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 (third movement only), conducted by Nikolai Malko
Note: This recording was originally among a six-LP set. This is not underground or Italian.
*Released in 1988, Danacord, Denmark
1.1. Released in 2010, six-CD set, Danacord, Denmark
2. 1935.3.17 New York, New York Philharmonic
Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1, conducted by Toscanini
*Released in 1990, Stradivarius, Italy
2.1. Released in 1990, VAAN Media, Japan
2.2. Released in 1996, The Radio Year, Italy
2.3. Released in 2009, APR, U.K.
Note: This CD has been designated as fundamental in 6.6.1.2A.
2.4. Unknown release date, Memories Reverence, Italy
Note: This CD was shown in 6.6.1.2A.
3. 1936.2.20, Amsterdam, Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1, conducted by Walter
*Released in 1989, AS Disc, Italy
3.1. Released in 1994, Music & Arts, U.S.
3.2. Released in 1994, Legend, Italy
3.3. Released in 1995, AS Disc, Italy
3.4. Released in 1996, The Radio Year, Italy
3.5. Released in 2003, Archipel, Germany
3.6. Released in 2012, Archipel, E.U.
3.7. Unknown release date, Treasures, unknown country
3.8. Unknown release date, Memories Reverence, Italy
Note: This CD was already shown in 6.6.1.2A.
4. 1940.5.6 New York, NBC Symphony Orchestra
Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2, conducted by Toscanini
*Released in 1998, Naxos, Germany
4.1. Released in 1998, The Piano Library, Italy
4.2. Released in 199?, Bellaphon, West Germany
5. 1941.4.19 New York, NBC Symphony Orchestra
Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1, conducted by Toscanini
*Released in 1998, Naxos, Germany
5.1. Released in 1999, Music Bridge, Japan
5.2. Released in 1999, The Piano Masters, Germany
5.3. Unknown release date, LAGUNA, Japan
6. Released in 1948.4.11 New York, New York Philharmonic
Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1, conducted by Walter
*Released in 1989, AS Disc, Italy
Note: This is included in CD AS2400, which also covers Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1.
6.1. Released in 1989, AS Disc, Italy
6.2. Released in 1994, Music & Arts, U.S.
6.3. Released in 1994, Legend, Italy
6.4. Released in 2008, URANIA, Italy
6.5. Released in 2009, Archipel, E.U.
6.6. Released in 2012, Archipel, E.U.
6.7. Unknown release date, Memories Reverence, Italy
7. 1949.8.2 California, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra
Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1, conducted by Steinberg
Released in 1990, Stradivarius, Italy
Note: The CD cover states that the recording date was August 4, 1948, but it should be August 2, 1949. Also, this CD was already shown in 6.6.1.2A.
*7.1.1. Released in 1997, The Radio Year, Italy
Note: Horowitz played three encore pieces and they were released on this CD for the first time.
7.1.2. Released in 1998, The Piano Library, Italy
Note: The CD cover states that the recording year was 1945, but it should be 1949.
7.2. Released in 1999, Music Bridge, Japan
7.3. Released in 2002, Archipel, Germany
Unknown release date, Memories Reverence, Italy
8. 1953.1.12 New York, New York Philharmonic
Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1, conducted by George Szell
*Released in 1986, Movimento Musica, Italy
8.1.1. Released in 1991, King International, Japan
8.1.2. Released in 1999, Palexa, Canada
Note: This CD contains Rubinstein’s performance, and will be detailed in 6.6.2.2.A.
8.2. Released in 1999, Music Bridge, Japan
8.3. Released in 2002, URANIA, Italy
8.4. Released in 2005, OTAKEN Records, Japan
8.5.1. Released in 2005, ANDROMEDA, E.U.
Note: This CD was selected as important and fundamental in 6.2.4.
8.5.2. Released in 2006, URANIA, Italy
Note: This CD mistakenly describes the recording date as May 4, 1952.
8.6. Released around 2013, DIAPASON (Sony), France
8.7. Unknown release date, Island Pros, Japan
8.8. Unknown release date, PR17, Japan
8.9. Unknown release date, Treasures, unknown country
8.10. Unknown release date, Memories Reverence, Italy
Note: This CD is shown in 6.6.1.2.A.
SONY released a 41-CD set (with a bonus DVD) HOROWITZ at CARNEGIE HALL in 2013, in which this source is included.
(B) Non-Major CD Others 22
6.6.1.2 (C) Performances with Toscanini
CDs containing Horowitz’s piano concertos with Toscanini have been detailed in (A) and (B). Toscanini was a great conductor who remains a perennial favorite, so his CDs have been coming onto the market one after another, and many of them contain his performances with Horowitz. The jacket images of a selection of CDs that contain Horowitz’s performances but are not included in (A) or (B) are shown below. Most of them have no performance date, and thus it is not clear which CD corresponds to which in Table 9, but I do not believe they have that special something.
The recordings of Horowitz’s piano concertos with Toscanini are shown below:
BRAHMS
Concerto No. 1 in D Minor, op. 15
(1935. 3. 17) LP, CD (live) New York, A. Toscanini (cond.)
Concerto No. 2 in B flat, op. 83
(1939. 8. 29) CD (live) Lucerne, A. Toscanini (cond.)
(1940.5. 6) LP, CD (live) New York, A. Toscanini (cond.)
(1940.5. 9) 78, 45, LP, CD, A. Toscanini (cond.)
(1945.2.19) CD (live), A. Toscanini (cond.)
(1948.10. 23) CD (live), A. Toscanini (cond.)
TCHAIKOVSKY
Concerto No. 1 in B Flat Minor, op. 23
(1941. 4. 19) LP, CD (live) A. Toscanini (cond.)
(1941. 5. 6&14) 78, 45, LP, CD, A. Toscanini (cond.)
(1943. 4. 25) LP, CD (live) A. Toscanini (cond.)
(C) Toscanini CD･CDBOX 8 +MP3
There are many more CDs in which Horowitz played with Toscanini; the CDs shown here feature Toscanini and contain his performances with Horowitz.
There are also some MP3-CDs for personal computers.
The CDs that feature Horowitz and contain his performances with Toscanini are shown in 6.6.2.
6.6.1.3 Remade CDs containing previously released sources (except 6.1.2 & 6.1.4)
Copyright lasts for only 50 years after an artist’s death, so public domain recordings have been released by many labels other than those that originally recorded Horowitz’s performances.
This section shows CDs released by labels other than EMI, RCA(BMG), CBS, Sony Classical, and Deutsche Grammophon. They are remakes (including 24-bit mastering) that do not contain newly released sources. The CDs released by minor labels of recordings that were previously published by HMV and RCA on 78 were already discussed in previous sections (6.1.2 & 6.2.4). The following images are of other CDs, that is, those with mixed sources from HMV, RCA or other miscellaneous origins. In many cases, the performance dates are omitted or mistaken. For example, Magic Talent CD48014 in (A) gives the performance date for each piece, but all of them are mistaken except that for Chopin’s Scherzo.
6.6.1.3 (A) CDs that contain only Horowitz’s performances (CDs that do not contain piano concertos)
(A) 26 CDs
6.6.1.3 (B) CDs that contain Horowitz’s piano concertos
(B) 21 CDs
6.6.1.3 (C) CDs that contain Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 performed by Horowitz as well as other pianists’ performances
There is a CD in which Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 is played by Horowitz and No. 2 is performed by Rachmaninoff himself; Rachmaninoff said Horowitz would play his No. 3 better than himself. Incidentally, there is a CD (J. MUSIC) in which Rachmaninoff himself played his No. 3 with the Philadelphia Philharmonic conducted by Ormandy, which is shown in the image below.
(C) Rachmaninoff 5CDs
6.6.2 Horowitz’s performances and other artists’ performance
6.6.2.1 Performances with String Players and Accompaniment to Singers
Horowitz did not play with other artists very often, but he did play with violists Jascha Heifetz, Nathan Milstein and Isaac Stern, and cellists Gregor Piatigorsky and Mstislav Rostropovich. Horowitz’s performances with Heifetz and Piatigorsky were not recorded, but they have been proven to have taken place; he played Beethoven’s Archduke Trio op. 97 and Brahms’s cello sonatas with Piatigorsky, and I have a recital program for the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse in New York where he played with Heifetz.
Heifetz & Horowitz Program
Horowitz’s only recording with Milstein is Brahms’s volin sonata No.3.
Milstein 6 CDs
Horowitz, Isaac Stern and Mstislav Rostropovich played at a concert celebrating the 85th anniversary of Carnegie Hall in 1976. They played Tchaikovsky’s piano trio In Memory of a Great Artist. On the same day, Rostropovich played Rachmaninoff’s cello sonata. Also at the concert, Fischer-Dieskau sang Schumann’s Dichterliebe (A Poet’s Love, based on Heine’s text) accompanied by Horowitz. This was the only occasion where Horowitz accompanied a song at a public concert. The image below is the first edition of the CD released in Japan.
Horowitz’s performance with Isaac Stern is also contained in another CD featuring Isaac Stern; the image is also shown below.
Carnegie Hall 85th Aniv. Stern
6.6.2.2 CDs containing performances of Horowitz and Other Pianists
6.6.2.2 (A) CDs containing Horowitz and another pianist
Horowitz did not like to release joint LPs and CDs with other artists, but numerous joint CDs have been released since his death. The following is a selection of these CDs with Rubinstein, Kempff, and Clara Haskil. There is also a CD of Horowitz and Cherkasskii that was remastered from a piano roll (see Chapter 2. Piano Roll, for further details).
(A) 12 CDs
Note: As already mentioned in 6.1.2, the non-numbered CD that was distributed by DHC for free contains a special source. That is, HMV’s source tape owned by TIM was edited (noise reduction, equalizing, etc.), and then brought to a recital hall, played back with B&W&S speakers, and rerecorded in the latest DSD format. So this CD has a much more realistic feel than the original.
6.6.2.2 (B) CDs and CD box sets that contain the performances of many pianists
Since the 20th century ended, many compilation CDs andCD box setsof representative pianists of the past century have been released. Almost all of them contain Horowitz’s performances. Important CDs that are not mentioned here will be discussed in 6.7.
6.6.2.2. (B)-(1) Box sets containing three or fewer CDs
(B)-1 34 CDs
6.6.2.2 (B)-(2) Piano music collection
An image of CDs and CD box-sets that contain only piano music played by three or more pianists including Horowitz is shown below. Listening to music on a PC is becoming increasingly popular, so MP3 CDs are now available. A book Les grands pianistes du XXe siècle has CD-ROMs containing mp3 files. This book describes 44 pianists and their performances. Here Horowitz plays Prokofiev’s Piano Sonata No. 7 and Sousa-Horowitz’s Stars and Stripes.
(B)－2 CD-BOXs
6.6.2.3 CDs Containing Horowitz and other Performances (including Non-piano Music)
CDs and CD box sets containing Horowitz’s performances and non-piano music played by other artists
30 CDs
6.6.2.4 Other CDs and low-cost CDs
Some CDs contain one or two pieces performed by Horowitz, which would never have been permitted had he been alive. Some of them are by SONY and BMG. These may not have been included in this Chapter, but I decided to include them here because of their rarity. These constitute collateral evidence of the second trend I mentioned earlier in this Chapter 6, that of increased sales. This trend led to reduced prices: a 10-CD boxset with epitomic performances by Horowitz, Kreisler, Heifetz, Casals and Caruso is now sold at 980 yen. The first CD contains Horowitz’s performance.
12 CDs
6.6.2.5 CD Cases and CD Boxsets in Unusual Packaging
Some earlier CDs were sold in a tall CD case, though this is out of fashion now. Record shops had low shelves for LPs, where customers hunted out what they wanted. Then in the early 90s, LPs and CDs hit the shelves simultaneously. So I suppose music stores put CDs in tall cases so that they had the same height as LPs and could be placed in the shelves for LPs. Some examples are shown in the image below.
4 CD Cases
CDs have become cheaper and cheaper the more they have been released. The 52-CD boxset (with a bonus CD) shown in the image below was released in 2011 and contains a wide variety of pieces of classical music by different composers played by different artists. In this rare shaped box, this massive collection, containing both piano and non-piano pieces, originally sold at several thousand yen on the Internet. The collection contains Horowitz’s performances of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 (conducted by Fritz Reiner) and Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 (conducted by Arturo Toscanini). Horowitz’s performances are being sold extensively, and various companies will sell some arrangement or other of a variety of past music sources. Recording sources are easy to copy so their prices will continue to fall.
Membran Music CD BOX
6.6.3 CD Box Sets of a Single Composer
There are many CD box sets that cover almost all of a composer’s works, and Horowitz’s performances are often contained in them, as shown in the image below.
Beethoven
Brahms
Chopin
Chopin MP3
Debussy
Haydn
Liszt
Mendelssohn
Mozart
Prokofiev
Rachmaninov
Saint-Saens
Shumann
Scriabin
45 CDs + MP3
6.6.4 CDs in China
A number of CDs featuring Horowitz’s performance were also released in China. Some of them would probably have been released under a license agreement but the details are uncertain. The image below shows my collection of such Chinese CDs.
Chaina
6.7 Comprehensive Collections of Piano Performances in the 20th Century, Composers’ Self-Performances and Grammy Awards
In the 21st century, Phillips released a CD box set collection sponsered by Steinway & Sons that included historical recordings of 73 leading pianists of the past century by BMG, SONY Classical and DECCA. It consists of two heavy CD boxes: Box 1 contains 100 CDs, and Horowitz’s performances are found on six of those CDs (in three booklets containing two CDs each). The recordings are not particularly rare, but the fact that they are from major labels around the world makes them a historic collection of piano performances in the 20th century. In Japan, the collection was released with a simple description in the Japanese language.
Great Pianists of the Century BOX + 5CDs
As I already explained in Chapter 2, a 10-CD set was released in Germany covering the self-performances of 51 composers on the piano recorded from the late 19th to mid-20th century, including Brahms, Richard Strauss, Mahler, Debussy, Ravel, Scriabin, Bartok, Shostakovich, Ripatti, Horowitz, Dohnani, Messian and Bernstein. These performances were originally recorded on Edison’s wax cylinder, piano rolls, 78s and LPs and then remastered as CDs. Recordings of earlier composers (i.e. Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, etc.) are not available. These recordings are precious not only because we can listen to the composers play their own music but because they are the earliest recordings of music performances. In this collection, Horowitz played only one piece, Danse Excentrique. This CD also contains Brahms’ Hungarian Dance No. 1.
the creators ( Menbran)
The Grammy Awards began in the U.S. in 1959. The awards are the epitome of U.S. music culture. Most of the awards go to artists in the genres of popular music and jazz, but classical performances are also recognized from time to time. Horowitz was awarded a Grammy many times, and in 1988, he received a special award. At the award ceremony, he expressed his gratitude that attention was being paid to classical music, for classical music became rather a low priority in the U.S. musical scene from the latter half of the 20th century.
In celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Grammy Awards in 1999, a special 4-CD box set The Ultimate GRAMMY BOX from the Recording Academy’s Collection of Award Winning Music was released. Scriabin’s Vers la Flamme by Horowitz was picked up from the CD Horowitz Plays Scriabin (awarded a Grammy award in 1973). The only other pieces of classical music are Gavotte from Bach’s Cello Suite No. 6 (Yo Yo Ma) and Puccini’s Vissi d'arte, Vissi d'amore from Tosca (Leontyne Price). This collection contains 63 pieces and songs from the American music scene in the latter half of the 20th century, and includes artists such as Elvis Presley, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Peggy Lee, Louis Armstrong, Celine Dion, John Lennon, Miles Davis, Henry Mancini, John Coltrane, and Dionne Warwick.
I was very happy about the inclusion because Scriabin’s Verse la Flamme seems to me to be one of his best performances.
In 2004, he received the Grammy Hall of Fame Award for Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 performed at the Golden Jubilee Concert in 1978 to celebrate his 50th anniversary of performing in the U.S.
Grammy award
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