Search MusicWeb Here Custom Search     International mailing Up to 40% off

Searching Musicweb Monthly index Recordings of the Year Label index Masterwork index Series index Search engines Review Archive Classical Downloads Jazz Concerts Nostalgia Books Film music Resources Composer pages National discographies Online books Piano Trio Survey Gerard Hoffnung Arthur Butterworth's columns Philip Scowcroft's British light music collection Interviews Programme notes Other material Articles Seen & Heard Jazz reviews Message Board Announcements About Musicweb About Musicweb Contact Musicweb Contributors What they say about us Visitor stats Site Map

Founder: Len Mullenger

BUY NOW  AmazonUK   AmazonUS

Horowitz in Moscow Domenico SCARLATTI Sonata in B minor L33 Sonata in E major L23 Sonata in E major L224 Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791) Sonata No.10 in C major K330 Sergei RACHMANINOV (1873-1943) Prelude in G major Op.32 No.5 Prelude in G sharp minor Op.32 No.12 Alexander SCRIABIN (1873-1916) Etude in C sharp minor Etude in D sharp minor Op.8 No.12 Franz SCHUBERT (1797-1828) Impromptu in B flat major D935 Franz LISZT (1811-1886) Valse caprice No.6 from Soirées de Vienne after Schubert Sonetto 104 del Petrarca Fryderyk CHOPIN (1810-1849) Mazurka in C sharp minor Op.30 No.4 Mazurka in F minor Op.7 No.3 Robert SCHUMANN (1810-1856) Traumerei from Kinderszenen Op.15 Moritz MOSZKOWSKI Étincelles from Morceaux caractéristiques Op.36 No.6 Sergei RACHMANINOV (1873-1943) Polka de W.R. Vladimir Horowitz (piano) Recorded in Moscow in 1986 No encoding information provided. Directed by Brain Large. SONY DVD SVD 64545 [104:00]

Horowitz’s return to Russia after an absence of just over sixty years is commemorated in this film which makes its first appearance on DVD. I’m sure many will remember it from television showings over the years. Its award winning status is richly confirmed in this new edition, unchanged and unaugmented by any bonus features. The film captures the clamour of the audience, their raptness, the occasional weeping – most affecting – in Träumerei, and Horowitz’s visit to the Scriabin Museum where he plays the composer’s piano and meet Scriabin’s daughter. She introduces herself to him in French. We also see Horowitz, muffled against the climate, wandering around his childhood haunts and admitting that this would be the last chance to meet his family before he died. We hear from an edited interview with him during the concert interval – one recorded during his visit. The hall was full of course but party functionaries who bagged most of the tickets were augmented by students, who refused to budge when requested to leave. There were two hundred of them in the balcony. They watched a performance of characteristic and unrepeatable magnetism. The Scarlatti, bejewelled but evocative, and reflective of his best Scarlatti playing is followed by a Mozart Sonata of teasing brilliance, personalised and full of fulsome rubati. The Rachmaninov and Scriabin before the interval are compounded of flair, colouristic majesty and rare insight and the Schubert, Liszt and Chopin after it a roll-call of his artistry at its most involved if still controversial. The feathery articulation and lightness of the Liszt Valse caprice is an exquisite delight. Camera angles are simple but effective, many from the pianist’s left side, with a view of the spellbound audience beyond, many clutching opera glasses; especially effective are the panning shots and the on stage cameraman who films the pianist as he bows and leaves the stage, handkerchief waving. I have to admit some disappointment with the DVD however. You need to search long and hard for the name of the director, who was Brian Large – it’s at the bottom of the box – and there’s no encoding information. Unless you knew Horowitz was talking to Scriabin’s daughter you wouldn’t otherwise know from the unhelpful, pretty non-existent editing. Parts of the interviewing and the Horowitz walkabout are in fact messy and should have been tightened up and properly captioned. The performances captured throughout the film, however, are gigantic in the extreme. Jonathan Woolf     Gerard Hoffnung CDs Advertising on Musicweb Donate and get a free CD   New Releases Musicweb sells the following labels Acte Préalable (THE Polish label) Altus 10% off Atoll 10% off CRD 10% off Hallé 10% off Lyrita 10% off Nimbus 10% off Nimbus Alliance Prima voce 10% off Red Priest 10% off Retrospective 10% off Saydisc 10% off Sterling 10% off Follow us on Twitter Subscribe to our free weekly review listing sample Sample: See what you will get Editorial Board MusicWeb International Founding Editor    Rob Barnett Seen & Heard Editor Emeritus    Bill Kenny Editor in Chief    Vacant MusicWeb Webmaster    David Barker MusicWeb Founder    Len Mullenger

Return to Index

Reviews from previous months Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.