MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2023
Approaching 60,000 reviews
and more.. and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


CD REVIEW

Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger

alternatively Crotchet

 

Mieczyslaw Horszowski (piano)
Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)

Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major op. 15 (1800) [36:00] ¹
Felix MENDELSSOHN (1809-1847)
Piano Concerto in A minor (1822) [34:19] ²
Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
Piano Sonata No.7 in D major Op.10 No.3 (1797-8) – Menuetto [2:21] ³
Johannes BRAHMS (1833-1897)
Klavierstücke Op.119
No.1 Intermezzo in B minor [3:32]; Intermezzo [1:29] ³
Mieczyslaw Horszowski (piano)
Omroep Kamerorkest/Mauritz van der Berg, rec. 19 January 1958 ¹
Musica Aeterna/Frederic Waldman, rec. 24 February 1962 ²
Test recordings, made in Sao Paolo, Brazil c.1949 ³
ARBITER 154 [78:02]
Experience Classicsonline


Horszowski made his debut in Warsaw playing the C major Beethoven Concerto; he was ten. He was to leave behind two recorded performances. The first came in 1953 with Casals at Prades and this second one. Only recently discovered, it derives from a Dutch concert in 1958, fifty-six years after the pianist’s first performance of it in Warsaw in 1902.

Allan Evans notes in the booklet to this release that the first movement of the Casals performance was marred by a too rapid tempo. No such disagreements occur here where Horszowski is teamed with Mauritz van der Berg. One acknowledges the hissy sonics. But once past that one can but defer to the pliancy and fluency of the pianist’s phrasing, his multi-variegated tonal reserves and resources, his deft passagework. The cantabile nobility of the slow movement is an especial treat to hear with expressive bounds always observed; the naturalness, the vocalised freedom of expression are all superbly rendered. So too is the high-spirited finale, incisively done and wittily too; the winds play aptly and well throughout. If one considers the relatively recently issued live performance of this concerto given by Cortot [Tahra] one can immediately note that whilst Horszowski’s performance teems with buoyancy and warmth Cortot is fitful and rather peevish; the difference between an adept in this repertoire and one to whom the C major was something of a foreign field.

Coupled with the C major is the youthful A minor Concerto by Mendelssohn.  Horszowski first performed this little known work in Switzerland in 1961 though it stayed in his repertoire for only a year. Arbiter’s performance was privately taped by the conductor Frederic Waldman in February 1962. We have Waldman’s foresight to thank for a number of invaluable survivals – and Arbiter to thank for issuing them. I think especially of the Erica Morini discs but there are others that are very strongly recommended.

In more recent times pianists such as Ogdon, Staier and Brautigam have ventured into this repertoire but Horszowski’s curiosity, aged seventy-nine, was really something. The sound is pretty good here, with minimal scratches but some expected hiss. The piano tone is clear and true, and we can hear the solo violin and cello lines nicely. Even in the more derivative right hand patterns of the slow movement Horszowski keeps things warmly textured and alive; note the left hand staccati as well and the central contrastive section whish is pointed with youthful panache. The puckish dance of the finale is enacted with vigour, crisp accenting and by the time of the cadenza we experience once more the full torrent of the Polish pianist’s wit, eloquence and control.

As if this were not enough there are three other valuable things here. Private test recordings capture valuable examples of Brahms – two pieces from Klavierstücke Op.119 and the Menuetto from Beethoven’s Op.10 No.3 sonata – all recorded c.1949 in steely, scuffy but serviceable sound.

Needless to say this is an essential purchase for Horszowski’s legion of admirers – rare survivals lovingly restored.

Jonathan Woolf


 


 




 


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools




Return to Review Index

Untitled Document


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.


 

nc"-->