Horowitz plays Mozart

Deutsche Grammophon: 423 287-2 GH

1-3. Piano Concerto No.23 in A major, K.488
Carlo Maria Giulini/Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala

4-6. Piano Sonata in B-flat major, K.333

Horowitz plays Mozart

This is one of the most delightful and musically balanced Horowitz recordings I have ever heard. Gone is the demonic quality of earlier years, replaced with a new simplicity. Horowitz studied K. 488 in the 1930s with his father in law, Arturo Toscanini--and there is something of the legendary Italian's musicality in this performance. Tempos are brisk without being rushed; phrasing is businesslike without being cold. Perhaps this is why Horowitz chose another Italian, Carlo Maria Giulini as conductor in this concerto. Frankly, this is very much Horowitz' record--the piano is very predominant in the concerto. That is just fine with me, because the small orchestra is nondescript and leaves something to be desired tonally. The sound in the Concerto is synthetic and dry.

It sounds as if the microphones have been pulled back for the Sonata. K. 333 is my favorite Mozart Sonata, and this is my favorite recording of it. Purists may quibble with Horowitz' rather unorthodox approach to ornamentation. But the phrasing is so natural, tempos flexible without being anarchic, the colors so impressionistically beautiful that I cannot imagine Mozart being anything other than delighted with this performance.

Aside from the orchestral contribution in the concerto, my only complaint is that this CD could have been more generous in its timing

© Hank Drake

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