Arrau plays Chopin and Schumann

Advantages: Unparalleled playing, Unbelievably good bargain for 6 CDs!
Disadvantages: Um, paper sleeves? No, seriously, it's great

...This box set comprises recordings from 1985-89, when Horowitz was 81 years old! In 1986 Horowitz returned to Russia after 60 years away to give his monumental Moscow recital of which the live recording is included in this set. I personally find this performance of Liszt's Sonetto 104 del Petrarca to be the finest ever recorded. Alongside this is Scarlatti, Mozart, Rachmaninov, Scriabin, Schumann, Chopin, Moszkowski, and Schubert. Accompanying this recital is 5 other discs of outstandingly unique playing. As he got older, Horowitz's playing became a sort of caricature of itself in the nicest possible way. By this I mean, his dynamics became more extreme, he became more expressive than ever, and his sense of style was heightened to new levels. Horowitz's Mozart playing has been criticized for being too free and not in Mozart... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: Argerich's clarity of melodic line, striking colors and moods; thrilling, chilling, enchanting, arresting performances.
Disadvantages: Her Fantasiestucke may strike some as too rushed, less nuanced--or so I'm told.

...Too fast. Too sloppy. That's the sort of criticism some have leveled at Argentine-born pianist extraordinaire Martha Argerich (b. 1941), in live performances such as these, recorded in 1978 and 1979. In this 2000 release from EMI Classics, she makes short work of Robert Schumann's Fantasiestücke (Opus 12) and Maurice Ravel's Sonatine, as well as the diabolical (in more senses than one) Gaspard de la Nuit. Indeed, these readings are nothing if not stunning. Perhaps too much so for some, particularly the Schumann. Personally, I like 'em the way she plays 'em here--bold, tempestuous, uninhibitedly feral, disturbing when called for, at times mellow and genteel--yes, the powerhouse pianist is fully capable of grace and delicacy. Of technical brilliance she certainly lacks none, but technically brilliant pianists practically pour out... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: A discovery unforgettable
Disadvantages: Nothing

...difficult in the same time. I try to do it: 1) He make a full immersion in historycal background of Chopin; 2) He loved to study hand-written Chopin's music; 3) Like he said, he stopped to learn a work when "sounds flow in my blood". 4) An intelligent control by means of mind and heart. He plays Chopin's Nocturnes suspended in "time": night is not only darkness, mystery or passions; night in Chopin is without time also... This Arturo understood and now we can hear a strange dimension of time. Of course, there are passions, loves, cryes but these are nothing...in front of a world without time. Often Nocturnes seem lullabyes: it is true! But they send to sleep the death not the listeners! Then, these musics are a victory on the death! Other pianists have played these Chopin's works: Horowitz, Schnabel, Pollini, Richter... Some years... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful