Vladimir Horowitz : The Chopin Collection (7CD)

Sony Classical announces another ten releases in its popular series of Classical Masters. This new batch of budget-priced sets contains major recording projects by some of the 20th centurys most celebrated musicians. More piano music: a unique and indispensable collection of Vladimir Horowitz playing Chopin. The new Sony Classical box gathers together solo Chopin recordings that the piano wizard set down for RCA and CBS/Sony between 1928, when he was 25, and 1989, the year he died. His Gramophone obituary observed: Horowitzs sound seemed to grow and blossom with all the fullness of great singing or string playing long after it should logically have ceased. These qualities combined with a facility and rhythmic aplomb that caused other would-be pyrotechnicians to pale into insignificance If Rubinstein showed a classic and patrician sense of contour in Chopin, Horowitz looked on the wild side, avidly seeking a romantic agony of the most vibrant passion and color. In such music Horowitzs audacity and, indeed, outrageousness knew no bounds, and the communicative force of his playing drove his audiences near to hysteria. Hear for yourself in this new 6-album set, the most comprehensive collection of Horowitzs Chopin ever released.