Not surprisingly, the Russian music receives close to definitive treatment, with the Prokofiev Sixth Sonata breathtaking in capturing both the hard-edged virtuosity of the outer movements and decadent elegance of the Tempo di valzer lentissimo third movement. The Rachmaninov Preludes are a feast of warm tone and clear textures. The Prokofiev Visions Fugitives, performed as encores at both concerts, slip by like the quicksilver glimpses of fantasy they are.
The rest of the material is more controversial. The Haydn Sonata is notable for the incredible speed of its opening movement; the technique is dazzling but there is little else. The finale, oddly, proves to be on the sedate side. The Adagio, however, is beautifully shaped and balanced. The Chopin Scherzo and Third Ballade remind this listener of Horowitz, not in a good way: the music is driven too hard and loses poise, the end of the Ballade particularly difficult to endure in its overplayed clangor.
Nevertheless, as a whole, these performances are vivid and essential documents of one of the great pianistic personalities of the twentieth century. The sound is clear and perfectly acceptable, though there is little "live" ambience.
