180-gram double LP

After a self-imposed 12-year exile from public performance, pianist Vladimir Horowitz, at age 62, returned to the stage for a performance at Carnegie Hall on May 9, 1965. It was an important event: This titanic figure of the keyboard had been away for so long that everyone wanted to know, "Did he still have it?"

By the time he turned 40, Horowitz was a legend. Sergei Rachmaninoff called him the greatest pianist of the 20th century. Horowitz had conquered Europe and then America, setting the standard of contemporary virtuosity — he defined it, and for better or worse, that was what people wanted to hear. Horowitz also had an enormous range of tone and incredible charisma.

Now, revisit that historic performance, on this premier 2LP 180-gram release from Speakers Corner. In this concert, it's easy to hear how Horowitz toys with the music, and he achieves as much through gentleness and an almost laughable ease as he does through anything that would be considered technically overwhelming.

Track Listing
LP 1
Side A:
Bach / Busoni
Organ Toccata in C Major
1. Prelude
2. Intermezzo: Adagio
3. Fugue
Side B:
Schumann
Fantasy in C Major, Op. 17
1. Fantastic and with Passion
2. Moderate, Energetic Throughout
3. Slow, Sustained and Tender throughout

LP 2
Side C:
Scriabin
1. Sonata No. 9 in F Major, Op. 68
2. Poem in F-Sharp minor, Op. 32, No. 1
Chopin
3. Mazurka in C Sharp minor, Op. 30, No. 4
4. Etude in F Major, Op. 10, No.8
Side D:
Chopin
1. Ballade in G minor, Op. 23
Debussy
2. Serenade for The Doll from "Children's Corner"
Scriabin
3. Etude in C-Sharp minor, Op. 2, No. 1
Moszkowski
4. Etude in A-flat Major, Op. 72, No. 11
Schumann
5. Traumerei (Dream) from "Kinderszenen", Op. 15