[Addendum] Chopin: Scherzo No.4 (Ashkenazy 1955, Horowitz 1936)

Описание: 00:00 – Ashkenazy 1955 (studio)
09:20 – Horowitz 1936 (studio)

(If you're curious why this video exists, look here:    • Запись  )

Ashkenazy is unsurprisingly very similar (if slightly slower than) the live recording from the 1955 Chopin Competition. Incredibly long, fleet lines, with clear and natural phrasing. It’s especially nice how the LH projects itself clearly under all those busy RH scales, and the (relatively) constant tempo keeps the music moving at a pleasing clip. The trio is taken quite fast and matter-of-fact, but it really works – long phrases often reward this kind of playing, which lets you hear the overall shape of the melody.

For pure excitement and colour I don’t think this old Horowitz recording has been equalled. Nearly every conceivable kind of pianistic bon-bon is present here. Glittering scales (11:01), lovely inner LH lines (10:01, 10:10, 11:22), swooning variations of touch and dynamic (all throughout the trio). Horowitz does not shy away from big fortissimos, and the return of the A section is probably the most exuberant on record. And despite the speed the phrasing is never remotely stiff or rehearsed – in fact the trio here is probably the freest I’ve heard. One nice touch is the constant tempo during the coda’s trill section (17:16); nearly everyone starts to fade away both in dynamic and speed here, but Horowitz preserves a playful sense of momentum.