It is 60 years since Neville Cardus memorably called Horowitz ''the greatest pianist alive or dead''; and even today, when there is a six-deep queue of virtuosos that, laid end to end, would stretch halfway round the world, his playing is something to make the listener gasp and sit up. For sheer brilliance one need look no further than the early Prokofiev Toccata, its cascades of notes played with furious energy and incisive clarity, or the Poulenc Presto, taken at a breathtaking speed and displaying the most astonishing Fingerfertigkeit. But with the exception of the Faure Nocturne—the composer's last piano piece—which Horowitz, while not afraid to convey its emotional charge, perhaps enlarges beyond its Gallic frame, this disc shows him putting his formidable talent to the service of music of our own time.
There are eight other recordings of the Barber Piano Sonata in the catalogue, but to my mind the most thrilling and satisfying is that by this artist, who created the work in 1949: his quicksilver delicacy in the scherzo is unsurpassed, and the dazzling virtuosity of the fugal finale makes one want to stand and cheer. It should be said, incidentally, that the remastering of the original 78s has, without affecting the overall frequency range, virtually eliminated their surface noise and produced remarkably quiet backgrounds: the only exception is the Prokofiev sonata (which Horowitz introduced to the USA), where the 1945 recording (the earliest here) is also more resonant and in which, just occasionally, a little too much pedal is used: the tremendous drive of his rhythm nevertheless makes for a compelling performance. Does he, though, slightly sentimentalize the Andantino sections of the first movement? The Kabalevsky sonata—which, too, was given its first USA hearing by Horowitz—is a lesser work with more than a suspicion of playing to Russian wartime tastes, especially in the finale; but it could scarcely be presented more convincingly. This is a disc all pianists and piano enthusiasts should have—and it's mid-price too!'