At his best Toscanini was an unrivalled interpreter of Brahms's music, and there are some admirable qualities in the way he shapes the orchestral part for his son-in-law pianist in the Second Concerto. As you might expect from such a familial connection, soloist and conductor seem pretty well agreed in their view of the work. And with such a virtuoso at the keyboard a strong even forceful performance is guaranteed. Yet I rather feel that the performance seldom quite settles down. There is always a slightly hectic quality present, and often I wished that pianist and conductor had given phrases just a little more time to breathe. This drawback is most noticeable in the slow movement, where a basic tempo which is just a little too fast doesn't allow the solo cellist to flower, and some of the inward quality of the music is missing. The last movement, taken at a good, just tempo, with plenty of impetus and fire, is best, and if the first two movements sometimes lack Brahmsian warmth and grandeur they have tremendous energy and sharpness of attack. The transfer is only fair, and in the first and second movements there are patches of distortion in the upper string sound which certainly don't occur on my old LP transfer (4/72—nla).
In the Brahms Intermezzo Horowitz rather overlooks the music's contemplative quality: he plays the Schubert Impromptu attractively, but without the last ounce of poetry, and a delightful performance of ''Au bord d'une source'' is spoilt by distortion in the recording. An unattractive sound-quality also spoils a fine account of the ''Sonetto''. Liszt, I feel, was much more Horowitz's composer than Brahms or Schubert, and his slightly mischievous but entertaining arrangement of the Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 is quite dazzlingly played.'