The Original Jacket Collection - Vladimir Horowitz

A fascinating collection of Horowitz performances very badly packaged - in most cases the original jackets give little clue to the contents of the discs.

You know how you have those playlists that you put on when you're trying to work? Well Horowitz is off mine because, quite frankly, I just can't concentrate when he is playing! I end up just dreaming of playing like he does...it's inspirational!Can't complain about the quality of the mp3s.

Wonderful collection of historic performances. Real collectors material.Somewhat disappointing in that it has not been cleaned up at all and there is a lot of very distracting background noise. This would have been good to know before purchase. It may have been stated but not clearly enough. Additionally , the sound is thin (probably because it is mono) and a reminder of how far one has come in terms of technological improvements.Certainly not a wonderful listening experience unless you are a real "buff".

I did not know Horowitz when I read the review of the seventy disc set in The Guardian. An Amazon seller appeared to be offering this at an absolute bargain price, so I ordered. The ten disc set arrived (I wrote to The Guardian suggesting they redirect their link). There seem to be two 'original jacket' ten disc sets- I think this is simply a mistake, there is also a box of the complete DG recordings and some Sony stuff, trying to find out what is in which set seems pointless, pick your price and check the number of discs.The music is mostly familiar piano repertoire and gives a clear idea of the artist's personality and style, exactly what I was after. Some of the recordings are a little old and might not be the best way to hear a piece for the first time or to get an ideal recording into your collection, but they have something to say. The 'original jacket' sleeves do not have much to say! They are copies of the LP sleeves, with original sleeve notes (very small) referring to the original LPs ... but these are not the original LPs, there is a lot of additional material here- so look in the booklet not the sleeve if you want to know what you are playing!Just play a disc from this set now and then, like rummaging through a parent's record collection it can be quite enlightening. Especially when Horowitz offers a new interpretation of a familiar work.