this version, AND NOT Martha Argerich’s, is the fastest on record. In fact, Horowitz here plays faster than Argerich in all the most virtuosic passages, and much faster in the climactic end. So, it’s exactly the opposite of what the reviewer said: Argerich is the one who cannot equal Horowitz’s speed and power (not to mention dynamic range, in which Horowitz puts the Argentine pianist to shame), and she knew it
I’m sorry to contradict David Hurwitz, but Argerich’s Rach 3 is NOT “the fastest and physically exciting you will ever hear”: this honour goes to Hurwitz’s near-namesake Vladimir Horowitz in his 1941 live version with Sir John Barbirolli. In this wild rendition, Horowitz plays the concerto faster than anybody before or since, Rachmaninov and Argerich included. In fact, here Horowitz is faster than Argerich in all of the most virtuosic passages, and much faster in the end climax. Argerich - or anyone else, for that matter - simply can’t equal Horowitz’s white heat, whiplash kind of technical brilliance and command, his unique power, speed and tonal control.