This is one of seven volumes that represent the art some of the performing virtuoso-playing composers of the Romantic tradition. The notes tell us that each volume attempts stylistically to integrate composers who belonged to the same milieu and enjoyed professional relationships with each other.

Moscheles' Concerto, Op. 58 is said to be one of his finest works, showing the classical influences of Beethoven, Schubert and Chopin. From the opening of the Allegro moderato one can be forgiven for thinking you are listening to an orchestral score composed by Mendelssohn. However the piano lines have more of a Saint-Saëns ring about them. Bold statements punctuate gently-flowing passages with lightweight orchestral involvement. The Adagio contains recitative-like figures with background tremolos that eventually lead into an Allegro agitato. This movement skips along with a bright theme that is extemporised and builds to a suitable coda and rousing close.

Hiller's compositions are largely forgotten now but in his day his works reached the concert hall. His piano impromptu Zur Gitarre was played by Clara Schumann. His Concerto, Op. 69 contains some lovely melodies and has for too long been neglected, a point the CD notes confirm. Hiller premiered the work as soloist in Amsterdam (1856). It was performed in the presence of royalty nine years later, so we must assume that the work enjoyed a certain degree of popularity. This was one of the first piano concertos to utilise the key of F-sharp Minor and is full of ideas also original for the time. A Moderato movement opens the piece with an energetic main theme (without introduction) and use of alternating octaves - a device copied by d'Albert 28 years later. The emotional Andante espressivo is filled with ravishingly romantic melodies. It has a feeling of Liszt about it. A purposeful Allegro con fuoco closes the concerto.

Henry Litolff was taken as a pupil for the composer Moscheles. The older man declared Litolff so good that a public performance was arranged which he gave at the age of fourteen. Later as a proficient pianist, Litolff undertook concert tours on the continent and wrote his Concerto Sinfonique about 1846. Berlioz monitored his progress and referred to Litolff "as one of our best composers", praising his knowledge, inspiration, mobility of melodic style, and excellence of orchestration. At 39 minutes it is a long concerto and with a four movement structure broke new ground. There is freshness to this composition that gives me the impression of sprightly youthful eagerness. Why this amazing work is not better known I can't guess, but it would be ideal for part of a Proms programme.

An Allegro provides a majestic opening, with accelerating energy and an introduction of two principal ideas. In the Scherzo a Beethovenian hunting scene comes to mind, with echoes of the Ninth. The piano part complements the orchestra-dominated main theme. A peaceful Andante conveys a lyrical mood of relaxing charm, the piano syncopating a flowing horn melody. A bold Furioso moves with urgency before it breaks into a trumpet-led rendering of the Dutch National song "Wein Neerlands". The song weaves in and out of the movement before virtuosity brings the piece to an energetic close.

Carl Reinecke is usually remembered for the cadenzas he wrote to other composers' classic concertos rather than for his own compositions. This is despite the fact that he was a prolific writer of around 300 works. His writing is not as demonstrative as the other composers in this set: there is more of a relaxed feel to this concerto. Reinecke made his debut as a violinist at 11 but toured Europe as a pianist, before turning to the education of others. Reinecke settled in Leipzig where he became professor of piano and composition at the Conservatorium.

In Reinecke's Concerto the Allegro is a good vehicle for virtuosity, but there is practically no partnership with the orchestra. In the Adagio, sincerity of purpose is given with its meandering theme. A bold statement from the strings opens the Finale Allegro and rippling measures maintain momentum throughout the movement.

Mendelssohn's Capriccio brilliant is well known and needs little introduction. Written as a fantasia for piano and orchestra it is constructed on four themes - introductory theme, fortissimo theme, pianissimo theme, and piano theme. It is here played with sensitivity and purpose.

Rheinberger is better known for his organ compositions rather than the writing of orchestral works. He studied under Lachner and became an intimate friend of Schubert, yet his music is often linked with Brahms.

His Concerto deviates in its opening Moderato from the Beethoven pattern by dispensing with the orchestral exposition and replacing it with a short preludial statement; the piano entering with the main idea and acting as a dominant force. An Adagio follows with lyrical delicacy and appealing musical ideas. The orchestra contributes with important thematic and colouristic contributions throughout. A piano solo opens the Allegro energico with a flourishing statement and running into a fast-flowing theme before returning to the heroic idea of the first movement.

This set contains rarely recorded works of the lesser-known composers who provided a valuable contribution to the development of music through the 19th Century. The notes make interesting reading and give useful historical information. Descriptions of the works could have been fuller and more detailed.

Michael Ponti plays with considerable dexterity, and handles both powerful and sensitive passages with considerable skill. The orchestras play competently under knowledgeable conductors.

The analogue recordings of the '70s are clear without the extraneous noise that can show up in CD transfers of this period. They are pleasantly balanced for concerto recording with the piano placed nicely forward on the sound-stage. In the Reinecke concerto, a slight metallic timbre is noticed with the piano. A slight lack of dynamic range causes some detail of the orchestra to be hidden but this is not an obtrusive problem. There is no obvious mismatching in the acoustics or microphone placements between the different venues (not given).

-- Raymond Walker, MusicWeb International

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Vanhal: Symphonies, Vol. 1

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STAMITZ, C.: Clarinet Concertos, Vol. 1

'Slavyanka' is a San Francisco-based, a cappella male chorus whose members are mostly non-Russian speakers. Apparently there is an authentic Russian heritage in San Francisco, as the group takes its name from the name given by early 19th-century Russian colonists to the river near their settlement, just north of the San Francisco Bay area. Slavayanka and their director, Gregory Smirnov, have selected a program of late 18th-20th century folksongs for this recording.

Slavyanka brings gusto and energy to their interpretations of these songs, some of which might be familiar to most listeners. The famous "Song of the Volga Boatmen" receives a darkly beautiful performance that is rich with atmosphere and highlighted by a solo from bass Bob Raber. The group is also solid in less familiar songs, notably "Birch Switches," a tune that is driven by animated rhythms and tricky counterpoint. Best of all is "Come Savior, Today," a hymn that mixes Byzantine chant and multi-tone singing to the accompaniment of a Tibetan bell--it's haunting music.

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Recorded in: Orchestra Hall, Detroit 28-29 January 1993, 26-27 March 1994 & 23 May 1994 Producer(s) Brian Couzens Charles Greenwell Leslie B. Dunner Sound Engineer(s) Dan Dene Robert Shafer

SHOSTAKOVICH: String Quartets Nos. 1, 8 and 9

SHOSTAKOVICH: Piano Trios Nos. 1 and 2

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SCHUMANN, R.: Intermezzi, Op. 4 / Impromptus, Op. 5 / 3 Roma

Schubert: Trout Quintet / Adagio and Rondo Concertante

SCHUBERT: String Quartets (Complete), Vol. 3

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REVIEWS:
International Record Review (3/00, p.80) - "...The Leipzig Quartet handle the work with an obvious awareness of its inherent clarity....The blink-and-you'll-miss-it punctuation which anounces the entrance of [Oelze's] full-throated voice is superb in its...elegeant simplicity..."

Selections recorded May 31 and June 1, 1994.

Classical Music

Excellent playing - gloriously committed, fresh, confident and perceptive. This deserves a wider circulation.

Camille Saint-Saëns was one of the major Romantic composers in nineteenth century France. Regarded as a pioneer in his early years after the Great War and then in his eighties Saint-Saëns was still writing in his familiar late-Romantic style and his music had become regarded as anachronistic. Throughout his long life of eighty-six years Saint-Saëns wrote in most genres, including symphonies, concertante works, sacred and secular choral music, a ballet Javotte and incidental music, chamber music, numerous songs and pieces for piano and organ, and numerous arrangements. Saint-Saëns much cherished his thirteen operas all written during the period 1872-1911. Despite being prolific the fame of Saint-Saëns rests largely on just a small number of works most notably: the Symphony No. 3 Organ; the Symphonic Poem: Danse macabre; Softly awakes my heart and the Bacchanale from the opera Samson and Delilah; the Introduction and Rondo capriccioso and Havanaise for violin and orchestra, and The Swan from The Carnival of the Animals. Although of high quality the majority of his works are hardly known. A concert pianist himself a substantial number of Saint-Saëns’s rarely heard solo piano scores are a case in point. Even in his home country his piano scores soon became lost among the piano works of his European predecessors Liszt and Chopin and the impressionism of his successors Debussy, Ravel and Satie.

This MDG release serves as a excellent showcase for the solo piano scores. Presented here are three collections of six piano works. For some reason they are not placed in chronological order. The first is the Album pour Piano, op. 72. These are pieces tailored for virtuoso display in the fashionable Parisian salons and concert halls. The Album opens with an urgent Prélude with passages of calm; sounding somewhat Lisztian. A peaceful work tinged with melancholy the Carillon adopts a more serious quality at its centre. The rapid and darting Toccata has considerable appeal and the Valse is another attractive piece that develops a fervent core. Rocking and undemanding, the Chanson Napolitaine evokes the motion of the gondola. The concluding Final is a dazzling and exuberant showpiece.

The next two collections comprise Études ( Studies). These are spacious, polished and appealing in style and at times strike the classical approach of Mendelssohn. The Six Études pour le Piano, op. 52 commence with an upbeat and extrovert Prélude. Titled Pour l'independance des doigts this is melodic and encompasses a sighing and romantic mood. A brisk and determined Prélude and Fugue in F minor is followed by the tricky Etude de rythme so movingly gentle and delicate with an almost pleading quality. The Prélude and Fugue in A major is very fine being both melodic and dramatic, The set culminates in the popular En forme de Valse, sweeping and scatty.

The closing set is the Six Études pour le Piano, op. 111. Opening the set is the short Tierces majeures et mineures which is big-boned and extrovert. Reminding me on occasions of Rimsky-Korsakov’s famous Flight of the Bumblebee is the rapid Traits chromatiques followed by the Prélude et Fugue notable for its broad and dramatic gestures. Saint-Saëns was a great lover of the sound of bells and wrote several bell-inspired scores. A repetitive piece Les Cloches de Las Palmas contains prominent bell-like figures that could easily be ringing out a warning to townsfolk. The attractive, penultimate and scurrying Tierces majeures chromatiques is only brief. To crown this collection comes the dramatic and boisterous Toccata d'après le cinquième concerto a title that refers to the finale of the Piano Concerto No. 5, op. 103 known as ‘ The Egyptian’ .

Korean pianist Mi-Joo Lee provides excellent playing with a beautiful tone drawn from her Steinway concert grand (model D). There were only a couple of minor examples of poor technicality otherwise the soloist was gloriously committed, fresh, confident and perceptive. Virtually everything that Saint-Saëns wrote is appealing and of high quality whilst not making any claims for these splendid and interesting scores to be classed as masterworks. They deserve a wider circulation.

-- Michael Cookson, MusicWeb International

RUSSIAN BALLET FAVOURITES

Rule Britannia: Last Night of the Proms

These recordings are also available on MiniDisc, catalog number 7.550539.

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