Pretty trifles, decently served
G.D. | Norway | 12/12/2008
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Hyperion, for their Helios series, presents us with a welcome re-release of Seta Tanyel's traversals of the Scharwenka and Moszkowski series originally released by Collins. I snapped up vol. 3 quite arbitrarily to sample the latter composer. Turns out to be (as expected) entertaining but eventually not very memorable music.
Moszkowski surely knew how to write for the piano, but was unfortunately short on substance (at least that is the unequivocal impression from this volume). Best here are the Barcarolle (a surprisingly good piece) and the irresistibly charming 3 Morceaux. The rest is worth a listen, but probably not more. Tanyel plays them fluently though maybe lacking the last ounce of vigour and panache this music needs to come fully alive. The recording is excellent."