Search - George Frederick Handel, Ludwig van Beethoven, Antonin Dvorak :: Romantic Piano Favourites, Vol. 3

Miniatures, transcriptions, excerpts from four centuries

Leslie Richford | Selsingen, Lower Saxony | 09/21/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"In the liner notes, the title of this CD is given as 'Favourite Piano Pieces', which seems to fit much better than anything to do with 'Romantic', for here there are gathered miniatures, transcriptions and excerpts by famous and less-famous composers from four different centuries (from the 17th to the 20th)! In fact, the only thing that seems to unite these most diverse tracks is their ability to show off the piano and the pianist to best advantage. The most difficult pieces here appear to be Rimsky-Korsakov's 'Flight of the Bumble Bee' in a transcription by Rachmaninov, and Dohnanyi's incredibly hard 'Concert Etude in F Minor', a fitting close to the whole recital, in which Balász Szokolay is able to distinguish himself as a very able player. The rest of the programme is generally also well-played, with the faster pieces in particular being delivered with skill and gusto, while the slower ones (Debussy, Kreisler) tend to lack something of this enthusiasm; it is perhaps fortunate that the majority of numbers are faster pieces. My personal favourite is Grieg's 'March of the Trolls', closely followed by Handel's 'Harmonious Blacksmith' (which should, of course, really be played on a harpsichord, but still sounds very good on a concert piano) and Paderewski's 'Menuet'. All in all, an entertaining hour of piano playing and excellently recorded, provided you don't mind taking a guided tour through the last 400 years of composition in such a short time."