Anyone familiar with Moszkowski’s marginally familiar piano concerto knows to expect finely crafted, tuneful, and really attractive music, and that’s just what we get here. His command of form also is unusually supple, never sounding stiff or contrived, while the writing for the soloist has just as much virtuoso dash as does his writing for piano. Tasmin Little deserves credit for delivering such a classy account of this neglected gem. Her performance is particularly noteworthy for its full-throated lyricism in the lovely central slow movement, and she carries off the less-interesting Ballade in G minor with equal aplomb.
Tchaikovsky is the clear model for Karlowicz’s sunny concerto (the excellent notes point out that the work begins just like the First Piano Concerto played upside down), also expertly written and very skillfully scored. Once again Little offers playing of real enthusiasm in the outer movements, full of passion at the beginning of the first-movement development and exhibiting a sweet timbre that never turns shrill in the instrument’s upper registers. Martyn Brabbins and the BBC Scottish Symphony deliver their usual thoroughly professional, musicianly accompaniments and more–they sound both involved and enthusiastic about this project, as well they should. Hyperion’s sonics, excellently balanced, uphold the high standards of the house. Very warmly recommended, as are all of the releases so far in the label’s fine Romantic Violin Concerto series (of which this is Volume 4).
