The music presented here covers Busoni’s composing career from childhood to maturity. At first hearing, the Concerto for Piano and String Quartet appears to be mosaic randomly pieced together from Weber, Liszt, Beethoven, and Mendelssohn. When one considers that its composer was twelve years old, though, one’s critical focus shifts from the music’s derivative style to the youngster’s impressively assured composing technique. Twelve years later, though, Busoni still had Lisztian kinks to iron out in his Concertstucke. By contrast,the Indian Fantasy exemplifies the mature polytonal style that has kept Busoni on the fringes of the repertoire. Grante’s masterful pianism is partnered by an undernourished and ill-tuned orchestra that tries hard, yet their defects are magnified by the excellent, impactive engineering. Artis Wodehouse’s informative booklet notes make a welcome, if rather scholarly read.
