This release will introduce many to an extremely gifted, late romantic, Belgian pianist/composer.

Arthur De Greef's (1862-1940) second piano concerto is really lovely with sweeping, heartfelt melodies. It would certainly qualify for inclusion in Hyperion's ongoing series devoted to the romantic piano concerto.

The songs are for soprano and based on poems by C. Fuster. While there are shades of Faure here, De Greef enhances his gorgeous vocal lines with chromatically dramatic orchestral accompaniments, which guarantee you a highly emotional listening experience you'll not soon forget.

Humoresque is a brief, delightful tidbit in the best pops tradition.

The performances are excellent and feature two magnificent soloists who deserve much wider recognition. (P060520)

-- Bob McQuiston, Classical Lost and Found (CLOFO.com)

If you like Virgil Thomson's Plow That Broke the Plains and River Suites (see the newsletters of 16 January and 30 October 2007), you're going to love this release! As a matter of fact one of the best loved folk/hymn tunes used there permeates the very colorful and infectiously boisterous Symphony No. 7: Saga of a Prairie School (1948) of Don Gillis (1912-1978).

His wonderfully atmospheric Portrait of a Frontier Town (1947) honors the Fort Worth area. It features a terrific toe-tapping hoedown that you may find you like even better than the more familiar one from Copland's Rodeo, which was written two years later.

The Alamo (1949) is a very moving, miniature tone poem, which commemorates the tragic events that occurred there in 1836.

The music here is as American as apple-pie, and arguably some of Gillis' best. This release certainly qualifies as some truly exceptional Americana.

What's more, the performances couldn't be better and the sound on this hybrid, CD(2)/SACD(2/5.1), disc is absolutely demonstration quality -- audiophiles please take note! (Y060519)

-- Bob McQuiston, Classical Lost and Found (CLOFO.com)

BULL's eye will really get to you! It's a realization of an incomplete concerto by the great Norwegian violinist Ole Bull. Olav AntonThommessen (b. 1946) has created a fabulous work that is modern yet at the same time infused with the highly melodic, Italianate themes found in the original. Also, there's a surprise ending which is left for you to discover.

Please Accept My Ears for violin and piano is a fascinating piece that uses glissandi to striking effect.

Cantabile for solo violin, is a "study-cadenza" utilizing long melodic lines that soar into the utmost reaches of the instrument's range.

The performances and recordings are breathtaking. Violin and piano sound doesn't get any better than this, and the orchestral tutti are most impressive! (Y060518)

-- Bob McQuiston, Classical Lost and Found (CLOFO.com)

Ernst Toch (1887-1964) left Germany in time to avoid the rising tide of anti-Semitism there, and eventually came to the U.S., where he even lectured at Harvard. These late romantic works will come as welcome surprises to those unfamiliar with his music.

But before we go any further, a word of explanation for which we are greatly indebted to Fanfare Magazine (9-10/06) reviewer James H. North. The album mistakenly refers to the work for piano and orchestra here as the "Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 2, Op. 38." It is in fact Toch's Symphony for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 61. Supposedly a corrected version identifying it as the symphony will be forthcoming, but those of you with earlier copies will want to make note of this. In any case we're lucky to have what's here, because those who know the earlier concerto will probably find the symphony a much more interesting piece. There's an elegance and delicacy about it that make it most appealing. Do you suppose Shostakovich somehow knew it, because his first piano concerto, written a year later, bears a strange resemblance in places to it?

Like Toch's magnificent quartets, the quintet is beautifully crafted. Its movements are designated as "Lyrical," "Whimsical," "Contemplative" and "Dramatic;" and, each certainly lives up to its subtitle.

The performances and sound are superb. (Y060517)

-- Bob McQuiston, Classical Lost and Found (CLOFO.com)

Here are four outstanding early modern string quartets by composers who suffered greatly under the Nazis. In fact, Viktor Ullmann (1898-1944) died at Auschwitz. The first three parts of his quartet characterize longing, cynicism and grief, but the upbeat finale, which represents the triumph of the human spirit, belies the horrible circumstances under which it was written.

Erwin Schulhoff's (1894-1942) first quartet is a feisty, energetic offering with Slovak and Magyar folk overtones. One theme may even remind you of Kodaly's Hary Janos.

Heinrich Kaminski (1886-1946) and Adolf Busch (1891-1952), brother of Fritz, were great humanitarians and that's reflected in both of their highly sensitive works. You may detect an affinity with Hindemith in them.

Excellent performances and sound make this a winner. (P060516)

-- Bob McQuiston, Classical Lost and Found (CLOFO.com)

Many of us were very disappointed when the Olympia label went belly up, and along with it, plans to release all of Sergei Taneyev's string quartets. Well, Hallelujah! Because that's just what Northern Flowers is doing, and here's their second of five discs that will be devoted to all nine of them (see the newsletter of 7 May 2007 for the first volume).

Because of publishing peculiarities, quartets seven through nine were composed first. So, as Chico might have said to Groucho in A Day at the Races, five will get you eight and seven will get you one as far as the order in which the quartets here were written. Sergei may not have been the tunesmith that some of his Russian contemporaries were, but he was a highly educated man whose music has an intellectual integrity second to none.

The fifth and seventh quartets are straight forward and some of the most refreshing, Slavic chamber music in the literature. The latter has a classical purity worthy of Wolfgand Amadeus Mozart, whom Taneyev and his teacher Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky idolized.

You'll find the performances full of Slavic soul, and the recorded sound acceptable. A word of caution though, some listeners have reported tracking problems with this disc. (P060515)

-- Bob McQuiston, Classical Lost and Found (CLOFO.com)