Remember the old radio commercial that went, "Ask the man who owns one!" Well, here's what one customer thought about this release. "This exquisite CD is an absolute must for the violin music lover, not only for the lyrical gems of Friml's music but also for Stephanie Chase's magical and transporting performances. These pieces are sentimental yet delicate, virtuosic yet charming, and ultimately have a truly mesmerizing effect on the listener. Sara Davis Buechner is a delightful pianist partner. I enthusiastically recommend this superb recording." And he's absolutely right!

Profound music this is not, but salons of the early 1900s couldn't have been graced with more charming miniatures than these. Born and educated in Prague (at one time he studied with Antonin Dvorak), Rudolf Friml began his career as a pianist playing throughout Europe and the United States with fellow student and violinist Jan Kubelik. Several of the pieces featured here were in fact written for their highly successful concert tours.

America obviously made a deep impression on Friml, because he moved to the U.S. in the early 1900s where he became famous for such highly popular operettas as Rose Marie and The Vagabond King. One of the selections here, Chanson, will sound very familiar to many listeners. That's because it would later become part of the melody for The Donkey Serenade, which was one of the best loved American songs of the 30s.

But that's only one of the sixteen treasurable delights on this great sounding release! (P061018)

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

The youthful members of this quartet deliver magnificent performances of both works included here.

The composer Pavel Haas was a student of Leos Janacek and it shows in his quartet. Subtitled “From the Monkey Mountains,” each of its movements is associated with a different area of what was once a popular Czech recreational area nicknamed that. Premiered in 1926, it was way ahead of its time in that there are not only folk references, but experimental jazz elements, which require the services of a percussionist in the finale. The audience found it too radical at the time and for a while thereafter it was done sans percussion; but, here we have the original version and it's really hard to imagine it being quite as interesting without it.

The Janacek is a late romantic Czech chamber masterpiece and one of the greatest musical love letters ever written. What’s even more amazing is that this staggeringly original work was composed by a man in his 70s. Youthful passion, ardent bliss, nostalgic longing and the triumph of the human spirit characterize the four movements of this remarkable piece. It's a trip down lovers' lane like no other you'll ever take and the recorded sound is superb. (P061017)

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

Here's a French baroque ballet bonanza from Michel-Richard de Lalande (1657-1726) that's tailor made for those who loved the Le Roi Danse disc of a few years back.

Inspired by Cervantes Don Quixote, it's a rustic tale of love lost and regained and even includes the loony Spanish knight among its characters. While no complete score for the ballet exists, it was possible to reconstruct its orchestral components from numerous pieces that were not only known to be parts of it, but also appear in the composer's extant symphonies. The only three very brief vocal selections from it that have survived are sung here by a female soloist. All the pomp so typical of this period has been preserved and one section [track-3] sounds very much like that stately Masterpiece Theater theme that became so popular several years ago.

The instrumentation is brilliant and includes a musette, or French bagpipe [track-21], as well as a whole arsenal of exotic percussion instruments including thunder sheets [track-35]. Written for Louis XV, it's hard to understand why he was apparently not that taken with it. In fact those of us hearing this highly infectious music would have to conclude that he must have been somewhat of a leadfooted curmudgeon.

The performances sound totally authentic and the recording is superb. So, give this a twirl and cut a rug! (P061016)

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

The glorious sounding George Lloyd revival on hybrid disc continues with this release of his first and twelfth symphonies.

The first is a vibrant, youthful piece written in 1930 when Lloyd was only 19. It was a bit unusual for its time in that it's only in one movement. In fact, it wasn't until 1939 that this symphonic structure became better known with the appearance of Roy Harris's third symphony. Lloyd's flows seamlessly and some may detect certain Elgarian tendencies in the animated opening section. His gift for melody is obvious throughout the entire work making it very appealing to those of a romantic bent.

Structurally speaking the composer purposely modeled his twelfth symphony, his last, after the first. Written some 50 years later, it is much more assured and begins in a decidedly relaxed manner. Never at a loss for wonderfully inventive tunes and touches of orchestral color, Lloyd conjoins its three subsections into a unified meltingly beautiful whole that is both wistful and exhilarating.

The performances as conducted by the composer must be considered definitive and the recording, particularly the SACD tracks, is demonstration quality. (Y061015)

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

Some classical pieces pretty much play themselves. Others demand that little extra je ne sais quoi from the performers for the listener to fully realize their potential. This disc provides a good case in point when you compare these truly special performances to those of some years ago when these quartets first appeared on CD. As done here these wonderful works by the late-romantic/early-modern Austrian composer Joseph Marx demonstrate that his chamber pieces are just as accomplished as his orchestral ones.

Rather than numbering his quartets, Marx gave them individual names. The first one on this disc is the Quartetto in modo antico. Dating from 1937-38, it was the second of the three that he wrote and pays homage to such old masters as Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina and Orlande de Lassus. It's atypical of Marx the chromaticist in that it's very linear and highly modal. Those who like Respighi's modally influenced works will love it.

Things become a little neo-classical with the next quartet, which not surprisingly is called Quartetto in modo classico and dates from 1940-41. It was the last written and opens with the introduction and development of a catchy melody that sounds like a combination of Gone Are The Days, the beginning of Johann Sebastian Bach's Violin Concerto, BWV 1042 and Gaudeamus Igitur thrown in for good measure. The third movement starts with a theme very similar to the opening of the the minuet from Franz Joseph Haydn's Symphony No. 103, "Drum Roll". The work ends in a delightful fugal flurry with previous motifs taking a bow in Franckian cyclic fashion.

By the way, in 1944-45 Marx arranged these two quartets for string orchestra calling them Partita in modo antico and Sinfonia in modo classico respectively.

The program concludes with the Quartetto chromatico, which although the first written (circa 1936, revised in 1948) is the most progressive in that it's almost as chromatically peripatetic as Max Reger's music. Yet, Marx's key shifts are very well judged and never leave the listener wondering where he's been or going. The first movement may push the limits of tonality, but with repeated listening you'll find it's one of the most gorgeous creations you could ever hope to hear.

All this plus excellent sound make this release an absolute must for romantic chamber music enthusiasts. (P061014)

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

This release certainly qualifies as a real find in that it contains sacred music by a man who was best known as the father of Polish opera. Besides his operatic affiliations, Stanislaw Moniuszko was also an organist and a deeply religious man, who wrote a great deal of church music.

The four Litanies included here might be thought of as brief cantatas inspired by the Roman Catholic Mass. They all have Latin texts, but are musically quite different in character.

The first is very solemn and opens with a theme that may call to mind the Rex tremendae majestatis section of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's requiem.

The second is much more secular sounding with romantic melodies that might well have been folk inspired.

The third is more in keeping with Moniuszko's better known music in that it's quite operatic. Reportedly this was his favorite and he dedicated it to Gioachino Rossini, who apparently found it irresistible.

The fourth is the most harmonically progressive and romantic in spirit of the lot, and contains some really gorgeous vocal writing.

The performances are certainly authentic and feature excellent soloists supported by a superb chorus and orchestra.

The recorded sound is a bit pinched, but that's a small price to pay for an introduction to a lttle known corner of this very interesting composer's distinguished body of work. (P061013)

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

Following their first very well received disc of English piano quartets (Meridian 84519), the Primrose folks now gives us another winner.

The Cyril Scott is a real find, particularly in this highly preferable second performance of the work to appear on CD. It’s an early piece with a Germanic intensity and wonderful melodic fluidity that literally sweeps the listener along.

In some respects it anticipates the Frank Bridge, which was written ten years afterwards and the composer called a Phantasy Piano Quartet.

The Herbert Howell’s must certainly rank as one of the high points in romantic English chamber music. The specter of Gabriel Faure is present as well as that of Claude Debussy in the form of pentatonic elements.

These elements also appear in the concluding selection by William Alwyn, which came thirty-four years later. Entitled Rhapsody for Piano Quartet, this piece certainly shows that Alwyn was just as much at home in the chamber medium as the orchestral one.

The performances are most authoritative and the sound is very good. (P061012)

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