Moszkowski: Serenata in D major, Op. 15 No. 1

None of us can deny that they have fallen prey to the lure of a junk shop or of the chaotic mysteries of an attic, and sometimes purchasers of an old wardrobe or chest of drawers find there a bundle of treasure left behind … well, the spirit of ‘What have we here?’ permeates the adventures captured on this album. Salon music had its heyday on record in the era of 78s, since the length of a side suited it so well, and for that reason some titles— such as Rubinstein’s Melody in F and Paderewski’s Minuet in G—may be familiar, but there are ‘finds’ to be had in any such compilation. This is music on which most aspiring pianists have cut their teeth, giving them as it does both the satisfaction of mastering a complete piece without straining their technique (well, mostly) as well as the backbone of a repertoire that makes for a welcome family evening around the piano; alas for us all that we cannot offer renderings of such sympathetic finesse and lyrical elegance as are here set down by Philip Martin ‘at home’ and off-duty from his award-winning complete Gottschalk recordings on Hyperion.

This Dal Segno releases features a collection of some of the greatest Russian pianists playing Russian compositions. Prokofiev and Scriabin are featured playing their own compositions in recordings taken from original piano rolls but replicated in 1992 on a new concert grand piano.

The Masters of the Piano Roll continues with Volume 14 in this series of recordings of the great pianists of the 20th Century.

These piano rolls are nearly 100 years old and come from a collection owned by Denis Condon who is one of the world’s most respected authorities on the piano roll and has some 18,000 in his collection

These recordings were made in 1992 and recorded on a brand new Yamaha Concert Grand under Denis’s supervision – they are not historical recordings.