Con Pno/Jeex D'eau/Clair de Lune/&

Unlike Artur Schnabel, who scorned the giving of encores at his recitals, Benno Moiseiwitsch was very generous in providing delectable extras at the end of his recitals. I can remember such recitals, the delight that Moiseiwitsch took in sharing favorite miniatures with his audience and, in particular, Moiseiwitsh as soloist in the best performance I have ever heard of Beethoven's Emperor Concerto.This concerto is not heard here, but there is a sympathetic and lyrical performance of the rarely heard Delius Piano Concerto. The rest of the program comprises a cosmopolitan and interesting collection of smaller recital pieces, recorded between 1925 and 1950. Listen to the slightly abridged performance of Godowsky's "Die Fledermaus" concert paraphrase and you'll think you are listening to several pianists and several pianolas at work. I especially like the cultured, controlled performance of Debussy's "Clair de lune". Audio quality, sometimes of demonstration quality at the time the recordings were first issued, is top class in this Ward Marston restoration. Sometimes more surface noise is heard than in other reissues of these items, but that makes me feel (and believe) that I am hearing a full reproduction of the original recording. This is the sixth Moiseiwitsch CD in a Naxos "Great Pianists" series, a series I can heartily recommend.

This is the sixth of the Moisewitsch reissues on Naxos. It contains mostly short pieces often played by him as encores. This release contains a couple of high points, for me. The Ravel 'Jeux d'eaux,' while not one of my favorite pieces, is played to a fare-the-well here by Moisewitsch.By far the most interesting thing here is the Delius Piano Concerto with Constant Lambert conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra, recorded in 1946. First of all, the Delius is a rarity in itself. Second, Moisewitsch, who championed this concerto throughout his career, plays it lovingly and makes as much as can be made of this admittedly somewhat loosely constructed piece. And if you're a Delius fan - and you know who you are - you must have this performance.The sound, as one has come to expect in the historical releases series from Naxos, is quite good, thanks to the meticulous engineering of Ward Marston.

I usede to buy Moiseiwitsch 78's. I looked on this CD as an opportunity to reminisce. The perfomances are great, but what the advertising didn't say was that the CD transfers for most of the pieces were made from 78's rather than master discs. Nevertheless, despite the sound quality this CD is well worth the purchase as a record of the skill of this great performer

I had given up hope of hearing Moiseiwitsch's wonderful recording of Clair de Lune by Debussy again, after my treasured 78rpm.recording got accidentally broken. Now I can hear this fine rendition once more through Amazon's CD. version, and I commend it to all lovers of Debussy interpreted by this superb pianist.