Felix Draeseke’s works immediately reveal that he was a glowing admirer of Liszt and Wagner and a remarkably gifted creator of expressive harmonic designs and far-ranging melodic lines. Here Draeseke accomplished the feat of combining these powerful expressive means with classical forms. MDG is now rereleasing Draeseke’s Sinfonia Tragica, Piano Concerto, and Symphony No. 1 in a special edition featuring performances by the Wuppertal Symphony Orchestra in the historic Wuppertal Hall. The first release marked a discographic milestone.

Czerny’s name, even during his own lifetime, became known to the public more as a pedagogue than as a composer worthy of serious consideration. Little has changed up to the present day as his reputation is associated with dreadful memories of piano lessons even though his value and considerable legacy to piano teaching cannot be overestimated.

The short-lived Nicolai is better known for his operatic effort The Merry Wives of Windsor so it is good that MD&G are celebrating the less obvious. Of course neglect is sometimes justified. This turns out not to be the case here. Joyous Beethovenian bravura from same bloodgroup as the Beethoven's Choral Fantasy (much under-rated) and the Third and Fourth piano concertos. There is also restraint and tenderness aplenty amidst all the coruscating notes. The dashing piano part is pressed forward and breasted by MD&G regular Claudius Tanski - a most convincing performance. The work is restless with excitement and rich in detail.

Adolf von Henselt’s music is not well known today outside piano circles. His Piano Trio Op. 24, dedicated to Franz Liszt, is one of the few chamber works he created, and it bears more signs of the performer’s career he left behind than of the influential pedagogue he became. If Henselt’s writing is a little over-the-top in places, the playing on this recording is even more so. The ensemble is occasionally on the heavy side, and MDG’s sound is so direct and open that the performers’ stresses are exaggerated even further. This is evident, for instance, in the closing bars of the first movement exposition and in much of the following development section.

It was billed as a battle of titans. Franz Liszt had invited the leading pianists of his time to compose variations on Bellini’s “March of the Huguenots.” The international keyboard stars Chopin, Thalberg, Pixis, Czerny, and Herz had agreed to compete, but they never actually performed together in Princess Beliojoso’s Paris salon. Claudius Tanski has now recreated this event with his master pupils.

The Beethoven Orchestra Bonn and the pianist Claudius Tanski present a collection celebrating the 200th anniversary of the birth of Liszt. Works include the Overture to Goethe’s Torquato Tasso and Totenanz. An orchestration of La lugubre gondola by John Adams is a finely nuanced extra.

This wonderful CD contains some of Ignaz Moscheles' major chamber works, and they are definitely worth a listen! I completely recommend it for Moscheles fans, but also for fans of Beethoven-era chamber music. They are very colorful works due to their unusual instrumentations, which can be hard to find in this period of music. I particularly enjoyed the Grand Septuor Op.88, a mature work that might seem to have been imitating Beethoven, but with a composition date of 1832-33 and quite different instrumentation, was probably an inspiration all of its own. It's very nice to see this side of Moscheles, who is typically a piano composer and didn't often write for any other instruments but piano solo.