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Very good news indeed. I hope he records every Czerny concerto that can be found!

I have always thought that, over all, Reinecke's music was very fine. For my taste, his output definitely contains some of the strongest unsung 19th C music out there. Recently I was listening to his cello sonatas, which were new to me, and the thought crossed my mind that these were works that could proudly grace any recital program. Perhaps they would even provide a good, unhackneyed, alternative to the overplayed Brahms sonatas. The flute sonata and the flute concerto are superb, not to mention the Piano Concerto in F sharp minor. In every case, the instrumental writing strikes me as faultless and idiomatic, and all the works have a subtle vein of melancholy that is very much Reinecke's own. It is very attractive.

According to the interview with Kraggerud after the concerto, it looks like it will be recorded by Naxos.

Stenhammar's Second Piano Concerto always sounded to me as though it opened in the middle of things.

If anyone here has not heard Bolet's live performance from the early 1970s, do check it out. As tonally magnificent as the late Decca recording is, it is rather sedate, and the earlier recording really takes flight. Of course, there is also the old Cortot, which is also really something.

" maybe it's time to start the LP to CD transfer"

Yes! I have wanted to hear what is on those LPs for ages, and I am sure there are many others who have felt the same way. We would be most grateful.

Thank you for this! Just listening to the Dubois Suite Concertante, which I haven't heard before. The bitrate (128) is fine.

She does create a lovely sense of flow in the more lyrical and melodic sections with beautifully spun decorative passage work. And it must help that she has a conductor with no little understanding and experience of the bel canto style. I did feel that there could have been a little more high-octane brilliance when the music becomes more lively and the rapid fire double notes, etc. come out. That is where one longs for a Hough, or even better, the vast command of Demidenko, who I once heard do the Hummel B minor Concerto (in Saskatoon, Canada, of all places). In the past, he has shown an interest in concertos from this period. Would be nice if he could be persuaded to take up a couple of Czerny concertos too. Its nice to dream anyway.

But I know I will enjoy the two Naxos discs and am happy that the ECO plays with a bit of vibrato, which is not a given in modern chamber orchestras that record classical and early romantic music these days.

This is very interesting and I look forward to eventually hearing it. Material that would go down well in recitals.

But it would be really nice to have the seven Johansen cassettes, which were apparently 90 minutes each, re-released, boxy sound and all. Nobody at the Johansen estate has ever gotten around to doing anything about it, even after decades. I am sure that in our era of ridiculously cheap box sets, if the price is right this and the much bigger boxes of Bach, Liszt, and Busoni, would sell a few thousand copies each. Archival sound and all. Johansen was a real legend, and many experienced listeners still know it. Does anyone (like Gordon Rumson, whose interests overlap at least somewhat with UC) at the Johansen estate read UC?  There has been a bit of activity there with a new website dating back to 2009...hasn't been on my screen for a while....

For a start, it's twice the size of the previous issue, so...

...so I will get it anyway. Of course there are interesting items I want to hear. Just frustrated with all the duplication that is already on the shelves, that's all!

Looking forward to this, as well! Good to see more pianists taking up Czerny concertos. (Would like to see more sonatas, too.)

This is a super collection of course, ultra cheap and very tempting, but...no doubt like so many others here, I already acquired the 20 CD incarnation of Romantic Piano Concertos from Brilliant years ago, and many of the Vox CD reissues before that. How much duplication does one need in order to make sure one has absolutely all the piano concertos ever issued on those old Vox LPs?
Hopefully, though, it will be a good buy for people such as younger piano aficionados and music students. If they are still buying CDs, that is.

I know all of the following composers been discussed to some degree over the years on UC, but don't necessarily know to what extent they are your particular passions. So here goes:

Czerny Sonatas are very good indeed, although some are extremely difficult to play. Jones is quite good and deserves high marks for what must have been an appalling amount of work to master that literature, and for even managing to convince someone to record them. But they need other top notch pianists (the Ashkenazys and so forth) to do them and get them into the public consciousness.

Medtner is not as unsung as he used to be but still far too little played. Hamelin of course, but also Berezovsky (for example, in the Night Wind). Tozer's cycle is also very fine but he can't compete with Hamelin (sometimes life just isn't fair!). Also recommended is  Lucas Debargue's genuinely moving first sonata. Apparently he would be willing to play the whole cycle!. Hamish Milne did an early cycle and I always thought he had real true romantic depth and understanding in his playing (Holbrooke Concerto, Lyapunov Concertos, Liszt-Busoni Ad nos transcription)

York Bowen. Joop Celis' cycle is very good, but Danny Driver's set of the 6 sonatas is, if anything, even finer. I also value Bowen's 1960 Lyrita recording (and while we're talking about his own playing there is an Appian Way set that places him pretty much in the front rank of pianists)

In my opinion, all of the above are absolutely first rate from a pianistic and musical point of view and have amply repaid my efforts.

Alan, about the translations, I agree wholeheartedly that they should be done by a native English speaker. But even if they are, it is still notoriously difficult to make the text sound smooth. For me (I have done about 60 booklets for another German label), a lot depends on how well the German is written. If the thoughts connect smoothly and logically, it becomes much easier. One also has to stand back from one's work for a few days and then rewrite it all. And maybe even do that a couple more times if one can (although one does not always have the opportunity, unfortunately...)

Thanks Ilya, that's good to know. Hopefully the medium holds promise!