The outstanding young German pianist Joseph Moog makes his debut on ONYX with a superb disc of two great Russian piano concertos that have had very different fates. Anton Rubinstein s 4th was once one of the most famous and popular concertos in the repertoire, and many of the major virtuosos performed this work into the early years of the 20th century when the composer s other works vanished from the concert hall.

Joseph Moog, after recording both Brahms piano concertos for Onyx Classics, turns his attention to one of the most demanding and forbidding of piano concertos. Max Reger's concerto dates from 1910. This rugged giant of a concerto displays all Reger's formidable skill at using large orchestral forces with great clarity, making the piano part of the orchestral fabric. The concerto has much music that is both brilliant and poetic as well as passages of great turmoil. The album includes the 6 Intermezzi, which display a different facet of this complex composer. These are delightful pieces, tender, romantic with much poetry.

Paganini’s Caprices have exerted a mesmeric attraction for composers since their publication in 1820 (they were composed between 1802 – 1817). Liszt, Chopin, Berlioz, Rachmaninov to name a few. Schumann’s two sets of Etudes were the result of hearing Paganini play in Frankfurt in April 1830. These early compositions are comparatively rare in performance – they were composed at the same time as the Abegg Variations Op.1, Papillons Op.2, Davidsbündlertänze Op.6, the Toccata Op.7 and the famous Carnaval Op.9. From these early works to his last days in the asylum at Endenich where he composed a piano accompaniment to the 24th Caprice, Paganini was still working his magic on Schumann.

Jongen's Etude of 1920 and Deux pieces for Piano op.33 of 1908 are wonderful, substantial works totaling over 16 minutes. Debussy is an influence but Jongen no more of a cheap imitator than Seurat is of Monet. All three are colorful, exquisite, and not miniature in scope. Reger's "Fireside Dreams" have the charm his corpus otherwise lacks. As Amazon's rip off does not include notes, I would refer the avid reader to Fanfare magazine issue 34.3 Jan/Feb 2011 and a rave review by Boyd Pomeroy for additional detail and guidance. .