Although completed by Sergei Lyapunov, Piano Concerto No. 2 sounds more like the Balakirev we know from the symphonies. The musical argument is more dramatic and the melodic material is distinctively Russian, especially in the touching Adagio movement, the work's emotional center. Balakirev's piano writing has grown more evocative while becoming more technically demanding. Again, Seifetdinova handles these challenges with aplomb.

Finally, Balakirev's early Grande Fantaisie on Russian Folksongs is reminiscent of the composer's symphonic poem Tamara in its exotic themes and narrative style, wherein the piano, with its extended solo passages, takes on the role of story teller. All three works receive excellent orchestral performances by the Russian Philharmonic under Dmitry Yablonsky. The rich-sounding recording nicely balances soloist and orchestra. An enjoyable release, for Russophiles and piano fans alike.

Perhaps partly a reflection of her early development, Grier's songs are not about "tunes" but rather seem to take form from textual rhythms and inflections, the linear shape of the vocal line taking direct cues from the poetry rather than being imposed by the composer's melodic preconception. I say this is how it seems, because these songs--whether from 1962 or 2007--impress with their uncontrived spontaneity and sensitivity to words that's not always easy to achieve when writing songs to English texts.

Although most of these songs are not "about" tunes, that doesn't mean they aren't "tuneful"--and attractively so; in fact, Grier's experience in writing for musical theatre shows quite tellingly and engagingly in songs such as The Bluebird, Sneezles (text from A.A. Milne), and I AM (Mattie Stepanek), the latter of which you could imagine as the big closer to a Broadway show. Other songs, such as Someone (the famous Walter de la Mare poem), Petit the Poet, and Margaret Fuller Slack (the latter two texts from Edgar Lee Masters' Spoon River Anthology), show the more nuanced, multilayered sophistication of the most refined songwriter, reminding us that Grier was--and is--the real thing, and we can be glad that she's back as a full-time composer.

She's also fortunate to have some very fine singers and pianists to present her work on this recording. Sopranos Michelle Areyzaga (who performs the majority of the songs) and Elizabeth Norman are both superb, their technique solid and their voices eminently listenable (and I don't often say this about sopranos!); baritone Robert Sims is also first rate (and he shows off some wonderful falsetto), but he also has a couple of the less ingratiating songs in the Shropshire Lad set, where Grier's music sometimes seems at odds with the text. Both pianists--Welz Kauffman and William Billingham--are sensitive, reliable partners, and the Chicago Children's Choir should receive some kind of medal for the wonderful things they do, not only on recordings such as this but in their various ongoing programs that bring young people together to sing great music.

While you may understandably have been unaware of Lita Grier's music during the past 30 years, here's your chance to correct the situation--and to show your support for a composer who held out for creative integrity over blind devotion to faddish, stylistic conformity. You've gotta love that--and you'll really enjoy this well-conceived, excellently performed program. Highly recommended!

One wouldn't think Vivaldi's The Four Seasons would lend itself well to the medium of the keyboard, given that its idiom is so married to the violin and the capabilities of that instrument. In the early '90s pianist João Carlos Martins and his four-hand partner Fernando Corvisier demonstrated that such an undertaking was not only practical, but capable of yielding spectacular results. However, no one else has come along with a solo version until this Naxos recording by Jeffrey Biegel, whereby he combines his own transcription of the whole set of four concerti with piano solo realizations of the Mandolin Concerto in C, RV 425, and the Lute Concerto in D, RV 93, by composer Andrew Gentile. Gentile's arrangements are a little fuller than those of Biegel, which are very literal and, at times, almost approach an "easy piano" kind of texture; however, the difference in approach makes for a greater overall sense of variety in the program. Vivaldi didn't write any music for the keyboard apart from its inclusion in continuo parts, so there is no evidence of anything resembling a mode of thought regarding the keyboard from Vivaldi's direction, so the transcribers are essentially free to do whatever they want in these adaptations; however, they are faithful to Vivaldi's text and overall sound. The modern piano's distinctive voice certainly transforms this music; at times it sounds strangely like Beethoven, though not as thick as Beethoven tended to score his piano music.

Biegel's playing is definitely no nonsense and employs none of the language of romantic piano technique; he has edited Schirmer's familiar volume of classical piano sonatinas and utilizes a light, classical touch for the whole disc. While Naxos' Vivaldi: The Four Seasons (arranged for piano by Jeffrey Biegel) is not a terribly challenging or ambitious listening experience, it is likeable, pleasant, and satisfying as a casual musical event and will strongly appeal to the young, particularly if "the young" happens to be a piano student.