Matthias Bamert, London Mozart Players

The best-selling Contemporaries of Mozart series is one of Chandos’ longest-running recording projects and we are delighted to add a selection of symphonies by the Salzburg composer Leopold Mozart to the collection. Conducted by Matthias Bamert and the London Mozart Players, the broad range of Leopold’s symphonic style is on clear display in the charming symphonies recorded here. All the works are recorded for the first time.

For many years, John Field, the Irish composer of wonderful piano music, was unjustifiably neglected by musicians and critics alike. If considered at all, Field, who came between Beethoven and Chopin, was considered at best a transition figure, or at worst a musical curiosity. Nothing could be further from the truth. Field's music is nothing short of a revelation. It is lyrical yet complex, the work of a master musician who could stand with the best of the writers for the piano. Fortunately Field's music is now beginning to be heard more often on classical radio and is more available on recordings. And this one, especially of his Second Piano Concerto, is excellent. .

Franz Krommer (1759-1831) was a prolific and very good composer, whose music is now being resuscitated with great and deserved success. It was difficult to be a composer in Vienna at the same time as Beethoven and Schubert, and most of their contemporaries have not survived the pressure. But Krommer managed to retain his personality and originality, becoming the last official director of chamber music and court composer to the Habsburg court under the conservative Emperor Francis I. The first of the two symphonies was published in 1803. Among its many interesting features is a haunting litde trio in the form of a waltz. The second work is much later, with four horns and three trombones, and is in C minor, but ending in the major. In both works, Krommer's knowledge of, and predilection for, the wind instruments is notable. The two works were well worth recording, especially with such felicitous performances and bright, pleasing recorded sound.

This is the best version I have come across. John Field is a forgotten composer who deserves to be listened to. He was the first to exploit the full tonal qualities of the pianoforte and introduced European "classical" music to Russia. He taught Glinka and is regarded by some as the father of Russian music.

The popular and critically admired Chandos recordings of John Field’s expressive cycle of Piano Concertos are brought together for the first time as a limited edition 4-CD set and released at the price of only 2 CDs. A major forerunner of the Romantic school of pianism that culminated in Chopin, Dublin-born pianist and composer John Field had scarcely received his due until Chandos released the performances of the Piano Concertos by fellow countryman, Miceal O’Rourke.