Moszkowski series continues with sweet orchestral suites

This installment of Moritz Moszkowski orchestral music features two of his three orchestral suites. Ian Hobson and the Sinfonia Varsovia deliver sympathetic performances.

The strings especially seem to exude the Romantic gooeyness of Moskowski's style. The ensemble is well-recorded. The sound has a little bit of soft focus, but all the music details can be plainly heard.

The Second Suite for Orchestra, though late Romantic in style, looks back to the Baroque. The first two movements, Preludio and Fuga especially seem to be reinterpretations of the baroque forms. Mozskowski orchestrates his lyrical melodies well; listen especially for the solo violin and harp duet.

Moszkowski remains solidly in the Romantic Era with his Third Suite of ORchestra. The work was completed in 1908 and is full of lush, Romantic harmonies. At times, I thought I heard elements of Polish folk music. If Bach provided some of the inspiration for the second suite, Schubert seems to have done so for the third. The music has a fluidity that just pours from one theme into another.

These are exceptionally beautiful works. As with the first volume, the quality of the music here more than justifies this project. These are works that (in an ideal world) could easily find a wider audience.

The first volume in this series featured but one work by Mortiz Moskowski: the massive Joan of Arc. This volume has two of his orchestral suites. I wonder if the third volume will have three works on it.

Moritz Moszkowski: Orchestral Music, Volume 2
Suite No 2, Op. 47; Suite No. 3, Op. 79
Sinfonia Varsovia; Ian Hobson, conductor
Toccata Classics TOCC 0557