• Reunion in Moscow - Kenneth Klein, Conductor Gerald Robbins, Piano - Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra (CD 4016)

"A glorious new recording of two timeless masterpieces by two great American musicians and one of the world's great orchestras. Conductor Kenneth Klein and pianist Gerald Robbins, who have performed many times together in their native Los Angeles and subsequently with Mr. Klein's New York Virtuosi Chamber Symphony in New York, were reunited recently in Russia for this superb collaboration with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, which included performances of these works at Tchaikovsky Hall and the recording sessions for this disk. These two old friends and longtime musical collaborators have recorded wonderful new interpretations of Schumann's Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54 and the Dvorák Symphony No. 8 in G, Op.88 that serve as a tribute to the timelessness of friendship combined with great music. 4Tay is proud to issue this disk.

"Gerald Robbins and Kenneth Klein offer a warm, romantic reading of the Schumann that can hold its own in a crowded field. This pianist is obviously a master and commands a tone of considerable beauty. ...The Dvorak is also presented in a big, warm-hearted reading...It is a pleasure to hear the Moscow Philharmonic. Those Russian horns still have their unique vibrato and don't sound Westernized...The sound is spacious..."

"The Schumann Piano Concerto and Dvorak Eighth Symphony might seem an odd coupling on disc, but they make a rather nice mini-concert for home listening. Two things immediately stand out: 4Tay's resplendent engineering, and some truly fantastic orchestral playing from the Moscow Philharmonic. Time and again throughout the Schumann, one is struck by imaginatively woven first-desk solos (the plaintive oboe in the first movement, for example), warm, responsive string chording, and firmly sprung rhythms that prevent the outer movements from lapsing into sing-song regularity. I'm less enamored with Gerald Robbins' sensitive but slightly stiff traversal of the solo part, which lacks the drama, fluidity, and abandon pianists as disparate as Argerich, Arrau, Serkin, and Perahia have brought to this music. Still, Robbins has his moments. He makes beautiful, disembodied sounds with the soft chords leading into the finale, where his deliberate tempo allows Schumann's perpetual motion passages to breathe and interact with their surroundings. The prize of the disc, however, is a honey of a Dvorak Eighth. Kenneth Klein brings uplifting rhythmic spring and lyric eloquence to everything he touches here, with perfectly judged tempo relationships, and incisive string articulation to match. Confirmed audiophiles are advised to snap up this disc."

Available at ClassicalCDs.net or from 4Tay Inc. - 516-586-3433