Rare Piano Encores - Various Composers

This fascinating recital takes us on a tour of some of the less-frequented byways of the piano world, and into a repertoire all too often missing from our concert halls as modern performers and promoters eschew the �frivolity� of such works. Yet these are the very pieces which were the meat and drink of the grand masters of previous centuries. Whereas a pianist such as Rachmaninov would construct a programme like a well-planned banquet, with concern for balance, variety, size and general digestibility, most modern programmes are awesome by comparison and, though shorter than the old-style recital, often seem longer.Greeted by the BBC on its original release a quarter of a century ago as �a delightful collection, beautifully played�, for this reissue of Rare Piano Encores Leslie Howard has taken advantage of the greater playing time of a CD�the original was of course on vinyl�to add two of his own compositions by way of a bonus and with thanks to kind listeners. Yuletide Pastoral was composed in response to a commission from Gramophone magazine for its Christmas number in 1997, whereas Reminiscences de l�opera �La Wally� de Catalani, firmly in the spirit of Liszt, is an old-fashioned operatic fantasy, based for the most part upon the famous aria Ebben� ne andr� lontano�a melody recently made even more popular by its essential part in the plot of the magnificent film Diva.