Volume Two of the Complete String Concertos of Ignace Pleyel (1757-1831) includes some charming, if undistinguished. music that sounds like Haydn with bits of Mozart mixed in. At one time among the most celebrated of Europe’s composers, Pleyel’s work has fallen into obscurity; so, we can be grateful that some talented instrumentalists are taking up his mantle again. A competent kapellmeister and more than competent master of diverse forms, Pleyel seems to employs the three-movement format for his Viotti-like concertos; the recording gives us the alternative ending, a 4/4 Rondo, to his violin concerto.

All praise to Hungaroton for their series of Pleyel string concertos. This first volume gives us the five extant cello concertos. A concerto in D (Ben 102) advertised by Breitkopf in 1782-4 is lost. A second volume with the violin concerto (both versions) is promised. Three works here are completely new. The other two have been recorded before: Ben 106 (1797) as a cello concerto or in Pleyel’s alternative versions for flute or clarinet; Ben 104 (c1788) as a clarinet concerto—possibly Gebauer’s adaptation. Ben 105 (1790) was also issued as a viola concerto.

With the exception of listeners who seem afflicted with an addiction for giga-obscure repertoire, such items as Hungaraton's Hans Koessler, Emanuel Moór: Chamber Works would normally register only as an automatic "pass-me-by" choice when found in the bins of classical music retail outlets. If your taste runs to Romantic chamber music, however, you should not overlook this one. The key piece here is the remarkable Sonata No. 2 for cello & piano, Op. 55, by Emanuel Moór, written in 1900 for cellist Anatoli Brandukov, the dedicatee of Rachmaninov's Cello Sonata and Glazunov's Chant du ménéstral.