Despite being one of the most prolific composers of his time, Pleyel's music is sadly missing from many of today's concert stages. This album was produced by the Moscow Concertino and Evgueni Bushkov to commemorate the Pleyel's 250th birthday and, perhaps, expose more listeners to his music. Despite their best intentions, however, Bushkov and his ensemble fail to capture the elegance, charm, and wittiness on which Pleyel's music so heavily relies. From a technical standpoint, their performance is irreproachable; intonation is quite solid, articulations match well across the various ensemble configurations, and balance and sound quality are well-produced and appropriate for music of this era. Musically, the performances are rather dull and flat. So much emphasis is placed on technical precision that there's no room left for any spontaneity, vivaciousness, or joy. What we hear instead is a group of obviously skilled musicians simply going through the motions of playing Pleyel without delivering what lies at the core of his music. So while Pleyel's music is certainly worthy of revival and attention, listeners may wish to turn elsewhere for a recording that will expose them to the true joyfulness of his compositions. ~ Mike Brownell, All Music Guide
