We imagine this is the sort of CD that Classic FM loves, classical-sounding classical music that’s uplifting but not too fearsome; it makes for nice background music while you’re working.
Not that Eberl is bland: he was a contemporary of Beethoven and knew Mozart, who may even have taught him. He later toured with Mozart’s widow, playing Mozart on the piano.
The Press notes say that music “radiates with a lightness similar to that of Mozart”, and there was some confusion about the authorship of their works during their lives.
The two concertos are rich in sound and the playing technical; the sleeve notes say that a contemporary critic complained Eberl hid his talents under too-flowery music, but talented he was.
Wikipedia reports that “there was no protest from Mozart against the use of his name on Eberl’s compositions,” a sign of the quality of the composition. After Mozart’s death, Eberl posted a newspaper notice saying: “However flattering it may be that even connoisseurs were capable of judging these works to be the products of Mozart, I can in no way allow the musical public to be left under this delusion.”
Sadly, Eberl himself died young, killed at 41 by scarlet fever.
An enjoyable programme of work, uplifting and calming, that works both played loud as the main attraction and as background music.
Out on CPO 7777332.
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