Reviews:

“historic great recordings of Mozart’s C major (No. 21) and C minor (No. 24) readings…invaluable – and what better way to commemorate the late maestro Istomin’s 70th birthday in 1996 than to record them on state of the art HDCD technology. A must-buy for any admirer of Eugene Istomin’s music and his underrated genius!” —Amazon

“Istomin and Schwarz have performed these immortal concertos many times, and insisted on recording them in long, complete takes in order to capture the live experience. “Prof.” Johnson’s HDCD wizardry pays large dividends in natural, high-resolution string textures and huge, three-dimensional soundstage.” RECORDING OF THE MONTH —Stereophile, May 1996

Yes, a lovely recording, pervaded by a sense of relaxed intimacy. Moreover, Prof. Johnson has captured the power of the tuttis and crescendos with startling vividness. A hard balancing act to pull off, to be sure, but aided here by the personal nature of the dialog between Istomin and the Seattle. The piano sounds almost meltingly sweet; the rousing contrast provided by the orchestra saves it from being too much of a good thing. Without question, the most musical, and musically engaging, HDCD-encoded disc to date.”
— Wes Phillips, Stereophile