American Record Guide, May/June 2000, review by Stephen D. Chakwin, Jr

"The surprise here is the Rubinstein. His sonata keeps sounding like late Schubert with ominous shadows and lovely lyrical melodies. The first movement in particular seems endlessly melodic. I was sorry to reach the end of the piece."

 

Fanfare, March/April 2000, review by Peter J. Rabinowitz

"Over the past decade or so, . . . Anton Rubinstein's music has started to emerge from the shadows. Still, I suspect that for many listeners he remains associated primarily with two very different pieces: the peremptory Fourth Concerto and the frail Melody in F. In spirit, this four-hand Sonata, composed around 1870 when he was at his artistic maturity, falls somewhere between them: A large-scale work . . . , it manages to range from the intimate to the stormy without turning either mawkish or stentorian, and without abandoning its insinuating melodic allure. . . .

The early waltzes by Frederick Converse . . . are slighter in ambition, but their unpretentious charm makes them attractive nonetheless . . . .

[Muller and Steigerwalt] play with considerable enthusiasm (the tarantella that closes the Rheinberger is especially zesty). . . . [This disc] can be safely recommended to those who appreciate the quieter voices of the end of the 19th century."