It's often easy to fault compilations over the depth of their selections, the quality of their artists, the evenness of their reproduction, and general adherence to their themes; in many cases, listeners are left disappointed, especially by budget samplers that purport to give more for less. However, Deutsche Grammophon's Piano Moods is hard to knock on these grounds, because this double-disc survey of piano classics is generous in its programming, representative of the label's greatest performers, exceptional in sound quality, coherent in layout, and affordable at the mid-range price. Beginners will find many of these pieces to be quite familiar, ranging in time from the Baroque era with J.S. Bach's Prelude in C major from the Well-Tempered Clavier, to the post-Romantic period with
Sergey Rachmaninov's Prelude in G sharp minor, and an impressive array of Classical and Romantic gems in between. The artists gathered here are legendary and numerous, so anyone who wishes to become familiar with some of the best pianists of the twentieth and twenty first centuries need only scan the roster of names, which includes such masters as
Wilhelm Kempff,
Daniel Barenboim,
Martha Argerich,
Mikhail Pletnev,
Angela Hewitt, among several others. Also, since the label is renowned for having phenomenal recording technology, everything sounds as clean, clear, and vibrant as could be expected, especially of a survey that spans a period of 43 years. Last but not least, the 34 tracks are well-balanced and carefully arranged for consistency of mood and feeling, so even the most casual listener can enjoy the smooth flow of this intelligently packaged and emotionally satisfying collection.