In theory Korngold fans should have much to celebrate here as this issue brings with it the first complete recording of one of the composer's earliest scores, the two-act ballet-pantomime, Der Schneemann. In practice, however, I have more than a few reservations about this recording. The first concerns the rather contrived stereo image, which allocates the bass region of the piano to the left-hand speaker, the upper region of the piano to the right-hand speaker and any mid-range activity to the centre of the aural image. With sudden changes in register, say from top to bottom of the keyboard, the overall effect can be rather strange to say the least—and is even stranger with headphones on! My second reservation concerns the piano sound itself which (and this could be a by-product of the recording) is somewhat hard and overbright in the upper regions.
Turning to the performance itself, I found Scot Woolley's playing a trifle characterless and stiff in places. This is not true of the entire performance (there are places where he seems to capture just the right mood) but there are too many passages that seem to me to be either hurried or understated—a good example is the warm and lyrical melody in Pierrot's ''Serenade'' to Colombine (track 2, 11'13''). Comparison with the orchestral version (CPO, 10/91) will reveal just how much more could have been made of this moment in the score. On this point it is perhaps fair to say that, charming though much of the piano writing is, Der Schneemann sounds much better in the colourful orchestration made by Korngold's teacher Zemlinsky—a complete recording of which would certainly be an attractive addition to the catalogue.
The piano fantasy on themes from Korngold's first opera Der Ring des Polykrates is no substitute for the real thing, but it does contain the lovely ''Tagesbuch der Laura'', though for this I would direct interested listeners towards Gundula Janowitz's mono recording (taken from a live performance) on the Cambria Historical Series label (5/92).
Overall, then, a somewhat disappointing issue, marred especially by the rather curiously recorded and over-close piano sound.'