The Schubert Moments are probably the sort of thing at which Barenboim is best. They are so excellently judged throughout that beyond an overall commendation one has little to say. It is some distance, however, from the cosy domesticity of, for example, No. 3 of Schubert's pieces to the grand passion, albeit intimately conveyed, of Liszt's Liebestraume, and it is not quite bridged here.
If the results are so much less satisfying it is because Barenboim's response is far less specific. Pianistic difficulties are completely subordinated to the lyrical flow, yet he offers a generalized sensitivity instead of the precise expressive focus of his Schubert performances. Again, the repeated-chord central section of Liebestraume No. 2 is unduly loud, out of scale, and there are no such miscalculations among the Moments musicaux.
Nor are there in Mendelssohn's Songs without words. These are decently characterized, but famous items such as ''Duetto'' (Op. 38 No. 6) and the ''Bee's wedding'' (Op. 67 No. 4) have only a routine expressiveness, the music seeming to mean nothing that is personal to the player. Yet it is good to be reminded how attractive these little pieces are—Op. 62 No. 5, for instance; one ought to play them more often. Meanwhile, the digital remastering of Barenboim's recordings has been admirably done and they sound like new.'