This disc is lots of fun. George Antheil's serious music (as opposed to his "shock" pieces such as the Ballet Méchanique) owes a lot to Stravinsky, a bit more to Les Six, with perhaps a touch of Prokofiev's early 20th-century modernism and an American feeling for Jazz and popular music idioms. The ballet Dreams consists of a suite of catchy dances, including a terrific Can-Can, a nifty Polka, a Waltz, and a splendid little piece called "Acrobats". The Second Piano Concerto begins somewhat thickly and heavily but soon settles down to more familiar stuff. Its slow movement is very attractive, the finale aptly zippy. If anything, Serenade No. 2 is even more successful, a vivacious and winning piece with no dead spots at all.

The performances (and performers) on this extremely well recorded disc sound very comfortable with music that hardly could have been familiar. Pianist Guy Livingston, a fine artist who deserves to be better known, has a field day with the concerto, and the playing in general is characterful and (above all) rhythmically sharp. It's really good to see New World giving some attention to worthy music other than that on the outer fringes of the avant-garde (i.e., something that normal listeners might enjoy and even want to buy). Mind you, I'm not questioning the label's dedication to the cause, only the mix. With so much attractive American music yet to be performed and recorded, if outfits like this don't do it, then aside from the always admirable Naxos and Albany, who will?

--David Hurwitz