You may have read Calum MacDonald's rave two page review in IRR of the four CDs from Simax with the complete piano music of the Norwegian Thomas Tellefesen (1823-1874) and been intrigued. I certainly was and downloaded the tracks from classicsonline.com (http://www.classicsonline.com/catalogue/product.aspx?pid=1175037), where you can also hear samples from each of the 96 tracks, of course. I have had his two piano concertos for some time but wasn't hugely impressed, they seemed like paler imitations of Chopin's pair, neither of which I number amongst my favourites in any case.
Whilst at first hearing I don't quite share MacDonald's unbridled enthusiasm for all the solo piano works, I must say that this is very attractive but often also surprisingly deep music. In style it's clear that Tellefsen was part of Chopin's Paris circle; his music however is not as perfumed or feminine as Chopin's can be, has a more open air and less fevered quality and, I suppose, a Scandinavian feel to it. None of the pieces is very long - even the three movement Piano Sonata lasts only 17 minutes - but some of them like the Pavane de la Reine Elizabeth and the Toccata are big in every sense but their duration and leave a deep impression. Although many of the works here strike me as slight salon pieces, there are enough works of evident quality to make this collection a really recommendable buy. He may be only a minor master but Tellefsen is, on the showing of some of the works here, a master nonetheless.
Another complete edition. I already have the complete piano works on AP (http://www.acteprealable.com/albums/ap0998.html) and the PCs on Simax. Lovely music which gives enough listening pleasure, but to my ears very far far far away from Chopin's level.
Oh, I do agree Peter. He was no Chopin, but maybe a dozen or so of the 96 pieces - I mentioned a couple - struck me as having real individuality, imagination and a depth of emotion which were impressive and worth giving him credit for. As I say, a minor master. Calum MacDonald praises the pianist too. I have nothing with which to compare these performances but it may be that you would find them more convincing than those on your recording, I don't know.
Believe it or not, there is yet another set of Tellefsen's complete piano works, recently issued on the 2-L label, performed by Jorgen Larsen. It is available on US Amazon.com as mp3 download at a real bargain price of $8.99 (US) for 3:18:13 of music, listing a total of 54 pieces. I cannot speak to the quality of the playing or recording, but I have had good luck with other albums from this label. The link, for those interested, is:
http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Tellefsen-1823-1874-complete-piano/dp/B007Q0693O/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1335388858&sr=1-1
Who could have guessed that we could have three sets of this music?
Jørgen larsen is a professor at the Trondheim Musikkonservatorium and a student of Eva Knardahl (and a friend of mine once upon a time).