Chopin Piano Concertos

Frédéric Chopin - Piano Concerto No. 1 / Grand Valse / Variations on 'Là ci darem la mano'
Emanuel Ax / Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment – Sir Charles Mackerras
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 239 MB | Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Sony Classical # SK 60771 | Country/Year: Europe 1998
Genre: Classical | Style: Romantic, Piano

…As a soloist Ax has demonstrated a particular affinity for the Romantics; nonetheless, his repertoire is among the most diverse of any pianist on the scene today and ranges from the music of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven to important twentieth century figures like Tippett, Henze, and Hindemith. He is also a particular champion of contemporary music, and has played and commissioned works from such composers as Joseph Schwantner, John Adams, and Christopher Rouse. He is considered by players and audiences alike to be a chamber musician par excellence; his frequent partners in this endeavor include Isaac Stern, Jaime Laredo, and Richard Stolzman…

A younger contemporary of Scriabin and Rachmaninov, Nikolai Medtner, a Russian of distant German descent, studied under Pabst, Sapelnikov and Safonov at the Moscow Conservatoire, graduating in 1900 with the coveted Anton Rubinstein Prize. Admired as a pianist of particularly formidable attainment and inventive imagination, he held important teaching appointments at the Conservatoire (1909/10, 1914/21) before eventually leaving Russia for periods of domicile in Germany, the USA and Paris. In the winter of 1935/36 he settled in England, making his home in the Golders Green area of north London.

Joseph Moog is a young pianist with a superb technique and a warm tone. He also composes. On this album, he interestingly pairs concertos by two of Russia’s foremost pianist-composers. Anton Rubinstein’s Fourth Piano Concerto actually was in Rachmaninoff’s repertory as a soloist. Drawing attention to the neglected Rubinstein concerto by following it with a more famous work is a device that certainly is welcome. The opening movement of the Rubinstein is heavily influenced by Schumann’s piano concerto, particularly its first movement. Moog here takes on the mantle of the Schumannesque lyric poet, his tonal palette featuring halftones of grays and browns. Moog’s second movement is a true andante , or walking tempo, unlike some other performances. He plays the affecting opening melody simply and directly, introducing a shadow of melancholy that he sustains beautifully throughout the movement.

Chopin: The Piano Concertos / Rafal Blechacz
Deutsche Grammophon | Int. Release 05 Oct. 2009
EAC | ape (img+cue) | log | 287 MB

In his Deutsche Grammophon orchestral debut, Warsaw Chopin Competition winner Rafal Blechacz performs his compatriot's two concertos in the Concertgebouw, his favourite hall, partnered by a legendary Polish conductor and Amsterdam's incomparable orchestra. Reviewing the concert, Gazeta Wyborcza (Poland) called Blechacz "the perfect musician to perform the young Chopin's works", while Trouw (NL) wrote: "Semkow and Blechacz fit wonderfully well together. This is symbiotic music-making as you seldom encounter it. Everything is in the service of the music."

Warm, lyrical, and aristocratic in his interpretations, Artur Rubinstein performed impressively into extremely old age, and he was a keyboard prodigy almost from the time he could climb onto a piano bench. He came from a mercantile rather than a musical family, but fixated on the piano as soon as he heard it.

From a string of early career successes in the 1970s, Emanuel Ax has emerged as one of the most versatile, brilliant, and universally respected pianists on the international concert scene.

I had never heard of Hérold before I came across this disc, but I'm sure glad I found him. I won't pretend these works are just as worthy as Beethoven or Mozart (I'm definitely not qualified to make such an assessment), but they are extremely enjoyable and deserve to be heard. The style is, as described on the back cover, somewhere between Mozart and the young Chopin (like Hummel maybe?). The works included are Piano Concertos Nos. 2-4; No. 1, according to the notes, is both a bit amateurish and almost impossible to read/reconstruct…….

Cory Nowosiadly @ Amazon.com