Chopin Piano Concertos

Although Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor was the first of his two concertos to be published, it was actually composed shortly after No. 2. Stirring, beautiful and with a fiery Rondo finale, the concerto is especially notable for its radiant slow movement, which Chopin said was a “meditation in beautiful spring weather, but by moonlight.” The other two works on the programme are the Fantasy on Polish Airs, which Chopin called his ‘Potpourri on Polish Themes’, and the Andante spianato and Grande Polonaise brillante, a dance-inspired showpiece. They’re performed in this classic 1972 VOX recording by Abbey Simon, the great American pianist and eloquent exponent of Chopin’s works. The Elite Recordings for VOX by legendary producers Marc Aubort and Joanna Nickrenz are considered by audiophiles to be amongst the finest sounding examples of orchestral recordings.

The two piano concertos of Dmitry Shostakovich may be treated as rare examples of light humor in Shostakovich's output, which requires connecting the mordant Concerto for piano, trumpet, and orchestra in C minor, Op. 35, to the more genuinely humorous Piano Concerto No. 2 in F major, Op. 102. Many performers, naturally enough, connect the two in some way, but Russian pianist Valentina Igoshina takes a different approach: she divorces the two concertos quite thoroughly. In the Concerto No. 1 she emphasizes the manic quality of the music.

With this 29th volume in the Romantic Piano Concerto series we commence a cycle of three CDs that we hope will include all eight of Moscheles' piano concertos. It also marks the start of our exploration of concertos from the earlier part of the 19th century, which we have so far rather neglected.

This collection is the second volume in a series of Hummel piano concertos (after Vol.1, BC94338), bringing much-needed attention to one of the most respected composer-pianists of the 18th century.

Continuing her inspiring series of discs exploring the solo piano repertory of the Polish Romantic, Xaver Scharwenka, Seta Tanyel here turns her attention to two of his four piano concertos. These unashamedly appealing works should by no means be judged by their relative unfamiliarty; they are among the most impressive of all the neglected concertos championed in our series, as Stephen Hough’s Gramophone Award winning recording of the 4th concerto (CDA66790) has shown. In the capable hands of Tanyel, the 2nd and 3rd concertos are rich with the harmonic poise of Schumann, the melodic coquettishness of Chopin and even the passion of Rachmaninov; a disc as enlightening as it is thrilling.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Piano Concertos Nos. 9, 12 & 14
Edna Stern, piano / Orchestre de chambre d'Auvergne / Arie van Beek, dir.
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 250 MB | Full Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Zig-Zag # ZZT100901 | Country/Year: France 2010
Genre: Classical | Style: Viennese School

Born in Brussels, Belgium, but raised in Israel, pianist Edna Stern began taking lessons at age 6 and became a student of Viktor Derevenko at the Rubin Academy in Tel Aviv. After a return to Brussels, Stern worked with Martha Argerich, then moved to Basel in 1996 to study with Krystian Zimerman. Attendance at master classes led by Alicia de Larrocha, Andreas Staier, and Leon Fleisher at the International Piano Foundation inspired to her to follow Fleisher to the Peabody Institute…

Tchaikovsky wrote four works for piano and orchestra: the three concertos, and the Concert Fantasy in G Op.56 (1884). The First Concerto ranks today as possibly the most famous piano concerto ever composed. Its entry into the world was, however, far from easy. Dismissed by critics as a flop, and by its dedicatee Nikolai Rubinstein as unplayable – which caused a rift between Rubinstein and Tchaikovsky, the concerto was premiered in Boston in the USA in 1875, and the dedicatee was Hans von Bülow, who conducted the performance with Benjamin Johnson Lang as soloist. Its success was never in doubt from then on. Rubinstein relented and undertook to champion the concerto. It is a large, dramatic work with its roots firmly in the Chopin/Mendelssohn school.

Johannes Brahms - Elisabeth Leonskaja - Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2
Philharmonia Orchestra, Eliahu Inbal / Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Kurt Masur
EAC+LOG+CUE | 2xFLAC: 400 MB | Full Artwork: 40 MB | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Teldec # 0630-18948-2 | Country/Year: Germany 1997
Genre: Classical | Style: Romantic, Piano

Elisabeth Leonskaja is a highly respected (former Soviet) pianist whose career blossomed in the shadow of Sviatoslav Richter and Emil Gilels. Known for her modesty – not unlike older compatriot Maria Yudina – Leonskaja was mentored by Richter and often played duets with him. She would never reach the critical and artistic heights of her great teacher, but her reputation as an imaginative interpreter and formidable technician have lifted her to almost legendary status, with comparisons to Clara Haskil and other keyboard icons…