Martin Jones William Boughton Shostakovich: Piano Concertos

Shostakovich's two Piano Concertos lack the seriousness of this four concertos for violin or cello. The first is actually a "double" concerto, having an important part for solo trumpet. It's an early but expertly written work sharing the same musical climate as the First Symphony. The Second Concerto was created for the composer's son Maxim, now a well-known conductor. It's a light- hearted, tongue-in-cheek piece with a Romantic slow movement.

After winning the Richter competition in Russia, the Van Cliburn in Texas, the Queen Elisabeth in Brussels and the Chopin in Warsaw (with a rather spectacular scandal on top of everything, related it would seem to a change of rules during the competition, which led him to refuse the prize), the Bulgarian pianist Evgeni Bozhanov (born in 1984) has now carved for himself a choice position in the piano section of the Concert des Nations with his somewhat extravagant appearance, his theatrical gestures and—yes—his extreme musicality. Here he is in the most falsely easy music that is, one of Mozart’s great concertos, and Shostakovitch's First—written for strings, solo trumpet and piano—from 1933, an early work then, but already incredibly accomplished and 100% Shostakovitch. Far from the sleight of hand that some reproach him to display on stage, Bozhanov is here completely modest, and lets the music flow between his fingers naturally and without any affectation. The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra is led by the violin by its first violin soloist and musical director, the great Radoslaw Szulc.

After a string of releases on Sony Classical that have redefined the parameters of the classical recital album, Khatia Buniatishvili is returning to tradition with a recording of two of Mozart’s most sublime late piano concertos. Khatia Buniatishvili joins an iconic orchestra in performances of two cherished piano concertos by Mozart.

Composed in 1882/3, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Piano Concerto was the last of a series of works written in the very happy middle period of his life; other compositions of this period, rich in charming lyricism, included the opera The Snow Maiden and the orchestral Szakza (‘Fairy Tale’). The Concerto was first performed in March 1884 at one of Balakirev’s Free School concerts in St Petersburg and was the last work of Rimsky to be wholly approved of by his erstwhile mentor. While the lyricism is still sincere and deeply felt in the Concerto, the work also foreshadows the master artificer of the later years.