Dvorak Piano Concerto

It says much for the Russian pianist Rustem Hayroudinoff that he gives such a command- ing performance of the Dvorák Piano Concerto, always a tricky work to play thanks to unpianistic piano writing. Sviatoslav Richter, after making his classic recording with Carlos Kleiber, pronounced that it was the most difficult concerto he had ever tackled but somehow he made the original, unrevised piano-writing – which he insisted on using – sound totally convincing.

Previous albums on Piano Classics by Leonardo Pierdomenico have won enthusiastic praise from the international critics. Of his debut Liszt recital including the Csardas macabre (PCL10151), Fanfare noted: ‘scrupulous performances, featuring exceptional textural clarity and rhythmic resilience, coupled with an often striking attention to harmonic nuance.’ Gramophone awarded it Editor’s Choice: ‘His highly developed technique and cultivated sound, both adaptable to a variety of effects, are wedded to those twin essentials for artistic Liszt playing: imagination combined with thoroughgoing, scrupulous musicality.’

This performance of the piano concerto is cherishable. It was not a work I knew when I bought this record but I fell in love with it quickly. It is by no means a second rank work - it belongs next to the wonderful Schumann piano concerto. At least that must be the conclusion of anyone listening to this magical performance.

Pierre-Laurent Aimard continues to present a repertoire for the piano that is never less than imaginative and is always compelling. The Dvorák Piano Concerto is rarely heard, not because it lacks beauty or inventive scoring for both piano and orchestra, but because the piece has gained the reputation of the 'Tristan' of concertos. Enter Pierre-Laurent Aimard and all of that changes.

Ukrainian pianist Oleg Poliansky joins Volker Hartung and the Cologne New Philharmonic Orchestra in performing cherished orchestral works by Dvorak, including the dramatic Piano Concerto in G Minor, Op. 33, B. 63, in addition to the exuberant Slavonic Dances.

Dvořák: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in G minor / Chopin: Impromptu No. 1-4 / Tschaikowsky: Doumka in C minor, Natha, "The Snow Maiden"
Boris Bloch, Piano / Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra - Jonathan Darlington
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz: 2,82 GB | Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Acousence Classics # ACO21108 | Country/Year: Germany 2008
Genre: Classical | Style: Romantic Piano | Source: Linnrecords.com

The search for "the" solo instrument of the 19th century leads inevitably to the piano. It has its place in the public concert hall as well as in the private salon, and not a few composers have emerged as successful pianists. Among the composers in this program, though, only Frédéric Chopin belongs to this group, but he soon changed his field of activity from the anonymous concert hall to the more intimate salon circle. Antonìn Dvorák, on the other hand, passed the organists' examination and was at first employed as violist in an orchestra, while Tchaikovsky was much too reclusive to interpret his own works in front of an audience. Among the selected works by Dvorák, Chopin and Tchaikovsky, only the Dvorák piano concerto requires a large concert hall, while the solo pieces by Chopin and Tchaikovsky were originally at home in the salon…