TCHAIKOVSKY
Piano Concerto No.1
PROKOFIEV
Piano Concerto No.2
KIRILL
GERSTEIN, Piano
Deutsches
Symphonie-Orchester Berlin
James
Gaffigan, Conductor
Myrios
Classics 016 / ****1/2
This may come as a shock to some: the
Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No.1 we know and love was never approved by
the composer. This new recording revives the 1879 version of the warhorse,
which Tchaikovsky conducted till his death in 1893, and has since been
posthumously replaced by Alexander Siloti's popular edited version. This was
also the version performed by Lazar Berman and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic
at the 1994 Singapore Arts Festival.
What are the major differences? The
cascades of opening chords in the 1st movement are arpeggiated
(spread out as if being played by a harp), and there is a major restoration of
excised material in the development of the finale which is whimsically
elaborative, almost altering its complexion. Furthermore, the final run of double
octaves near the end is now maginally less brilliant than the Siloti version.
Russian pianist Kirill Gerstein gives an
excellent account of these original thoughts, while the unchanged balance of
the work has to yield to more explosive performances by Horowitz, Argerich and
Freire. Its generous coupling is Prokofiev's monumental Piano Concerto No.2,
a masterly and well-judged performance, in its revised version. The original was
irretrievably lost during the Russian Revolution, but hope springs eternal for
its eventual resurrection and recovery.
KARAJAN
AND HIS SOLOISTS I
Warner
Classics 825646336258 (8 CDs) / *****
The recording legacy of Herbert von
Karajan (1908-1989) will forever be associated with the Deutsche Grammophon
label but he had a very fruitful relationship with the British EMI label, cutting
highly successful records from 1946 to 1984. This is the first volume of
concerto recordings for EMI, dating from 1948 to 1958, with great soloists all
of whom he outlived. The tragically short-lived Romanian pianist Dinu Lipatti's
takes on Mozart's Piano Concerto No.21 and Schumann's Piano Concerto will
be cherished for their surprising drive and lack of timidity.
The Schumann also features, despite an
unfortunately incomplete 1st movement, with the German Walter
Gieseking, who also recorded Mozart (Piano
Concertos Nos.23 & 24),
Beethoven (Piano Concertos Nos.4 and 5), Grieg and Franck (Variations
Symphoniques) with Karajan. True to his authoritarian reputation, Karajan's
collaborations were noted for their pristine sense of order and total lack of
histrionics.
However there is warmth to the Mozart
concerto recordings with The Philharmonic Orchestra, partnering Dennis Brain
(another soloist who died young) in the four horn concertos, and a British wind
quartet in the Symphonia Concertante K.297b. The absolute rarities are
Kurt Leimer's Piano Concerto in C minor and Left Hand Piano Concerto,
with the composer as soloist, virtuoso works of neo-Romantic slant with influences
of jazz and film music. Finally, Hans Richter-Haaser registers one of the most
underrated readings of Brahms's Piano Concerto No.2. Essential
listening, not just for Karajanophiles.
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