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| Author |
Message |
| 15 new of 39 responses total. |
md
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response 25 of 39:
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Aug 29 02:33 UTC 1998 |
I was listening to Schumann's piano concerto recently. A splendid
piece of music. Related to it is Grieg's piano concerto in the same
key (A minor), written in conscious imitation of the Schumann, I'm
told. Stravinsky wrote a couple of piano concerti during his "neo-
classical" period. I used to be crazy about them. Prokofiev composed
five piano concerti, of which #3 is the best known. I heard it in
concert many years ago with some forgotten sovpianist at the keyboard
and it blew me away. He also wrote a couple of violin concerti.
Prokofiev's 4th piano concerto is for left hand only, composed for
Paul Wittgenstein, the same guy who commissioned the vastly superior
left-hand concerto by Maurice Ravel. Btw, I know there are some
listeners desperate not to be judged "incorrect" in their tastes
who reject Ravel without listening to him because he composed that
famous pot-boiler, you know, whatsitsname. Huge mistake. He was
one of the greatest composers of our century.
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coyote
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response 26 of 39:
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Aug 29 03:13 UTC 1998 |
Sir Malcolm Arnold wrote the Concerto for 2 Pianos (3 Hands), Op. 104 for
pianists Phyllis Sellick and Cyril Smith (to be performed at the 1969 Proms).
Cyril Smith had lost his left hand in an aircraft-related problem.
Personally, my favorite concertos are Rachmaninoff's piano concertos,
especially the 1st movement of the fourth concerto.
Probably after the Rachmaninoff comes Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, the Warsaw
Concerto (Addinsell, I believe?), Chopin's first concerto, and the
Khatchaturian piano concerto (the second movement has a flexiphone solo! --
it's a spooky-sounding passage). Of course, these are just the few that
spring to mind. I'm sure I'm forgetting some of my other favorites.
I need to make a list of things to look for at the library off of this item!
(Re 25: What's the title of that famous pot-boiler by Ravel? I'm wondering
if it's the same piece I'm thinking of.)
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md
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response 27 of 39:
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Aug 29 15:58 UTC 1998 |
Bolero.
Interesting that you should like the 1st mvt of Rachmaninov's 4th
piano concerto. The 4th has never enjoyed the popularity of the
2nd and 3rd and the Paginini Rhapsody, but for that very reason it
can take a listener by surprise. The 1st movement is the only
piece I've ever heard bring all activity in a record shop to a halt.
"Oh, God, what's *that*?" a woman asked. "Rachmaninov's 4th piano
concerto," answered the shop owner. "I love *everyything* he
ever wrote!" exclaimed the smitten lady. (It was the climactinc
[climactic] passage toward the end.]
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coyote
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response 28 of 39:
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Aug 31 03:45 UTC 1998 |
Good, it's the same Ravel piece I was thinking of. Just wanted to make sure
I wasn't crazy or anything...
I didn't even know a fourth concerto existed until I was browsing in SKR and
saw it there. Before I had only thought there were three, as one can often
find recordings of the three concertos together, or there's even the
orchestral score that's been published of the first three concertos, leaving
out the fourth... It's a great piece. I checked out the score from the U
of M music library to play through bits and pieces and follow along, and I
love the opening theme so much that I made a copy of those pages to keep at
home. I'd love to see it performed... I saw the third piano concerto
performed last year by the DSO: it was an incredible experience. One of the
most memorable concerts I've ever been to. The pianist was pounding on the
keys so passionately during the cadenza of the first movement (he chose the
fuller, bigger, slower one like on the Ashkenazy recording instead of the
lighter schertzo-like one on the Rachmaninoff recording or the Martha
Argerich recording) and the closing passage of the third movement that he
was literally bouncing off of the bench! I'm really looking forward to
the DSO's performance of Rachmaninoff's first piano concerto this coming
season. That's a great story about the woman in the record store! I
think I can imagine that happening...
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coyote
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response 29 of 39:
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Aug 31 03:56 UTC 1998 |
Speaking of concertos... it being Gershwin's 100th birthday there are a lot
of Gershwin performances going on this season. At the end of September the
San Francisco Symphony (I think) is performing at Hill Auditorium. One of
the pieces they're playing is the Gershwin Second Rhapsody for Piano and
Orchestra. I've never heard the piece, so I checked at the public library
to see if there was a recording to check out, but there's not, and at U of
M the only recording is non-circulating. So, I think I might just buy a
recording. Does anybody recommend a particular recording of this piece, or
should I just see what's available and go from there?
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oddie
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response 30 of 39:
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Sep 11 05:18 UTC 1999 |
Beethoven's Triple Concerto.
All the Rachmaninov piano concertos.
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oddie
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response 31 of 39:
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Sep 12 05:01 UTC 1999 |
Oh, and also Mendelssohn's violin concerto and Bruch's first violin concerto
(I have both of these on one disc, which is why I tend to group them together)
The first movement of the Bruch is another piece high on my list of the most
beautifully melancholy music ever written.
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dbratman
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response 32 of 39:
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Sep 14 20:47 UTC 1999 |
I love much of Mendelssohn's music, but his Violin Concerto grates on
me: this was the single piece of evidence that most convinced me that I
just don't like violin concertos, as a rule. Best of a bad lot:
Beethoven's, and Philip Glass's. (Yes, Glass. Most violin concertos
are full of needer-needer, knit one purl two, music anyway, so who
could do it better than a minimalist?)
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mary
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response 33 of 39:
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Sep 14 21:06 UTC 1999 |
How about the Bach Double Violin Concerto?
(Mary sees Michael rolling his eyes.)
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dbratman
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response 34 of 39:
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Sep 16 23:53 UTC 1999 |
Mary: I don't place Baroque music under the strictures I wrote above.
Bach's concertos are fine by me, likewise Vivaldi's.
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coyote
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response 35 of 39:
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Sep 18 02:15 UTC 1999 |
I'm personally not very familiar with many violin concertos, but I've heard
the Sibelius concerto a few times, and I like that one. Also, Bartok's violin
concerto has a wonderful opening theme, and then it becomes very... Bartok.
Which can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on how you feel towards
Bartok's music.
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mary
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response 36 of 39:
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Sep 18 12:50 UTC 1999 |
Hey, I really like the Bach Double Violin Concerto. It's probably
the piece of classical music that triggered my interested in the genre.
The last time I heard it in concert was about 6 weeks ago, in
London. It was a candlelight performance in St. Martin's Church.
We were first row, nave. 'Twas wonderful.
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remmers
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response 37 of 39:
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Sep 20 22:50 UTC 1999 |
Just who are you calling a nave? :)
I agree that it was a wonderful concert. The Bach Double Violin Conerto
is a favorite of mine. Back in my violin-playing days (high school, but
not since) I performed the first movement with a friend.
Bartok's Violin Concerto is another favorite of mine, although I haven't
heard it in years.
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krj
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response 38 of 39:
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Jan 21 20:20 UTC 2000 |
For a while there I was thinking that I just didn't like the
concertos which featured one instrument, but I recently heard a
Mozart Violin Concerto on the radio and was rather pleased with it.
Of course I did not note down what it was or who performed it.
Any suggestions?
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dbratman
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response 39 of 39:
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Jan 28 23:36 UTC 2000 |
Mozart wrote 5 violin concertos, all pretty much at the same time, and
as a result they're much more alike than his piano concertos. If you
like one, you'll probably like them all.
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