Henselt Piano Concerto

[4candles]

I was delighted to discover a recent LIVE performance of this, one of my favourite concertos, on YouTube, thanks to Bard College / The Orchestra Now / Leon Botstein.

Whilst not the most unknown composer or piece, the concerto is very rarely programmed and it is so nice to finally SEE a performance of the piece, and in such high quality a broadcast too.

Although not a groundbreaking rendition - it is all a little slow and lacking some fire and drive for my taste - the soloist and ensemble receive my applause for this brave piece of programming. I appreciate the piano's closer mic'ing too, allowing one to hear all those notes, textures and harmonies more clearly.

4c

[Ilja]

Thank you for posting this. While I have no issues with the soloist, the orchestra sound positively anemic to me (as it does in the Symphonie Fantastique recorded during the same concert, by the way). It gets better as the piece continues, but there is very little spark. Of course, I've been thoroughly spoiled by one of the best recordings in Hyperion's RPC series by one of the best pianists in the world. That's a hard act to follow.

Regarding the miking of a concerto: it's certainly a difficult thing to get right but in this case, the piano is placed a bit too far forward for my taste - what you win in piano sound clarity is lost in the orchestra.

[4candles]

I agree with you Ilja about the slightly underwhelming orchestral effort, but I'm putting this down to what seems to be an orchestra of young players (ie amateurs) who have many more years of learning to undertake.

And I don't disagree about the piano mic'ing - it is close and the orchestral sound suffers relatively. I was just appreciating being able to hear and see the notes in closer detail than I'd been able to previously.

I hope the ensemble's director continues to programme bravely!

[Ilja]

Sure 4Candles, reading it back a day later, I do sound a bit like a spoiled child; I'm very grateful for any attempt to program non-standard stuff. And whatever the results, I am particularly indebted to Botstein for championing so many of such works.