Rendano Piano Concerto

[Wheesht]

The manuscript of the piano concerto was (re)discovered recently, and there is now a recording on Youtube, from September 2024:
Giovanni Alvino, piano
RTSH Symphony Orchestra, Tirana
conducted by Leonardo Quadrini.
This is available on the pianist's own channel or also here.

[Alan Howe]

The Piano Concerto is apparently due for digital release on 19th September:
https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/9779582--alfonso-rendano-piano-concerto-allegro-in-a-minor

[Mark Thomas]

Thanks, Alan. The audio extracts are promising.

[terry martyn]

The Albanian YouTube recording sounds like watered-down  Brahms at his most ponderous, and I am not sure that this is down entirely to the conductor and orchestra.  Long, and tepid, and short of ideas,perhaps.

Just because a manuscript is discovered  (cf the Suppe symphony) does not mean that a  recording should ensue.

[Alan Howe]

I'll be purchasing the CD if and when it appears: I find the history of non-operatic music by Italian composers in the late nineteenth/early twentieth centuries very interesting, e.g. Sgambati, Martucci, et al... 
    I note that the new recording was made in Germany, with the excellent Oldenburgisches Staatsorchester, the same band featured on the first-rate cpo recordings of Dietrich's Symphony, VC, etc. That gives me confidence that the overall performance will be a good one. Here's the finale:
https://soundcloud.com/naxosmusicgroup/rendano-a-piano-concerto-iii-vivace
Sounds good to me!

[eschiss1]

I'll try browsing SBN later to see if I can find locations of scores etc. of Rendano's works in Italian libraries but it's loading very slowly right now...
(It may be my browser, which is doing something weird when it does connect. ICCU SBN is working better but doesn't quite do what I'm looking to do. Returning to Google Chrome from DuckDuckGo is seeming better all the time, or even other browsers.)

[Mark Thomas]

Here's the finale:
https://soundcloud.com/naxosmusicgroup/rendano-a-piano-concerto-iii-vivace
Sounds good to me!

Me too. Something about Rendano's writing for the piano and the spareness of the orchestration reminds me of Anton Rubinstein's concertos, which is not a bad thing.

[Alan Howe]

And by the way, the forthcoming new recording - judging by the timings at Presto - will be a good deal swifter than the one on YouTube. All to the good, I think.

[terry martyn]

That's very welcome news

[eschiss1]

Dynamic's new releases includes a new upcoming recording of Alfonso Rendano's 1870s piano concerto (which we've mentioned before, but not in years.) Their YouTube says "World Premiere Recording", but I don't think so? Or maybe the other recordings were of reductions...

[tuatara442442]

Yes, the other commercial release was a two piano reduction played by Daniela Roma and Rodolfo Rubino

[Alan Howe]

I've merged the previous two posts with the start of a previous exchange on this subject.

[eschiss1]

Ah, thanks. Apologies for the duplication!!

[Alan Howe]

No apology necessary, Eric. Just thought it might broaden the discussion.

[Alan Howe]

I'm sorry to report disappointment with this release - not with the performance, but with the work itself. To be frank, it's an amorphous bore overall with just a few passages of true inspiration. I was hoping for better, but those hopes have been dashed now that I've heard the whole concerto. Tread extremely carefully!