Performance of Bortkiewicz' Third Piano Concerto in Brazil

[Ilja]

Hi all,

I had missed this, but apparently Bortkiewicz' Third PC received its Brazilian premiere about a year ago. The concert can be viewed on YouTube here - glockenspiel included, organ left out.

[terry martyn]

The composer was in thrall to understatement, wasn't he?

[eschiss1]

(1) this thread isn't about the piece, so much- don't we already have one?
(2) to paraphrase Robert Layton on Sibelius 4, if he had been, how would that have been a good thing?

[Ilja]

There are various threads about Bortkiewicz, including one about an earlier recording of concertos Nos. 2/3. As far as I'm concerned though, discussing the character of the music is fine, but preferably in relation to this recording.

I've since noticed that there are, apparently, quite a few recordings of Bortkiewicz' 3rd Piano concerto on YouTube. I'm assuming that they might be programmed as a show of solidarity with Ukraine.

[FBerwald]

A crowd pleaser! This should be performed more often... as with more deserving unsung repertoire. 

[terry martyn]

Some further thoughts on both performance and composition.

I was disappointed that the pianist eschewed a scarlet,velvet waistcoat. And his bow tie looked a clip-on. Sacre Bleu!

It was a flamboyant performance of a flamboyant concerto. He thumped away on a sometimes-clanging piano. And many of the notes were actually those of the composer.

Why,oh why, has Bortkiewicz's Third been popularised and preferred to his First?  Is it because of the title given to the piece - fitting in with the popular view of the ongoing war "Plucky Little Ukraine".... and the like.  It's kitsch,nothing more nor less, but fun stuff,of course.

I can't seem to find many post-2022 public performances of the First- one of my personal top-10 concertos in my collection of nearly 400. I really cannot comprehend this, unless the fact that the composer identified as Russian has anything to do with it. He's not to be blamed for that - just consider when he was born and the years of his early maturity.

[eschiss1]

The next performance I notice of a Bortkiewicz concerto -is- the 2nd (in Katowice, on April 17) so you may have a point.

Anna Shelest has announced a new recording (with Neeme Järvi) of the 1st coming next month.

[eschiss1]

Also, the Longmont Symphony is performing the first concerto on October 4th. See this. (Have the 2nd and 3rd been performed really more often than these?)* (Ok, that'd make this, not the one above, the probably next performance of one of them...)

*Ah, from https://sergeibortkiewicz.com/news/ I notice a performance of no.3 in 2023 in Belgium. The page notes that the first piano concerto has had 8 performances in the USA up to 2020, presumably the Oct. 4 2025 one is no.9?...

[FBerwald]

And yet no decent recording of the Cello concerto.
There seems to have been a performance of the Violin Concerto last year

[Gareth Vaughan]

Yes. That's such a pity - a serious omission. The Cello concerto is absolutely beautiful.

[Ilja]

Some further thoughts on both performance and composition.

I was disappointed that the pianist eschewed a scarlet,velvet waistcoat. And his bow tie looked a clip-on. Sacre Bleu!

It was a flamboyant performance of a flamboyant concerto. He thumped away on a sometimes-clanging piano. And many of the notes were actually those of the composer.

Regarding flamboyance, I'm more annoyed by the (apparent) habitual omission of the organ in the coda. Sure, it's there for effect only, but effect is important in a work like this.

Why,oh why, has Bortkiewicz's Third been popularised and preferred to his First?  Is it because of the title given to the piece - fitting in with the popular view of the ongoing war "Plucky Little Ukraine".... and the like.  It's kitsch,nothing more nor less, but fun stuff,of course.

Calling Bortkiewicz's 3rd PC "kitsch" is something I have to take issue with. Apart from the rather unclear meaning of that term, I prefer to avoid it altogether because of its implied pejorative connotations. But taking Walter Benjamin's definition of kitsch as "a utilitarian object lacking all critical distance between object and observer", I don't think we can unreservedly say that about this work, particularly when taking into consideration that the title "Per Aspera ad Astra" calls for a certain degree of exaltation. Not everything excessive is kitschy; or we'd have to chuck half of Scriabin's output into that category as well. There is significance here, even if we're perhaps insensitive to it as modern audiences.

Having said that, I go agree with your point that the monumental first concerto is a better illustration of Bortkiewicz strong points as a composer.

[terry martyn]

My attitude towards the Third is encapsulated by the late,great, Dick Emery's catchphrase: "Ooooh,you are awful.........But I like you!"