New recording of Bortkiewicz's first piano concerto and 1001 Nights

[FBerwald]

The Marjorie Mitchell version had lots of cuts in it.

[tuatara442442]

So many cuts that the booklet of the Hyperion version mentioned it...

[eschiss1]

The title of the album A Romantic from Kharkiv is mentioned on the cover at the link I gave in the first post...

[Ebubu]

And the complete album here on Youtube :
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lzsJzjYydiua4JwwJaopU2HVaQ2-yBfn0

[tuatara442442]

Sounds a bit too fast for my ears that have accustomed to the Hyperion recording. The majesty of the first movement (of the concerto) is seriously reduced...

[Alan Howe]

Is this down to Neeme Järvi (who tends to be speedy) - and who is more faithful to the score?

[Ilja]

"Speed" can have two connotations in Järvi: either to find excitement or perhaps compensate for undue expansiveness in previous recordings, or slapdash casualness to get the thing over with. The former can produce genuinely good results, and has in the past.

Here, with all my love for Coombs' RPC version, I think Shelest and Järvi's approach works really well. Yes, it is noticeably faster, but it does not feel rushed except perhaps somewhat in the run-up to the coda in the first movement. The orchestra plays well enough, and Shelest can excel at this stuff in her sleep. She's fully in tune with the broadness and sentimentality of the piece, and I like her playing a lot.

There is something weird going on with the recording, however, and I'm curious how others perceive this (referring to the YouTube videos). The balance on the first two movements sounds very good, albeit slightly piano-forward, but the third has a lot more reverb and distance, and a lot of detail gets lost. I get the impression that that third movement was recorded live, while the other two weren't.

Two other recordings of the piece on YouTube are worth mentioning, I think. There's Chihiro Ishioka's (no other performers mentioned) whose performance is even more expansive than Coombs and perhaps just a bit pedestrian. Also, the orchestral playing is scruffy here and there.

And finally there's Olga Shadrina's, with the Odessa PhO under Bortkiewicz advocate Mykola Sukach. This one sits inbetween Coombs and Shelest with regards to tempo, but she plays it quite differently - less broad and more precise. The orchestra's not perfect, but their obvious enthusiasm compensates for a lot. It's one of those recordings where you (at least, I) come away with a smile on your face.

[terry martyn]

I agree with every word that Ilja has just written.

I don't mind Jarvi's tempo in the first movement, and I am pretty sure that the third movement was a "live" take. And I think the way conductor and pianist tackle the second movement is less anonymous than in the Hyperion recording.

Mitchell's  LP was sixty years ago, Coombs' CD 30 years ago.  It is remarkable that a concerto as pleasing to the ear as this is not taken up by music labels more often ,as it makes such a welcome alternative to Rach Two.

[Jonathan]

It is remarkable that a concerto as pleasing to the ear as this is not taken up by music labels more often ,as it makes such a welcome alternative to Rach Two.

I agree!

[Christopher]

And finally there's Olga Shadrina's, with the Odessa PhO under Bortkiewicz advocate Mykola Sukach. This one sits inbetween Coombs and Shelest with regards to tempo, but she plays it quite differently - less broad and more precise. The orchestra's not perfect, but their obvious enthusiasm compensates for a lot. It's one of those recordings where you (at least, I) come away with a smile on your face.

Sukach also recorded it with another pianist, Vyacheslav Zubkov, here -

- with the Academic symphony orchestra "Philharmonia"of Chernigiv,

[semloh]

Yes, I like this too, and the tempi seem ideal for such a jolly composition. I think the audience applause rounds off the piece perfectly!