Finally, a live concert performance with pianist François Du Toit and Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Victor Yampolsky.
Nice. Wonder if it's been done anywhere since 2014?
Didn't Stephen Hough himself do a concert performance (not sure if it was before or after the momentous Hyperion recording of 94?!
Hough has done it in concert a number of times -- in Washington circa 2002, among others.
Wow! That's a generation ago now.
This concerto needs to be on the concert platform; It's sure to be a crowd pleaser. Did anyone see the audience reaction at the end - Standing ovation and rightly so! What magnificent music.
Incidentally, how does the Naxos recording compare to the one on Hyperion?
It is magnificent music and it should be played far more often. However, in the minds of concert promoters and bean counters it's not Rachmaninov.
Equally exciting although a very different interpretation as to that by Hough. I'm not sure how to explain it, give it a spin. I'm not a fan of the Chandos one, especially the 4th; but that set takes the cake for arguably the best version of the 2nd concerto [C minor]. I haven't yet heard Laurence Jeanningros recording of PC 1 & 2 on Centaur. There is a recording of PC 1 by Seta Tanyel, which I adore for it's laidback playing, very different from Marc-André Hamelin and Earl Wild's take.
I agree totally Alan! It always surprises and annoys me intensely when I see Scharwenka's 4 concerti compared unfavourably with those of Rachmaninov, usually by individuals who probably have little or no working knowledge of Scharwenka's compositional output, with its strong Germanic bias, and Polish inflection!. Putting things quite simply, the two composers are quite different in style, and it is perhaps unfortunate that only a relatively short period of time separates the two composers' concerti.
Scharwenka's 4 concerti constitutes a strong group, any one of which would surely go down well with an unsuspecting audience. It is perhaps more than relevant to mention this at the moment during the current Proms season, with its monotonous, repetetive, unimaginative programming, at times reinforced by a recurring institutionalised "political correctness"! I know similar thoughts have been echoed here previously, but hearing the sheer enthusiasm emanating from the performance highlighted in this thread really emphasises the need to get such music "out there", by means of public performance!
For me, the attractive aspect of Scharwenka's combo of concerti is that they each possess an individual identity, not unlike Brahms's symphonies do.
I concur with the Brahms symphony analogy. The four Scharwenka concertos each has an individual character. No one sounds like the other. Each is a very different take on the idea of what a concerto can be.
I think the negative comparisons to Rachmaninoff are rather unfair too, since Rachmaninoff belongs to a different generation. Scharwenka is old enough to be Rachmaninoff's father. And even then, now that I think of it, we only hear the middle two Rachmaninoff concertos, while the First and Fourth languish (although I should not forget the Paganini Rhapsody, since, if not strictly a concerto, it is a concertante work).
I have no doubt that audiences would enjoy any of the Scharwenka concertos -- if they bothered to show up having seen his name on the program. I asked one of our local conductors about programming things off the beaten path. He said he would like to do it (he had a fondness for Reger) but was reluctant to, because every time they did program something a little bit out-of-the-way he could count an extra 200 empty seats in the hall.
The comparison with Rachmaninov is just plain daft - especially when one considers that Scharwenka's first PC dates from 1876 (the same year as Brahms' 1st Symphony, when the Russian was just three years old). Stylistically, he's from an earlier generation.
I've just listened to Scharwenka's fourth piano concerto, with the aid of the score on the TV screen (at least a piano reduction of the orchestra part, which is much easier to follow). I'd never previously heard any of his music and found this to be an attractive and very impressive work in four movements, lasting 43 minutes. I can imagine this would go down well at the Proms. The problem is, as has been suggested above, that there is an unlimited supply of music out there, including some masterpieces rarely or never performed, but the audience is finite and concert promoters would rather fill the hall with Tschaikovsky or Rachmaninov than have several hundred empty seats because punters don't want to risk Scharwenka (or Draeseke, Raff or Grimm or many others).
With regards to the concerns of "risking" empty seats on behalf of the promoters, the BBC Promenade Concerts surely provide us with a special case in point - almost unique in fact, which is why I mentioned this in my previous post! To programme such works as the Scharwenka concerti on such a universally acknowledged platform would help their cause immensely, and a carefully chosen and balanced programme (obviously not including some daft commission) may be well worth trying out, as the Proms concerts seem to sell themselves, for what they are.
Exactly right. Remember Brian's Gothic Symphony back in 2011?
Quote from: John Boyer on Sunday 20 August 2023, 15:18I have no doubt that audiences would enjoy any of the Scharwenka concertos -- if they bothered to show up having seen his name on the program. I asked one of our local conductors about programming things off the beaten path. He said he would like to do it (he had a fondness for Reger) but was reluctant to, because every time they did program something a little bit out-of-the-way he could count an extra 200 empty seats in the hall.
Can't speak for the Proms, but what you have to keep in mind is that risk-averse programming, particularly when it's been going on for decades, also creates a risk-averse audience. So in that sense, programmers create their own reality.
In my, admittedly limited, experience, there are nearly always those in an audience who like to think they know all the really important composers and works that make up the canon and who are unwilling to take risks by engaging with composers and works they have never heard (of).
Well then, the question is whether we simply pander to audiences' tastes or attempt to widen their horizons? Actually, surely we can do both at the same time...
Yes, Alan, we surely can! The trouble as I see it with many concert promnoters etc., is a distinct lack of knowledge, with such ignorance spreading also to the higher echelons of those responsible for promoting our "classical music" (for want of a better expression!!) heritage. This also extends to our centres of musical education - colleges, academies etc. Over many years, I have come across this on so many occasions, and it is most disappointing.
John Boyer makes mention in his last post about a conductor's fondness for Max Reger - not a name I would put at the top of any list for introducing to an unsuspecting or reluctant public, so real careful consideration must be given as to how to initiate a steady, ongoing introduction of forgotten music, and unfortunately for Reger fans, they will have to perhaps bide their time a little! As mentioned, real careful consideration has to be given to what would be ideal repertoire to make an immediate impact, and casting aside any personal preferences, any of the Scharwenka concerti would be well worthwhile! Then we would have to move on to provide a well-known popular symphony, known to be a crowd-pleaser, and perhaps an overture to boot to further soften the blow that the Scharwenka/Moszkowski/Raff would undoubtedly inflict on the audience!
Agreed, Martin. That's surely the way to go.
Question is, though, are performers/conductors sufficiently clued up or even inquisitive as to what repertoire is out there? Or are they apt to be lazy in their choices?
Quote from: Wheesht on Tuesday 22 August 2023, 16:42In my, admittedly limited, experience, there are nearly always those in an audience who like to think they know all the really important composers and works that make up the canon and who are unwilling to take risks by engaging with composers and works they have never heard (of).
I can confirm as someone who once worked in a large concert hall. But there are ways to overcome this. For instance, if you have a famous conductor or soloist willing to take on a work, the audience will respect their commitment as a stamp of quality. This is how we got a packed house with Taneyev's Fourth Symphony when it was conducted by Gergiev (long ago; unfortunately, he made a right old mess of the thing) and why someone like Hamelin is so vital in getting audiences to "tolerate" less familiar repertoire.
However, for a large part of the audience a concert is primarily a social occasion, where they see friends and spend a pleasant evening not too distracted by complicated things like unfamiliar music. They may gush over the smoothness of the orchestra's string sound, the brilliance of the soloist (or their outfit) and how wonderful the conductor waves their arms, but the music itself functions as a familiar wallpaper against which they can experience everything. I wouldn't say I like it, and one can wonder what that means for music playing as an art or craft, but it is a reality.
Returning from the general topic of unfamiliar music to the specific topic of Schawenka's Fourth Concerto, I was looking at some YouTube comments on a performance posted there and noted the many references that people had to their favorite movement and what it was they liked about that part. Some liked the grandeur of the first, the Wagnerian gloom of the third, the vigor of the fourth, but none mentioned the second.
Well for me, by far my favorite movement is the second, which I often listen to just by itself. I adore its elegance and Mozartean grace, standing as a bit of relief from the drama that surrounds it but also standing alone quite well as an example of elegance and grace for its own sake. So, are there any others out there who like the intermezzo?
Thanks for this more recent version of Xaver Scharwenka's 4th piano concerto. While off-topic, I'd like to point out that he also wrote some very fine chamber music with piano. While not necessarily one of these, he also wrote an unusual piece (quirky perhaps) for piano,trombone and drums entitled "Five Leaves from Polyhymnia's Sketchbook" Op 89 which can be heard on you tube also.