which would it be?
This assumes an unknown concerto. Mine would be the Saint-Saens Piano Concerto No 1.
A good choice J. Joe. I'd plump for his 3rd.
Leaving well-known or pre-/post-Romantic concertos out of the question (otherwise I'd have to try to decide which one of Mozart's last 11 or so concertos I could not do without - would probably come down to 14, 16, 17 or 24) - I think I might (still with difficulty) decide to go for the Italian Giuseppe Martucci's piano concerto no.2 in B-flat minor (1884-5) even though I've yet to hear it in live concert. The finale has a certain abandon about it rhythmically and sometimes feels forward-thinking harmonically, the first movement (e.g.) has a secure-feeling but not hackneyed form (with e.g. what seems an opening slightly inspired by Schumann's concerto maybe, possibly, (but following a brief orchestral announcement with a piano-solo passage (brief written-out cadenza of sorts?) rather than the other way around.)) (And I, at least, find the concluding pages of both outer movements very satisfying...)
Rubinstein's Fifth, without a doubt. It's not the greatest Piano Concerto in the world by any means, but there is a craggy grandeur to it which I find irresistible.
Scharwenka's 1st PC. Wonderfully invigorating & melodic.
Scharwenka 4th Piano Concerto without a doubt.
I like all the works already listed.
Choosing a new name, I would opt for the tuneful and well crafted Castillon Piano Concerto.
Although a most difficult final choice, I would settle for Scharwenka No2 - although Moszkowski No2 & Henselt come a close joint second!
@alberto. Amazing choice. How could I have forgotten the Castillon concerto. :)
I would prefer just to take my banjo, but if it had to be a PC, it would have to be the Rozycki 1st.
I simply cannot survive without it.
Thal
I'm taking the concerto by conductor Evgeny Svetlanov. It might not have been written in the correct UC time period, but it sure sounds like it was.
My choice would be the Piano Concerto in F minor, op. 6 by Karel Kovařovic.
Probably Draeseke's - an ambitious attempt to combine the flamboyant pianism of Liszt with the symphonic strength of Beethoven. Wonderfully over the top, it nevertheless has a slow movement of real beauty and profundity.
Very good choices, gentlemen. I got some good recommendations I didn't even know about (not surprising since there are 100,000 "unsung" piano concertos out there) Scharwenka seems to be the most popular composer and I didn't even know Moszkowski wrote a 2nd one. I know his E Major and played it in my "performing days" as a teen piano student.
I stumbled onto this remarkable concerto and would like to share it. One well-known pianist describes it as "apocalyptic" and i think you'll see why if you listen to about 5 minutes of it. It has the score and has been beautifully rendered. The problem is I think it's unplayable. But judge for yourselves:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LZPBMT6XnI (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LZPBMT6XnI)
The Moszkowski E Major is the 2nd Piano Concerto as it turns out. The 1st in B minor? was just recently discovered and discussed in different post.... I wonder what became of it? Wasn't it supposed to be premiered last year?
Regrettably, the Perreur-Lloyd PC to which Joe refers lies beyond the stylistic bounds of UC. Not a very 'grateful' composition anyway. I greatly prefer Townley in C minor!!
I cannot locate the unknown concerto by Moszkowski. All that turns up is his Opus 59. If you had a link to a recording, that would be great, thanks much. :)
Joe: you may like to follow this previous thread:
http://www.unsungcomposers.com/forum/index.php/topic,1933.0.html (http://www.unsungcomposers.com/forum/index.php/topic,1933.0.html)
>>>>>Regrettably, the Perreur-Lloyd PC to which Joe refers lies beyond the stylistic bounds of UC. Not a very 'grateful' composition anyway. I greatly prefer Townley in C minor!!
@ Alan: Thank you so much, Alan. I have a "real" fan of the concerto now. If you happen to have...oh....a million friends and acquaintances or so, please pass the concerto along to them ;-)
Re the Moszowski. It appears to be just rumor now. Nothing material. We shall wait and hope.
No, it's not rumour. Do look at my previous post and follow the link, Joe.
And I do genuinely like your PC 2 and hope to hear it performed and/or recorded one day.
Moszkowski E Major is my first choice. And sorry, Scharwenka fans, but a close second is his 3rd......
Jerry
If Medtner's concertos still count as unsung, then it would have to be his third.
I agree with jerfilm, but in reverse order of choice: Scharwenka 3 (a masterpiece of cyclic compression, and melodic beauty)and then Moszkowski(E major!) for poignancy, beautiful, idiomatic piano writing and a bitter-sweetness,a sort of "it must be so" I cannot (quite) put into words!(the end of the finale, with its despairing slow theme followed by a perfunctory ending). Steve
Hummel A minor.
Yes, Steve, and the romp in the Finale ALWAYS gives me goosebumps...... 8) 8) 8)
Jerry
Yes, a sort of sad romp, despite everything type romp lol; I like a good (musical!) romp; that's why I love Ponti, eg in finale of the Raff PC
Thank goodness I will never actually be stuck on an island with just one piano concerto! Whichever I chose, I would always regret not choosing a different one. ::)
Yes, that really IS a dreadful thought. Only one piece of each genre. Gives me a headache even to think about it......
J
I'm picking Zygmunt Stojowski's Piano Concerto no. II. It's an amazing piece and the theme et variations last movement is among the best written.
I agree with the Svetlanov and Medtner (Third Concerto) mentioning.
Man, tough choice between Atterberg, Bortkiewicz 1, Alnaes, and Medtner 2 and 3. They're all equally fantastic works in my opinion. The first three have tunes and bravura that give Rachmaninoff a run for his money and the two Medtner have a melancholic depth that is very moving.
^^
The Atterberg! I think I'll keep that on reserve in case I lose the Stojowski (somehow).
;D
I must say that the first unsung concerto I ever heard was on KCBH. Does anyone remember that FM radio station. There were three prominent classical radio stations back in the early 60's KFMU, KCBH, and KFAC. KCBH had this 3-hour program from 8-11 PM Mon-Fri. called "Concerto from Coldwater Canyon" and it was hosted by a guy named Hamilton Williams. (cue about 1 minute of Nutcracker Grand Pas de Deux, then Hamilton's rich baritone voice), "Good evening. This is Hamilton Williams talking to you from the studios high atop the mountains above Coldwater Canyon, inviting you to your Concerto from Coldwater Canyon--three hours of the finest classical music." (Cue in Nutcracker Grand Pas de Deux again until the oboe enters about 2 minutes in, then the music fades out). "And tonight we're going to be listening to....then in the second hour...finally we will be hearing..."
And some of these programs were taped because I recall via my "FM and Fine Arts" magazine, which had all the listings for all the classical music played for the month on all 5 or so classical operating stations at the time, this one program that always led off with Hummel's Concerto in B Minor Opus 89 played by the only pianist who'd made a recording of it at that time, Martin Galling. Fell in love with the Hummel B Minor. Remember vividly standing at the sink washing dishes with my older brother's AM-FM and listening intently to the concerto on several nights when that particular pre-taped program would be scheduled. Ah, nice to tromp down memory lane once in a while, when times were much more innocent.
For those who remember this program:
http://www.rogermartin.org/kcbh.html (http://www.rogermartin.org/kcbh.html)
QuoteI'm taking the concerto by conductor Evgeny Svetlanov.
I'm not surprised. It's glorious. Your post prompted me finally to get hold of the three-CD set Of Svetlanov's own music, and it turns out to be a treasure-chest of Russian romanticism. The PC, in two movements (Andante-Allegro) is certainly worth anyone's attention. I shall certainly be playing it again! And again!
How odd. Not prompted by this thread at all, but by an article on conductor-composers in the new issue of Gramophone, I too searched out and downloaded this afternoon some of Svetlanov's orchestral music. Samples of the orchestral music can be heard here (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00C7J9RK6/ref=dm_ws_sp_ps_dp), and of the Piano Concerto here (http://www.amazon.com/Yevgeny-Svetlanov-Concerto-Alexander-Skryabin/dp/B006LX0BGS/ref=sr_1_2?s=dmusic&ie=UTF8&qid=1393440700&sr=1-2&keywords=Svetlanov+Piano+Concerto).
Great minds... ;)
Oh, did someone else do it as well? ;)
8)