Speaking of Mackeben, does anyone have a complete recording of his Piano Concerto? The YT upload by Boissier is apparently not all that was recorded.
To my knowledge, there are two recordings of the piece, both archival. The Bassler/Eisbrenner is heavily cut (in the first and second movement), the Seidemann/Aberth recording is complete. I own both, but the copyright situation in either case makes sharing via the forum too much of a risk.
The website dedicated to Mackeben (https://theo-mackeben.de) does not provide any information either, it looks as though it was last updated about five years ago.
Quote from: Ilja on Friday 16 January 2026, 18:17To my knowledge, there are two recordings of the piece, both archival. The Bassler/Eisbrenner is heavily cut (in the first and second movement), the Seidemann/Aberth recording is complete. I own both, but the copyright situation in either case makes sharing via the forum too much of a risk.
I think this is actually a one movement work like the Symphonic Ballade.
I've moved the Theo Mackeben posts here for separate discussion from the 2026 Performances topic.
Quote from: tuatara442442 on Sunday 18 January 2026, 08:21I think this is actually a one movement work like the Symphonic Ballade.
Both recordings that I have split up into "movements" along the same lines, but without having seen the score it's difficult to assess whether the composer thought this of a work in three movements played all' attacca, or a single-movement piece in three sections. Writing it down like this makes it sound like counting angels on a pinhead, to be honest.
From what I've heard, I'm quite sure the recapitulation actually happened in the third part, and the second part contains a scherzo section and then the rest of that part is slow. This is effectively a four-in-one single movement design. Considering the almost equal length and one movement design of the Symphonic Ballade (though I haven't listened to that to grasp its structure yet), and that the two works were written only a year apart, I'm pretty convinced that its a highly integrated one-movement work, and not the kind that is effectively continuously-played three-movement work.
I am aware of four archival recordings of the Mackeben pc. As Ilja states, only the Seidemann appears to be complete:
Julius Bassler/Studio-O Berlin/Werner Eisbrenner (abridged; e.g., missing 3'29" between 10:09 and 10:10)
Julius Bassler/SWR SO Stuttgart/Harry Pleva (abridged)
"Rainer Carell" [Siegfried Stöckigt]/Leipzig Radio SO/Adolf Fritz Guhl (abridged)
Herbert Seidemann/Munich Radio O/Rudolf Alberth (complete)
Apparently, "Rainer Carell" was Stöckigt's pseudonym when he engaged in playing light music and jazz - which might give some idea of how and where Mackeben's concerto was appraised.