I'm interested in your opinion of Pabst's music, in particular the "Lost Piano Concerto" in E flat major, op. 82, available on Cameo Classics and Danacord.
Audio samples can be heard at http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/Oleg-Marshev-spielt-russische-Klavierkonzerte/hnum/8490069 (http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/Oleg-Marshev-spielt-russische-Klavierkonzerte/hnum/8490069)
Initially impressive, but doesn't sustain too many repeated hearings.
I agree with Mark. But the Marshev CD is certainly worth having - the other is poorly recorded and features below-average orchestral playing. Get Marshev!
No! Get Trochopoulos on Cameo; more idiomatic playing; more rubato, passion. Never mind the orchestra-its not perfect but has an exciting raw sound and, i think, is a live performance.
Ad I beg to differ, its a lovely concerto, with that memorably ponderous but stirring opening melody and moments of poetry, particuarly near the end of the finale. In my view, one of the better/best of the Romantic Piano concerti. Would love to see the Cameo dvd of how the concerto was found and how they made the recording.
Marshev is ok; but this is how this passionate music SHOULD be played; but is same old debate re new school v. old school; control v. passion; heavy rubato v. lighter.
Steve
Unfortunately, it's not just a debate about schools of interpretation; it's also a question of second-rate orchestral playing and recording (certainly not up to proper commercial standards) versus a finished, professional product. By all means buy the the Cameo Classics performance, Peter, but caveat emptor!
I thought I'd just give the Cameo Classics performance another listen and it's as I thought: excellent pianism compromised by a muffled recording (I've heard better quality from recordings fifty years old) and absolutely awful orchestral playing - out of tune winds and scrawny strings. To turn to the Danacord CD is like suddenly switching the lights on: the orchestral playing is far superior and you can hear everything that is going on. And Marshev plays like a tiger too. The only possible criticism is that the South Jutland Symphony Orchestra is not the Berlin Philharmonic in terms of weight of sonority - but then the Belarussian orchestra on Cameo Classics is barely of a standard suitable for recording at all.
Marshev is therefore the sensible - and still mightily exciting - choice here. Trochopoulos is for completists only.
Thank you for your posts and suggestions. How about the couplings? I already have a few Paganini Rhapsodies... It's a substantial work of more than 20 minutes. On the other hand, I'm not a real big fan of both Scriabin and Rimsky-Korsakov, although their piano concertos aren't that bad at all...But I've made my choice and go for the Marshev.
Mark points out a different and interesting matter. If you buy (or download) a new CD, with music thus far unknown to you, how many repeated hearings does it sustain? I have a lot of CDs, worth listening a few times, but then... maybe once per year or even less. The surprise, attraction or novelty has vanished. What is the percentage of "stayers"? Raff's PC never bores me, how many times I give it a listen, but how about the Pabst? Well, I don't know yet, give it a try and buy the disc. I think we all experience similar things. But this thread is not meant for a subject like this.
The Marshev disk as mentioned is impressive, but even more impressive to me is his disk of Pabst transcriptions.
If there is a better transcription than the Tchaikovsky/Pabst "La Belle Au Bois Dormant", I have yet to hear it.
Thal
The Rachmaninov coupling on the Cameo Classics CD is utterly pointless. The pianist is good - but the performance is completely out of its depth in terms of the competition available. Orchestrally, it's very poor.
Quote from: thalbergmad on Wednesday 06 January 2010, 20:24
The Marshev disk as mentioned is impressive, but even more impressive to me is his disk of Pabst transcriptions.
If there is a better transcription than the Tchaikovsky/Pabst "La Belle Au Bois Dormant", I have yet to hear it.
Thal
That's a wonderful disc - and the Tchaikovsky/Pabst transcription you mention is a winner.
I'd nominate one other in that class: The Feinberg transcription of the
Scherzo from Tchaikovsky's Sixth Symphony, as performed by Arcadi Volodos on his astounding transcriptions CD.
Like most, I'm torn between the Trochopoulos and Marshev recordings. The first's piano playing is doubtlessly much more idiomatic and passionate, but he's BADLY let down by everyone around him. The South Jutland orchestra is far superior, but I simply don't care that much for Marshev's interpretation and playing.
I like Marshev more than you Ilja, but when all's said and done it's just not acceptable to engage an orchestra as poor as the Belarussian outfit and then compound the problem by a producing dreadful recording. So, for me, whatever the merits of the two pianists, I just cannot listen to an issue in which only the soloist is performing to commercial standards.
Yes, I guess you're right - but I'd give something to hear a more perfect recording of this work, although I partly agree with Mark in that it's one that doesn't tolerate too many hearings in too short a time.
By the way, I really like Marshev in a lot of other recordings: the Siegfried Langgaard, Otto Malling and Von Sauer 2 concertos, to name a few. It's just that in this (and the coupled Scriabin) his heart doesn't seem to be in it.
Greetings all from a freezing Yorkshire! :(
I must admit I was really looking forward to hearing the Trochopoulos disc and, having bought it and been slightly disappointed by the orchestral playing, I agree with the criticisms of this. I've not heard Marshev in this work but thoroughly enjoyed his Pabst transcriptions disc which I have had for years. His recording of the concerto is on my list of wants but I can't afford it just now. I suppose I will have to wait for the time being.
I have the Marshev recording coupled with the Rimsky Korsakov and Scriabin. The concerto by Pabst is pleasing to the ear and grows on repeated hearing. The finale is especially catchy.
Its notable that Tchaikovsky had some insightful comments about the quality of certain composers...for example he said about Scharwenka's B flat minor Concerto No 1 "...it stood out from the grey mediocrity of much that was then being written"...although I believe its especially true about the 4th concerto in F minor (Hyperion RPC Vol. 11) which in my opinion is THE BEST of all the Romantic Piano Concerto vol.'s released by Hyperion and whose apparent neglect is surely Criminal!!!
Tchaikovsky called Pabst "a pianist blessed by God"........
Dear Friends,
I was delighted to see that there is a whole discussion dedicated to my first recording and I would like to thank everybody for your warm support and comments.
It is really rewarding to read about the positive ones and, at the same time, I have to say that I could not agree more with the negative ones...
There are just a few things I would like to draw your attention to though:
First of all there was a slight problem with the Rhapsody-the first version that came out was incomplete in terms of the editing process (during to a problem of technical nature) and unfortunately some of you might have this pro-version instead of the normal/final/official one which came out a tiny bit later after the proper editing session.
Furthermore, I understand that the Pabst performance is far from perfect but we all know how the case normally is with premieres (by that I mostly mean the limited time to prepare).
Most people would not even have enough time to even learn and perform the concerto by heart (something which I did) or would do post-editing (something which happens very often with live recordings that are not -unlike this one- really live).
Now, in case you want to see how well I can deal with more familiar repertoire on the concert platform you can visit my youtube channel. Here's the link:
www.youtube.com/user/pan141182 (http://www.youtube.com/user/pan141182)
I am sure you will agree with me on that the pianistic form I display in those -100% live- videos is matched only by very, very few competition winners.
Let me thank you in advance for even reading my long message and I really hope to establish contact with each one of you personally.
Very Best,
Panagiotis
P.S. It is an extreme honour to even see my name next to the one of a pianistic titan like Oleg Marshev.
Welcome, Panagiotis!
I congratulate you on your enterprise in learning and recording the Pabst concerto. I just think you were somewhat let down by the orchestra and the technical team, but then we didn't expect Marshev to come up with a recording so soon after yours.
Do you have any other unsung and unrecorded piano concertos which you would like to record?
Really! I have your recording of the Pabst, and, while I agree with the criticisms of the orchestra and engineering, I found your performance superb. Welcome to our little ;D forum! Hope you like to talk unsungs, because they're all the rage here.
Yes, a warm welcome to the Forum, Panagiotis. As you can read, the communio opinis is that you're playing is excellent, with passion, in short: a superb performance.
However, I bought the Marshev, because the Danish orchestra's playing should be far more better. And the couplings influenced my decision as well. Not another Rachmaninov again, but PC's by Rimsky-Korsakov (four short movements, based upon one theme, in total lasting less than 15 minutes) and the Scriabin (he's supposed to have written his only PC while he was in love; I'm afraid I cannot hear any romantic or passionate passage).
The Pabst is a fine concerto, but not a truly great PC as I feel it, although I like the first movement in particular because it's memorable and has both virtuoso and lyrical passages. It's by far the best of the three on the disc. Rimsky-Korsakov's PC is curious, but I don't like the man's attitude towards my favourite unsung composer. And the Scriabin, well, like most of Scriabin's music, I don't like it much either.
But I'm satisfied with the Danacord disc. Marshev plays it very well and the Danes did a fine performance as well.
Panagiotis, I'm looking forward to your recordings of other unsung piano concertos, and your opinions of the many unsung favourites and heroes we're discussing here.
I too look forward to your further ventures.
The clip on you tube where you play the Rimsky-Korsakov transcription is pretty much beyond belief and I cannot imagine many pianists (prize winning or not), being able to do that.
Thal
Thank you so much for your kind words my friends and I am really sorry it took me so long to answer.
I must say that I do not have anything actually planned as far as rare concerto recordings are concerned but I would definitely love to try something new.
I am indeed looking forward to participating in the discussions of this wonderful forum and extend my (pretty limited I must admit) general musical knowledge.
Thanks again.
Boy, oh boy! Can we come up with some ideas for something new! See if you can get your hands on a recording of the Rufinatscha Concerto in G Minor. A number of us have the CD from the Tiroler Landesmuseum in Innsbruck, but I think that the full score is in their custody. If you like it, maybe some of us can pool our resources... :)
For the full score, one needs to contact Franz Gratl who is head of the music dept.
f.gratl@tiroler-landesmuseen.at
Thal