My principle interest is classical & romantic piano concertos. For the sake of completeness I wish someone would record Cesar Francks first piano concertos in B. All Francks' other compositions for piano and orchestra have been recorded. Similarly Ignaz Brull's Rhapsody for piano and orchestra, Sergei Bortkiewicz's Russian Rhapsody, Alexander Dreyshock's Grand Fantasy, William Sterndale Bennett's piano concerto no. 6 in A minor. The last one has not been recorded thanks to the obstructiveness of the owner of the manuscript. This list would clear up the remainders, so to speak, of these composers. I am aware that there are many other composers of music for piano and orchestra who have only had some of their music recorded. In many cases a lot of work would be required on the scores.
I am sure many of us echo your post Giles.
If you are the same Giles that put together pianoconcerto.org, I am intensely grateful for your work as this gave me a lot of ideas.
Cost me a b****y fortune as well ;D
Thal
I echo Thal's sentiments!
Giles, I believe that Franck's first piano concerto (Op.9 - I think) is lost. I have an ancient CD at home which says this and I have never seen any evidence to the contrary. Of course, there is always a chance someone may find it at some point...
Giles - the Reinceke Konzertstuck Op33 HAS been recorded - and is available on the German ebs label together with other Reinecke works, although the G minor Serenade Op242 is a duplication http://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/Carl-Heinrich-Reinecke-Konzertst%FCck-op-33-f%FCr-Klavier-Orchester/hnum/3563209
I would love to see the full score of Dreyschock's Grand Fantasy. However, I believe it and/or the orchestral parts are probably no longer extant. A concertante piano piece of his which does still exist (and I have a MS copy) is the Rondo for piano & orchestra, Op. 32 (the orchestra is, in fact, strings only + triangle), and I would like very much to see this recorded. If the Grand Fantasy full score could be found, the 3 Concert Pieces for piano and orchestra by Dreyschock could be put on one CD, together with his Concert Overture (the orchestral score of which is in the Prague Municipal Library) - which would be the sum of his orchestral oeuvres (given that the PC has already been committed to CD).
Hi Giles,
The Reinecke Konzertstuck has also been recorded by Joshua Pierce on MSR Classics. It is coupled with Hummel Rondo Brilliant op56, Czerny Introduction and rondo brilliante op255, Mendelssohn Rondo brilliante op29 and Weber's Konzertstuck.
http://www.msrcd.com/1196/1196.html
Quote from: giles.enders on Thursday 17 June 2010, 11:45
William Sterndale Bennett's piano concerto no. 6 in A minor [...] has not been recorded thanks to the obstructiveness of the owner of the manuscript.
This is one of the craziest situations I can think of: many significant orchestral and concertante works by major British composers are lost completely, many operas and choral works are extant only in the form of printed vocal scores due to the loss or destruction of autograph manuscripts. Here we have the bizarre case of a work that is known to exist in full score but which cannot be accessed (let alone performed or recorded) simply because of a selfish whim - what a mockery to Sterndale Bennett's life, work and reputation. With custodians like this, who needs world wars, publisher's fires or careless composers!
A similar case arose following the sale of Arthur Sullivan's autograph scores at Sotheby's in 1966. A collector privately bought a number including
The Beauty Stone and
The Rose and Persia (both of which subsequently turned out to contain important deleted numbers) and then spent the next thirty-odd years denying all knowledge. Thankfully, they were willed to Oriel College and are now safely at the Bodleian.
Some works I can think of, (some film scores, and at least one "concert" a cappella work by Benjamin Frankel as well- I believe it's "The Isle is Full of Noises" from 1957...) exist only as recordings of one kind or another, too, _all_ performance material having been apparently lost!
Eric
Loss and destruction I can deplore but nevertheless understand. However, the psychology of secretive acquisition and personal exclusivity with regard to works of art defeats me: what on earth is the point?
Is it simply a "you know I've got it but you can't look at it" mentality or a perverse dog-in-the-manger: grudging others what one cannot truly enjoy oneself?
QuoteThis is one of the craziest situations I can think of: many significant orchestral and concertante works by major British composers are lost completely, many operas and choral works are extant only in the form of printed vocal scores due to the loss or destruction of autograph manuscripts. Here we have the bizarre case of a work that is known to exist in full score but which cannot be accessed (let alone performed or recorded) simply because of a selfish whim - what a mockery to Sterndale Bennett's life, work and reputation. With custodians like this, who needs world wars, publisher's fires or careless composers!
Don't get me started. Alan and Mark will tell you how vituperative I waxed on this very subject on the old forum.
Quote from: Albion on Thursday 17 June 2010, 17:21
However, the psychology of secretive acquisition and personal exclusivity with regard to works of art defeats me: what on earth is the point?
I was astounded when the man who spent $90,000,000 on "A Portrait of Doctor Gachet" had it locked up in a bank vault without seeing it.
Perhaps with a work of art, it loses value when it is displayed and a music manuscript loses value when it is performed??
It is all a mystery to me.
Thal
Quote from: thalbergmad on Thursday 17 June 2010, 20:59
a work of art [...] loses value when it is displayed and a music manuscript loses value when it is performed
I think that just about sums it up - the acme of selfishness. The very fact of exclusive ownership (of something that other human beings would like access to, but which you have the power to withold) becomes an addictive fetish. The keyword is 'exclusive': once others can enjoy the object either visually or aurally, the appeal of the object for the owner vanishes in an instant.
The very idea of 'ownership' of a cultural object is anathema to many (including myself) - unless one is the actual creator, then there is no claim other than that of 'custodian'. The responsible custodian would do everything in his power to promote the work of art in his care, thus proving its value, but unfortunately many individuals charged with this role simply don't know how to share because they have not yet matured beyond the infantile stage.
I wholly agree, Albion.
Does anyone actually know this chap that owns said Sterndale Bennett 6 and perhaps an e mail address??
I was thinking that everyone has their "Price".
Thal
Returning to unrecorded piano concertos, most participants in this forum are probably familiar with the claim that Jan Dussek was the first to place the piano on stage in a position that displayed the pianist's profile to good advantage. A dubious distinction, perhaps, but one that had a permanent influence.
This was, of course, well before the advent of the solo recital. So The Profile likely debuted with a concerto. One wonders if it would have influenced anyone had the musical accompaniment been undistinguished or laughable.
To the contrary, everything I've seen suggests that Dussek's concertos were, at the very least, models of early 19th-century compositional practice. (It is well established that his sonatas were of interest to Beethoven, who drew on them multiple times).
The concertos, then, would seem to be a link between those of Mozart and Chopin, as were Hummel's, Field's and Weber's. Making the concertos available on CD in robust performances would likely interest many listeners.
That would be a heckuva project, Chill. I once had a Dussek concerto in my old LP collection. It was in B-flat, and it was on an old Turnabout release (I forget the coupling). As I recall, the orchestra was rather small, maybe a single flute and paired oboes, bassoons and horns, and there was little or no use of winds while the piano was playing in the first movement, which indicates to me that it may have been a relatively early work with ad libitum wind parts. I now have the 1806 two-piano concerto (somewhere around here, anyway) and that is a much more substantial work.
Several of Dussek's concertos are or have been available on CD, though possibly not in robust performances:
the B-flat op22 & G minor op49 (Staier on Capriccio, released 1995, with the Tableau Marie Antoinette op.23);
the F major op. 17 and the B-flat op.40 (on Bongiovanni, 1996 CD);
the op.70 concerto (with some piano sonatas, on Supraphon, 1999);
the double-piano concerto in B-flat (on Centaur, 2004);
possibly others...
I've heard some of these recordings on Cesky Rozhlas radio (webcast).
Eric
Quote from: JimL on Friday 18 June 2010, 01:09
I now have the 1806 two-piano concerto (somewhere around here, anyway) and that is a much more substantial work.
If memory serves that was the work with which Stephen Heller made his public debut. To my ears Heller's first sonata is full of responses to late Dussek.
In the period of Heller's greatest fame, the 1850s and 60s, he was markedly conservative. But that was not at all the case in the 1830s, when he contributed several opuses (28 especially, but also 24, 27, and 30) that were strikingly original at a time when the "competition" included Liszt, Chopin, Alkan, and Schumann, among others. Dussek's technical approach to the keyboard has been superseded in those thoroughly modern works, but his noble line and sense of just proportion remain.
I have some catching up to do on the Dussek concerto front. Thanks, all, for your detail.
A couple of years ago, I spent some time playing through about 15 Dussek Concertos, but I do not remember encountering the same genius that I did with some of the Sonatas, which I would rank alongside Beethoven, notably the Op.77.
I can imagine a few of the latter Opus number concerti being recorded, but I doubt if the whole lot would be, even if performance materials still exist.
Thal
Quote from: thalbergmad on Friday 18 June 2010, 08:38
A couple of years ago, I spent some time playing through about 15 Dussek Concertos, but I do not remember encountering the same genius that I did with some of the Sonatas, which I would rank alongside Beethoven, notably the Op.77.
I can imagine a few of the latter Opus number concerti being recorded, but I doubt if the whole lot would be, even if performance materials still exist.
Thal
William Newman (
The Sonata Since Beethoven, paraphrasing from poor memory...?) claimed that Dussek's invention tended to spread thinner as the number of instruments he used grew larger (i.e. that his best work is indeed in the solo sonatas, though whether he meant only the piano sonatas or whether he liked the harp sonatas as well I have no idea...) -
hrm. Even so... have only heard op.70 among the later concertos if that one (since that's the only one that's been recorded so far), but I'm sure lots of worse/less-contentful music has been recorded in quantity, so I'm not taking the bet, anyway :)
Quote from: eschiss1 on Friday 18 June 2010, 17:04]
William Newman (The Sonata Since Beethoven, paraphrasing from poor memory...?) claimed that Dussek's invention tended to spread thinner as the number of instruments he used grew larger -
That is an interesting quote, but one tends to question why that was the case.
We know the talent was there.
Thal
The case, gentlemen, lies in the differing social purposes of the concerto as opposed to the solo sonata, as well as probable logistical concerns especially regarding orchestras during Dussek's lifetime.
Quote from: JimL on Friday 18 June 2010, 23:58
The case, gentlemen, lies in the differing social purposes of the concerto as opposed to the solo sonata, as well as probable logistical concerns especially regarding orchestras during Dussek's lifetime.
And yet (for similar reasons but a combination of others also, according to Alfred Einstein, if I remember!) Mozart's piano concertos are actually to be preferred to his solo sonatas. Ah well.
Eric
I was thinking along similar lines, but with Czerny.
I have always valued his works for piano & orchestra above his solo works.
Thal
Actually re Czerny, the new recordings on Nimbus of his complete solo sonatas is something I ought to try to hear (I know a few of them have been recorded before, but this is the first attempt at an integral that I know of.) I'm more interested in them than in many others of his solo works, anyway... but I do agree that his piano concertos (those I've heard, and the 2-piano concerto- and the symphonies, and the chamber works) seem more substantial than many of the solo works he's most known by, anyway...
Eric
Quote from: eschiss1 on Saturday 19 June 2010, 01:39
Actually re Czerny, the new recordings on Nimbus of his complete solo sonatas is something I ought to try to hear (I know a few of them have been recorded before, but this is the first attempt at an integral that I know of.)
I have Czerny's piano sonatas 1 & 3 played by Kuerti (on Analekta) and 5, 6, 8 & 9 played by Jones (on Nimbus). Of course it's a matter of taste, but to me these are all grandiose, rather complex, well-crafted sonatas of a very high calibre (especially no. 6), and far better than any symphony or piano concerto by Czerny I've ever heard.
Eric, I can very warmly recommend these marvellous piano sonatas. If you don't know them, you will be pleasantly amazed.
Quote from: eschiss1 on Saturday 19 June 2010, 00:58
And yet (for similar reasons but a combination of others also, according to Alfred Einstein, if I remember!) Mozart's piano concertos are actually to be preferred to his solo sonatas. Ah well.
Eric
I'd certainly agree with THAT. I find most of the sonatas pretty boring...
As for Dussek, he was actually a very good composer of harp music. There's a great CD with much of it that I own on the Arts label.
He also was probably the first composer to write melodramas -- piano with spoken narration. He also wrote some really weird tone poem-like pieces (for piano) well before Liszt invented them formally.
Quote from: Peter1953 on Saturday 19 June 2010, 06:44
Quote from: eschiss1 on Saturday 19 June 2010, 01:39
Actually re Czerny, the new recordings on Nimbus of his complete solo sonatas is something I ought to try to hear (I know a few of them have been recorded before, but this is the first attempt at an integral that I know of.)
I have Czerny's piano sonatas 1 & 3 played by Kuerti (on Analekta) and 5, 6, 8 & 9 played by Jones (on Nimbus). Of course it's a matter of taste, but to me these are all grandiose, rather complex, well-crafted sonatas of a very high calibre (especially no. 6), and far better than any symphony or piano concerto by Czerny I've ever heard.
Eric, I can very warmly recommend these marvellous piano sonatas. If you don't know them, you will be pleasantly amazed.
I've heard at least one or two of the sonatas (no. 9 over BBC, I think, in a studio recording, and possibly no. 2 also). Have seen scores of several of the others from IMSLP and other sources. Impressed so far!
The Czerny sonatas are most impressive and inventive. Even his late pastiche on Scarlatti is fun.
I wouldn't put him on a level with Raff, but I do think his facility for composition and high opus numbers affected his posthumous reputation unfairly, above and beyond the fact that he was encountered by many in precisely that part of their musical development when it was no fun at all to practice.
He certainly doesn't seem to have inhibited his student Liszt's compositional instincts.
I do hope the full version of Czerny's sonata 2 is available somewhere (haven't made a serious search). It must have been exceptionally ambitious to have been reissued in an abridged version.
Quote from: thalbergmad on Friday 18 June 2010, 08:38
A couple of years ago, I spent some time playing through about 15 Dussek Concertos, but I do not remember encountering the same genius that I did with some of the Sonatas, which I would rank alongside Beethoven, notably the Op.77.
In another thread I quoted a very positive assessment of a Dussek c-minor concerto from around 1800. The writer saw this work as a pivotal one in the history of the concerto, in that way similar perhaps to Beethoven's c-minor concerto. Was that work among the 15, Thal? If so, did it strike you as different from the others?
I heartily second your opinion of op. 77, which I believe relates to Dussek's earlier sonatas much as Beethoven's opp. 109 and 110 do to his earlier ones (bearing in mind that Dussek never wrote anything like op. 106).
Quote from: chill319 on Saturday 19 June 2010, 19:31
I do hope the full version of Czerny's sonata 2 is available somewhere (haven't made a serious search). It must have been exceptionally ambitious to have been reissued in an abridged version.
See http://www.mdt.co.uk/MDTSite/product//NI5863-4.htm (http://www.mdt.co.uk/MDTSite/product//NI5863-4.htm)
Quote from: chill319 on Saturday 19 June 2010, 19:43
In another thread I quoted a very positive assessment of a Dussek c-minor concerto from around 1800. The writer saw this work as a pivotal one in the history of the concerto, in that way similar perhaps to Beethoven's c-minor concerto.
Have you got an opus number for that one??. I cannot remember a concerto in C minor, but it was a while ago that i played through them.
Thal
Quote from: thalbergmad on Sunday 20 June 2010, 12:33
Quote from: chill319 on Saturday 19 June 2010, 19:43
In another thread I quoted a very positive assessment of a Dussek c-minor concerto from around 1800. The writer saw this work as a pivotal one in the history of the concerto, in that way similar perhaps to Beethoven's c-minor concerto.
Have you got an opus number for that one??. I cannot remember a concerto in C minor, but it was a while ago that i played through them.
Thal
There's one in G-minor op.49, but the (incomplete and partially incorrect I'm very sure) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_compositions_by_Jan_Ladislav_Dussek (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_compositions_by_Jan_Ladislav_Dussek) doesn't list a C minor concerto...
Eric
Hi all
Have done a check (excuse the unintended pun) if it will help. No trace of a c minor Dussek concerto as far as I can see. There is a g minor op 49 of 1801.
To fill in the picture a la recorded performances of Dussek concertos, here are two more, one with an opus number:
e flat major, 1789. Vanguard Classics, and wrongly listed as op 26 on the disc. The op 26 is a 1794 sonata for two pianos on the Praga label.
f major, op 27, 1794. Koch Schwann, with the op 17 and op 40 concertos.
regards
Peter
Sorry, fellas. I must have been thinking of the G-minor. I didn't have Craw at hand, the Wikipedia list doesn't give dates, and for some reason Search on this forum doesn't bring up material from a few months back.
Regarding the G-minor, I note that in Early Music 24 (1996), p.360, Simon McVeigh wrote of the work: "Dussek seems doomed to be discussed in terms of other composers. Over the G minor concerto, op. 49, looms the shadow of Beethoven—even the 'Emperor'—in both the grandeur of the piano figuration and the delicate high passagework..."
Beethoven's opus 73 was written about 10 years later, of course. Opus 37 would be from two years later.
Quote from: chill319 on Sunday 20 June 2010, 21:00Beethoven's opus 73 was written about 10 years later, of course. Opus 37 would be from two years later.
Not quite. Beethoven's C minor Concerto is roughly contemporaneous with the Dussek, and may have been composed and performed as early as 1800.
Giles Enders mentions Franck's first piano concerto in his opening valley.
I thought this was in fact lost (or at least seriously misplaced), which was among the reasons why the second had received several recordings to date - nothing on par with the popularity of his symphonic variations of course (far from it), but enough to explain why the first and second concertos aren't coupled together. I might be misremembering or remembering something stated inaccurately. Anyone know?
Is Carl Loewe's first piano concerto still in existence? (I gather his E minor symphony has received a public performance- perhaps that could form a companion CD with the first concerto to go with the Koch disc of the D minor symphony and 2nd conc. ...)
Eric
Re Dussek op.49 by the way, a 1-piano reduction (hopefully more to come sometime) has been available for some time at http://imslp.org/wiki/Piano_Concerto,_Op.49_(Dussek,_Jan_Ladislav) (http://imslp.org/wiki/Piano_Concerto,_Op.49_(Dussek,_Jan_Ladislav)).
It might interest Forum members to know that a descendant of the composer, Michael Dussek, is Professor of Piano at the Royal Academy of Music in London and his piano trio occasionally come to play at Freshwater, Isle of Wight. A couple of years ago, prompted by myself and other members of the West Wight Arts association, they played William Hurlstone's Piano Trio, which they had previously recorded. Maybe they could be persuaded to play and/or record something by their pianist's ancestor at some later date.
I am surprised that someone should claim Michael Dussek is a decendent of the composer. I asked him that very question two years ago and he said that he was unable to make the link, and could only trace his own Dussek history back to 1850.
Giles Enders
It seems I stand corrected Giles! :-[
There's some more information about Dussek's concertos and their structure and dates of composition in a book that can be skimmed here:
http://books.google.com/books?id=h0Lv6dd_htQC (http://books.google.com/books?id=h0Lv6dd_htQC) (search for Dussek at the left bar.)
Eric
I do know who the owner of the Sterndale-Bennett piano concerto No6 is. A 90 year old woman who married into the family. The worry is, what will happen to a number of MS which she ownes.
Giles Enders
Just a post-script to the 'first' comment praising Giles' list of Piano concertos.
There is also:
1) an example of lists on WIKIPEDIA, found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_compositions_for_piano_and_orchestra
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_compositions_for_keyboard_and_orchestra
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Romantic_composers
2) also, a list of romantic composers on Presto International, various lists by Michael Herman on Musicweb International, Classical Composers Database, Classical Lost & Found (www.clofo.com) etc.
3) There is also the RED catalogue of currently available CDs.
4) Unpublished treasure troves of recorded music, such as BBC archives (probably similar in old USSR contries) et al
I'm not aware, over the many years since I acquired my first (Gramaphone?) Classical Music Catalogue in the 1960s, that there is a 'free', publically-available database of all known world-wide classsical music broadcast and issued (LPs, CDs etc), regardless of whether current or not.
The result is that us mere mortals, who are not well-connected to the trade, have absolutely no idea of what there is, whether it is/was recorded or broadcast and where to find it. This site is extremely invaluable and much appreciated for the light it shines in obscure corners but I would also appreciate any advice on how, as a retired person based at home, I can hope to be aware of what there is in this 'romantic' lost treasures vein without spending hours contunually trawling multiple sites on the off-chanv ce of coming across something new (for example, I only found out by luck about this sight and also about recent Cameo Classics relases of Brull and Jadassohns music - what finds!
Quote from: Richard Moss on Sunday 27 June 2010, 10:59
This site is extremely invaluable and much appreciated for the light it shines in obscure corners but I would also appreciate any advice on how, as a retired person based at home, I can hope to be aware of what there is in this 'romantic' lost treasures vein without spending hours contunually trawling multiple sites on the off-chanv ce of coming across something new
Trawling for me is half the fun as it makes the discovery somewhat more satisfying.
The internet has made me lazy and I do miss my days in London sifting through the delights at Harold Moores and Travis & Emery.
Thal
Quote from: giles.enders on Sunday 27 June 2010, 10:13
I do know who the owner of the Sterndale-Bennett piano concerto No6 is. A 90 year old woman who married into the family. The worry is, what will happen to a number of MS which she ownes.
Giles Enders
Somebody, I don't care who, but somebody should be prepared to immediately contest her will when she shucks the coil mortal should she consign the MS to the furnace! I wouldn't put it past her.
I don't know why she should want to consign the MS to the furnace, having jealously guarded it all these years. However, there is no asccounting for the actions of such people. But if she did decide to destroy it she'd probably do so without our knowledge, before she died so contesting her will would achieve nothing.
I believe I heard a rumour that the MS of the concerto may find its way to the Bodleian Library when this lady dies. If so, roll on that day! However, it was just a rumour.
There have been many false hopes about her sending this to the Bodeian library. This is where many of the Sterndale Bennett MS are. It is MONEY she covets and there are heirs.
Regards
Giles Enders
In that case, she's not likely to destroy it, is she?
This document may be of interest to members - Music for Piano and Orchestra: The Recorded Repertoire:
http://www.siue.edu/~aho/discography/Discography.pdf (http://www.siue.edu/~aho/discography/Discography.pdf)
The gentleman that compiled that excellent list was a member here for a short period, but he seems to have vanished.
Thal
Quote from: Gareth Vaughan on Tuesday 29 June 2010, 20:18
In that case, she's not likely to destroy it, is she?
No. But while libraries aren't invulnerable either (bye bye Alexandrian), and libraries have whole stacks of scores they refuse to allow copies / scans of too- I anyway still think possibly irrationally that the score has a larger chance of getting lost forever this way than some other (also careful) ways.
The way to ensure survival is dissemination. This thought prompted my recent uploads of recordings: for example, as nobody else seems to have recorded or noticed the performance of Stanford's Te Deum, Op.66 in 1999 (it's not in the British Library Sound Archive) if I had walked under a bus tomorrow that recording was probably gone, or at best inaccessible.
Utilising the wonders of digital media is the best way of sharing scores and recordings, thus vastly increasing their chances of survival. It's a tragedy that digitisation technology was not available before such unmitigated disasters as Chappell's 1964 fire.
and while I don't like much music written for films unfortunately, there's still been quite a lot that's good and great (and written by very good to great composers), and I seem to recall that Benjamin Frankel's film scores, at least, mostly are lost except in short score because (I think) of the storage they've received. Just to pick up on your point briefly. Anyhow, sorry. Piano concertos :)... (One was made, I'm told, from a suite from Mieczyslaw Weinberg's music for the film The Cranes are Flying...)
QuoteThe way to ensure survival is dissemination.
Absolutely. Spot on! So we all know what to do. I won't be more specific than that.
I just finished listening to Raff's Suite for Piano and Orchestra Op. 200 and I'm stunned!!! Why is this not better known. Its absence from the concert halls is absolutely criminal. And WHAT was Hyperion thinking NOT including this in the Romantic Piano Concertos? This would have been a best seller...
QuoteAnd WHAT was Hyperion thinking NOT including this in the Romantic Piano Concertos? This would have been a best seller...
I know, I know. I did try to persuade Mike Spring - actually, to be fair, he
did want to record the Raff Suite, but it wasn't top of his list. He's not a big fan of the PC, however. But all three of Raff's concertante piano works could have been got on one disk and made a good addition to the RPC series: Piano Concerto; Suite; Ode to Spring.
'Twas not to be and I guess that Sterling's recording of the Suite will stymie any change of heart on Hyperion's part now. At least the Suite now has a good performance set down for posterity.
Indeed so - and we are all very grateful to you, Mark, and Tra for facilitating that. The real treat, however, is Die Tageszeiten - and Hyperion had no plans to record that!
Yes, Tageszeiten must count as the Raff discovery of the decade. Who knew (apart from Tra)?
And what a discovery indeed!
I have just been left in a state of shock after listening to the 1st Piano Concerto by Nicolas Flagello.
I had not read up on the composer and was not expecting late romanticism (albeit complex) from a composer born in 1928.
Would recommend this to those who might not have heard this yet.
Concertingly.
Thal
Quote from: thalbergmad on Wednesday 06 April 2011, 22:29
I have just been left in a state of shock after listening to the 1st Piano Concerto by Nicolas Flagello.
I had not read up on the composer and was not expecting late romanticism (albeit complex) from a composer born in 1928.
Would recommend this to those who might not have heard this yet.
Concertingly.
Thal
Oh yes - I discovered Flagello only very recently; he has something interesting to say and some very beautiful and dramatic ways of saying it. John McLaughlin Williams pointed me to him - he told me he regards him as a major voice with an "original and powerful emotive style". Try the Violin Concerto too - it's wonderful.
I would share the praise for Nicolas Flagello. Luckily Naxos has given listeners like me two records and a half with no work negligible (at least I've got two and a half).
A (minor? major? I would say "good") master with great craft.
In 1964 he also arranged (with much flair and skill), conducted and recorded (in Wien) a bunch of Italian and Neapolitan songs for/with tenor Richard Tucker. On that occasion Flagello added a song of his own, "La bella aurora" (CD "The soul of Italy", Sony SMK 66309: an irresistible record for me, not partcularly keen on Italian or Italianate tenors).