This fascinating survey of the Russian (and Polish!) piano concerto in 15 CDs includes the masterworks of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov – beloved examples at the pinnacle of both Russian music and the piano concerto genre – along with more- and lesser-known yet all eminently worthy works by composers from both Imperial and Soviet Russia and those by Paderewski, Scharwenka and Moszkowski, who were born in what today is Poland. Though the piano concerto is now inextricably linked in modern minds to the Russian repertoire, the area’s isolation meant that it would take some time for the genre to take hold there, but that it would grow into a unique, characteristic and varied expression. The accompanying essay by David Moncur leads interested readers logically along the timeline of the genre’s development in the east of Europe, exploring the generational and stylistic interconnections between fellow-composers and musician colleagues who were teachers, mentors, supporters and dedicatees.
Works:
Arensky: Piano Concerto in F minor, Op. 2
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Balakirev: Piano Concerto No. 2 in E flat major
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Bortkiewicz: Piano Concerto No. 2 ‘for the left hand only’, Op. 28
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Bortkiewicz: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 32
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Glazunov: Piano Concerto No. 1 in F minor, Op. 92
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Glazunov: Piano Concerto No. 2 in B major Op. 100
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Kabalevsky: Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 9 (1928)
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Kabalevsky: Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 23 (1935 rev. 1973)
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Kabalevsky: Piano Concerto No. 3 in D major, Op. 50, ‘Dedicated to Soviet Youth’
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Khachaturian: Concerto-Rhapsody in D flat major for piano and orchestra
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Khachaturian: Piano Concerto in D flat major
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Khrennikov: Piano Concerto No. 2 in C, Op. 21
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Lyapunov: Piano Concerto No. 1 in E flat major, Op. 4
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Lyapunov: Piano Concerto No. 2 in E major, Op. 38
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Lyapunov: Rhapsody on Ukrainian Themes, Op. 28
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Medtner: Piano Concerto No. 3 in E minor, Op. 60 'Ballade'
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Mosolov: Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 14
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Moszkowski: Piano Concerto in E major, Op. 59
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Paderewski: Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 17
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Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 1 in D flat major, Op. 10
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Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major, Op. 26
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Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 4 in B flat major, Op. 53
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Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18
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Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30
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Rimsky Korsakov: Piano Concerto in C sharp minor, Op. 30
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Rubinstein, A: Concertstück, Op. 113
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Rubinstein, A: Piano Concerto No. 4 in D minor, Op. 70
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Scharwenka, X: Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor Op. 56
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Scriabin: Piano Concerto in F sharp minor, Op. 20
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Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No. 1 in C minor for piano, trumpet & strings, Op. 35
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Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No. 2 in F major, Op. 102
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Tchaikovsky, B: Piano Concerto
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Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor, Op. 23
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Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 2 in G major, Op. 44