Your Top Seven Concertos

[Israfel the Black]

1. Sibelius Violin Concerto
2. Dvorák's Cello Concerto
3. Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1
4. Elgar Cello Concerto
5. Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto
6. Mozart Piano Concerto No. 20
7. Philip Glass Violin Concerto
8. Shostakovitch Piano Concerto No. 1
9. Schumann Violin Concerto
10. Elgar Piano Concerto

Seven just isn't enough. = )

[Mark]

This is a cruel and impossible task, so here are seven that I like, picked at random:

Sibelius - Violin Concerto
Grieg - Piano Concerto
Finzi - Cello Concerto
Elgar - Cello Concerto
Saint-Saens - Piano Concerto No. 2
Tchaikovsky - Piano Concerto No. 1
Penderecki - Cello Concerto No. 2

Nowhere NEAR an accurate reflection of my 'Top Seven'.

[Guido]

Good to see those three great cello works in there Mark (esp. the Finzi!).

André Jolivet : celloconcerto nr .1 ( André Navarra /composer) - a masterpiece!

Really? I must listen again!

[Bogey]

Bach Violin Concerto BWV 1042 (Wallfisch/Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment) and or Concerto for Harpsichord BWV 1054 (Leonhardt/Leonhardt Consort)....basically the same piece to my untrained ears.

Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 5 Op. 73 (Serkin/Ozawa/BSO)

Copland Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (Ohlsson/MTT/SFS)

Dvorak Cello Concerto Op. 104 (Rostropovich/HvK/BPO or Rostropovich/Giulini/LPO)

Haydn Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra (Marsalis/Leppard/NPO)

Mozart Horn Concerto No. 1 (Tuckwell/ECO)

Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto Op. 35 (Kremer/Maazel/BPO)

[The new erato]

Let me throw in a couple of definite worthies - see no reason to mention the same suspects as everybody else (would have been a lot of Shostakovich, Bartok, Beethoven and Brahms in my list though):

Frank Martin: Concerto for seven wind instruments
Darius Milhaud: Violin Concerto nr 2
Arthur Honegger: Cello Concerto
Boris Tischenko: Violin concerto nr 2

For those having multiple versions of the usual works and cycles but don't know these, do yourself a favor!

[quintett op.57]

Haydn Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra (Marsalis/Leppard/NPO)

Mozart Horn Concerto No. 1 (Tuckwell/ECO)

both listed for the second time, interesting

[Guido]

Oh the Honegger cello concerto is a wonderful piece. I had forgotten about it. Much better than the comparable Milhaud efforts in the genre.

[longears]

"Frequency on the spinner" (in the past couple of years)

Rodrigo & Ponce Guitar Ctos
Brahms, Sibelius, Barber VCs
Rhapsody in Blue and Mozart D minor

[bwv 1080]

"Frequency on the spinner" (in the past couple of years)

Ponce Guitar Ctos

Great piece, should have been on my list

[longears]

Great piece, should have been on my list

It's time we persuaded John Adams to write a guitar cto--maybe we can get his former colleagues at SFC to commission one? 

[greg]

It's time we persuaded John Adams to write a guitar cto--maybe we can get his former colleagues at SFC to commission one? 

of course i'm gonna be the soloist 

[Nunc Dimittis]

My seven favorite "off the beaten path" concertos:

Koppel:  Cello Concerto
Larsson:  Violin Concerto
Arnold:  Concerto for Two Pianos, Three Hands
Foulds:  Dynamic Triptich (Piano and Orchestra)
Howard Blake:  Violin Concerto
Taktakishvilli:  Violin Concerto No. 1
Alwyn:  Lyra Angelica (for Harp and Orchestra)

[Norbeone]

The concerto isn't my favourite genre but there are some I love:

Bach - Keyboard Concerto in D Minor
Bach - Keyboard Concerto in F Minor
Bach - Concerto for 2 Violins in D Minor
Beethoven - Piano Concerto No.5 ('Emperor')
Bartok - Concerto for Orchestra
Prokofiev - Piano Concerto No.2
Prokofiev - Piano Concerto No.3

[The new erato]

My seven favorite "off the beaten path" concertos:

Koppel:  Cello Concerto
Larsson:  Violin Concerto
Arnold:  Concerto for Two Pianos, Three Hands
Foulds:  Dynamic Triptich (Piano and Orchestra)
Howard Blake:  Violin Concerto
Taktakishvilli:  Violin Concerto No. 1
Alwyn:  Lyra Angelica (for Harp and Orchestra)

I was actually thinking about including the Bo Linde violin concerto. Never heard the Larsson - I expect you are not thinking about the violin concertino from the op 45 set of 12 concertinoes? Now THAT is a wonderful set (on BIS) and a natural listen for anybody loving Hindemiths Kleine Kammermusiken. I particularly love the concertino for viola.

My favorite Arnold concerto BTW is the double violin concerto.

Thanks for some wonderful suggestions here, most of which I do not know (the Foulds excepted). Would appreciate info on recordings though.

[pjme]

Good to see those three great cello works in there Mark (esp. the Finzi!).

Really? I must listen again!

Hi Guido, I will come back on Jolivet celloconcerto nr 1 later ( nr 2 -with stringquintet & stringorchestra as accom.- is a much tougher nut to crack ).
Recently Jolivet's mighty violinconcerto was issued in a quasi historical performance with Devi Erlih ,and a brandnew one with Isabelle Faust.

Peter

[Guido]

I would be very interested to hear your opinions.

I am very glad that someone else has heard the Koppel. I love that piece so much - it really is a masterpiece. It may replace Dutilleux on my top seven list. Ach - 7 isnt enough!

[RebLem]

I couldn't come up with just 7.  So, I put a 1 in front of it.  Here are my top 17.

Bach, J.S.: Brandenburg Concerto 2.

Haydn: Trumpet Concerto.

Mozart: Clarinet Concerto, Piano Concerti 17, 22, 23.

Beethoven: Violin Concerto, Piano Concerti 1, 5.

Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto.

Schumann: Piano Concerto.

Brahms: Violin Concerto, Piano Concerto 2

Dvorak: Cello Concerto.

Prokofiev: Piano Concerto 1.

Schoenberg: Cello Concerto after Monn.

Bartok: Violin Concerto 2.

[Bonehelm]

Beethoven 5th PC Emperor
Shostakovich 2nd PC
Tchaikovsky 1st PC
Rachmaninoff 2st PC
Beethoven VC
Mendelssohn VC in E minor
Liszt 1st PC

[BachQ]

I couldn't come up with just 7.  So, I put a 1 in front of it.  Here are my top 17.
Bach, J.S.: Brandenburg Concerto 2.

I dispute whether any of the Brandenburg Concerti (except possibly 5) are "concerti" in the ordinary sense (i.e., the common use of the term concerto) ..........

[pjme]

The first cello concerto by André Jolivet, written in 1962, can be found in two versions:

the earliest one was made in 1964 with André Navarra and the composer conducting the Lamoureux orchestra .
It is available on Warner-Erato (4 CD box with numerous other works) 2564-61320-2).
The other version (live) is on Solstice SOCD 81 and coupled with symphony nr .3 and the pianoconcerto.
Again , Navarra is the soloist, Jolivet conducts the French National orchestra (in 1966).

The second version is slightly faster, the older one has more bite,IMO.
The movements are : Méditatif ( ca 8 mins.) - Hiératique ( ca 8 mins) and Cursif ( ca 6 mins)

Jolivet had studied the cello himself  (he wrote 3 important works : 2 concerti and a "Suite en concert" for cello-solo (1965).

In the first concerto all the typical Jolivet hallmarks can be found : brooding, dark lyricism combined with intensely rythmical clarity. The quite large percussion section ( "clear" instruments :wood blocks,metal block,whip,claves,castanets,small drums etc) adds mystery in the majestic "Hiératique" and drive in the "Cursif"-movement.
Méditatif and Hiératique are a whole, bridged by a short harp & percussion solo.
Jolivet took great care with the orchestration ,so that the voice of the cello can be heard at all times.  In the second movement there's a magical moment when the soloist can be heard ,alone ,accompanied only by some soft strokes on the tamtam.
In the last movement the soloist has to master saltando,glissando and pizzicato effects, glissandi in harmonics and extremely fast passages that bring the concerto to a brutal,almost bitter conclusion.
It is a serious work with a mysterious poetic message .

Peter