great romantic piano concertos

[xochitl]

ive actually stayed away from mid-late romantic music most of my life but lately ive really been craving some piano concertos from this era after hearing the brahms 1 with brendel/abbado and the rach 3 with berezovsky

i think im ready [after something like 12 years  ] to take the plunge

the only ones ive heard are the tchaikovskys/brahms/grieg/liszt/alkan/rachmaninovs

so, where to?

[North Star]

Busoni's concerto is certainly great.
Edit: I somehow read 'late' instead of great - Chopin and Schumann are among the best.

[mc ukrneal]

ive actually stayed away from mid-late romantic music most of my life but lately ive really been craving some piano concertos from this era after hearing the brahms 1 with brendel/abbado and the rach 3 with berezovsky

i think im ready [after something like 12 years  ] to take the plunge

the only ones ive heard are the tchaikovskys/brahms/grieg/liszt/alkan/rachmaninovs

so, where to?

There is a gem of a series on Hyperion called the Romantic Piano Concerto Series. It is currently up to volume 58 (released in the fall), which makes a nice place to start. They range from good to outstanding. Berkshire often has a portion of them in stock at $6.99. Some of my favorites are:
#4: Arensky and Bortkiewicz
#11: Sauer and Scharwenka
#20: Brull
#30: Lyapunov
#34: Pierne
#41: Kalkbrenner
#42: Alnaes and Sinding

There are multiple discs of Moscheles, Scharwenka, Medtner, and Herz, all of which I like. They have good quality and longer snippets at the Hyperion site, so you can sample before you buy to see which you might like best.

For Saint-Saens, I dislike the recorded sound on the Hyperion set (the only one in fact, as the sound is usually excellent or better), and would suggest Roge/Dutoit instead.

There is plenty more to be found beyond this series, including Bennett on Lyrita, Tellefsen on Simax, Chopin (enormous choice), Huber on Sterling, Mendelssohn (on Hyperion or Naxos, but more choice here too), Rheinberger/Sgambati on Genesis, Stenhammar (on Hyperion, Chandos, etc.), Reinecke on CPO, Lessel/Dobrzynski (Chopin Society or something like that), and more. Stenhammar would be an another excellent choice.

PS: For some composers that straddle the classical and romantic a bit:
- Hummel (Chandos have a good series, but I would absolutely start with the disc with Stephen Hough)
- Ries (4 excellent discs on Naxos)
- Field (series on Chandos - boxset, though there is another on Brilliant I have not heard)

[Drasko]

the only ones ive heard are the tchaikovskys/brahms/grieg/liszt/alkan/rachmaninovs

so, where to?

Chopin, Schumann, Scriabin

[xochitl]

thanks guys

also, i forgot to metion in the op:  are there any written in minor keys that actually END in it?  it just feels so silly after the tenth time...last 45 seconds of the last movement and viola! big happy key change.  everything's fine!  everyone start clapping 

[mc ukrneal]

thanks guys

also, i forgot to metion in the op:  are there any written in minor keys that actually END in it?  it just feels so silly after the tenth time...last 45 seconds of the last movement and viola! big happy key change.  everything's fine!  everyone start clapping 

I think Saint-Saens Concerto #2 does. Perhaps the Scharwenka 4 as well. I'm sure there are several, but I this isn't something I usually focus on.

[Mandryka]

ive actually stayed away from mid-late romantic music most of my life but lately ive really been craving some piano concertos from this era after hearing the brahms 1 with brendel/abbado and the rach 3 with berezovsky

i think im ready [after something like 12 years  ] to take the plunge

the only ones ive heard are the tchaikovskys/brahms/grieg/liszt/alkan/rachmaninovs

so, where to?

This is an area which I've not  really been interested in at all, so none of what I'm going to say comes from any first hand experience, but I have noticed that over the past couple of years these concertos have become quite fashionable. I have friends who have started to listen to John Field and to Hummel for example. You might try this box of old Vox records which is cheap enough and has a good reputation, :


There are pianists in London who really rate Stephen Hough's work on romantic concertos -- Saur, Liebermann etc. I've heard serious piano students sing his praises to the skies here. There's also Stephen Coobes's recording of the 1st Bortkiewicz concerto, which I've also seen praised to the skies by someone who seems to know what he's talking about. There are other things too --David Bar-Ilan's  Moszkowski for example.

Do report back on what you find. One day I may start exploring this stuff a bit more seriously myself

[George]

Dvorak (Richter), Chopin (Zimerman/Polish Orchestra), Schumann (Moravec, Kovacevich), Mendelssohn (Serkin), Saint-Saens (Roge)

[jwinter]

Dvorak, Chopin, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Saint-Saens

+1

[mszczuj]

For Saint-Saens, I dislike the recorded sound on the Hyperion set (the only one in fact, as the sound is usually excellent or better), and would suggest Roge/Dutoit instead.

I find Hyperion much better than Roge/Dutoit. I think Dutoit is the worst Saint-Saens conductor you can imagine.

[mc ukrneal]

I find Hyperion much better than Roger/Dutoit. I think Dutoit is the worst Saint-Saens conductor you can imagine.

Just to be clear, the playing on the Hyperion is excellent. I don't like the recorded sound. I generally like Dutoit in anything Russian or French. I have him in Bizet suites (Carmen and L'arlesienne), Swan Lake, and Danse Macabre, all of which are quite good. But I know not everyone seems to like Dutoit.

[eyeresist]

Busoni's concerto is certainly great.
Edit: I somehow read 'late' instead of great - Chopin and Schumann are among the best.

Yup. Also qualifying (I would argue) are Prokofiev, Ravel and Khachaturian. I also have a fondness for the obscure Lalo concerto.

[George]

I find Hyperion much better than Roger/Dutoit. I think Dutoit is the worst Saint-Saens conductor you can imagine.

If by Roger you mean, Roge, I can't find a thing wrong with that set. Haven't heard the Hyperion because I haven't needed to. The Roge scratches me right where I itch.

[Ten thumbs]

thanks guys

also, i forgot to metion in the op:  are there any written in minor keys that actually END in it?  it just feels so silly after the tenth time...last 45 seconds of the last movement and viola! big happy key change.  everything's fine!  everyone start clapping 

I don't think you'll find yourself cracking champagne at the end of Medtner's 1st. Mind you, this is actually one huge single movement (circa 31 min).