Best contemporary piano concertos

[starrynight]

Have people considered Keith Emerson's concerto?  I've found it damn enjoyable for quite a few years and find it sad that not one person mentioned it.

[raduneo]

I'm looking forward to Lindberg's Piano Concerto No. 2, with which the NYP and Bronfman are touring/premiering this spring. I hear them in SF on 5/13.

Great! I was really hoping he would write another one! The piano was his first instrument, and you can tell he knows what he's doing with it!

[Karl Henning]

Peter Mennin's piano concerto. You honestly won't find a more exhilarating piano concerto than this:

http://www.youtube.com/v/N_pOrbkJu-E

I am so pleased to find someone else who knows this piece, that I forgive the borderline hyperbole! : )

[Elnimio]

Any concertos that are more exhilarating than the Mennin that I should be aware of? 

[snyprrr]

I've got York Holler's 2nd, 'Pensees', an IRCAM work, which frankly sounds like a German Boulez. It's quite dark and grimy, though the electronics are much varied and quite zippy at times. It's the best E/A Piano Concerto I've heard, which isn't saying much. Pi-Hsien Chen plays on an OOP Largo cd.

[snyprrr]

The Wuorinen Third and Fourth Concerti

... making me troll through the CRI/New World catalogue. Oy, what a monster! Still, the Wuorinen, Babbitt, and Sessions PCs seem to be the biggies.


Oh, and what of the Cowell disc of PCs? That I enjoyed, though I had been to prejudiced to hear it initially.

[snyprrr]

... making me troll through the CRI/New World catalogue. Oy, what a monster! Still, the Wuorinen, Babbitt, and Sessions PCs seem to be the biggies.


Oh, and what of the Cowell disc of PCs? That I enjoyed, though I had been to prejudiced to hear it initially.

whoops on the Cowell,...too early

[pjme]

Luc Van Hove's first pianoconcerto is an unsual, yet strong work. His second concerto hasn't been recorded yet. It is longer and bolder than nr 1 .

A Pianoconcerto from the first half of the 20th century I would like to hear more often: Albert Roussel ! ( and the Jolivet!)

Ton de leeuw "Danses sacrées" (1990)
P;

[CRCulver]

I'd like to add to the list Anders Brødsgaard's Piano Concerto (1994–95, you can hear it on a Dacapo disc). This should appeal to fans of Per Nørgård and Elliott Carter, among other composers.

[snyprrr]

I'd like to add to the list Anders Brødsgaard's Piano Concerto (1994–95, you can hear it on a Dacapo disc). This should appeal to fans of Per Nørgård and Elliott Carter, among other composers.

Arrgh, you did it again!!!

You and hutch and scarcrow,... always compelling my interest!! Keep up the good work.

[UB]

Another composer who's music I would like to check out more closely is Kevin Volans ..
he's got a Concerto for Piano & Wind Instuments
& Piano Concerto No. 2 "Atlantic Crossing"

http://kevinvolans.com/index.php?id=9

You can listen to "Atlantic Crossing" on YouTube.

[Kontrapunctus]

http://www.youtube.com/v/6qyGPbX8xoo

Does anyone have this recording of it? I can't find it except from the label in Italy, and shipping costs are too high to the US. If you have a source or want to sell yours, please PM me!

[Brian]

Glad to see a couple of votes for Peter Dickinson - though that piano concerto sticks with me mostly for the intrusion of the second, orchestral piano, appearing as it does in a most unusual fashion.

I'll second votes for Ustvolskaya, Lutoslawski, and Shostakovich No 2; and I'll add a very short (15m) concerto by Avner Dorman which seems to be the spiritual descendant of Shosty 2 and Ravel in G: light, crisp, and classical in build, with a slow movement of unabashed old-fashioned beauty.

I seem to recall good things about Balada's Third Concerto, though no specifics. Gavin Bryars' was a sort of foggy mystical business, for those who enjoy that sort of thing. Fikret Amirov and Elvira Nazirova (the Elvira who inspired DSCH) collaborated on a piano concerto on Azerbaijani themes which harkens back to the Mighty Handful tradition of rich, splashy orchestration married to Russian folk music. It's a real treat, and not lacking in sophistication.

Oh! Last year I attended the premiere of Brahms' "Piano Concerto No 3," arranged by Dejan Lazic. If that counts I can talk about it...

[snyprrr]

Segerstam

[pjme]

Canadian Harry Somers wrote 3 concertos. I've never heard nr.1. But 2(1957) and 3 ( both recorded bij CBC) are big, serious works that deeply impress.
Nr 3 ( a late, 1996, work) is definitely my favorite.

[raduneo]

What do people think of Liebermann's Piano Concertos? I hear they have influences of Prokofiev, and perhaps Vaughn Williams also in the orchestration?

I quite liked his Flute Concerto when I heard it!