10 favourite 'Lesser-known' piano concertos

Started by vandermolen, December 21, 2020, 02:31:00 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 2 Guests are viewing this topic.

Symphonic Addict

Quote from: André on December 22, 2020, 05:01:55 AM
The Mathieu 4 is on its way, should be here any day. All the others on your list are totally unknown for me !

Since our tastes overlap in a big margin, I think you could like them, André.
Part of the tragedy of the Palestinians is that they have essentially no international support for a good reason: they've no wealth, they've no power, so they've no rights.

Noam Chomsky

vandermolen

Quote from: Sergeant Rock on December 22, 2020, 12:02:50 PM
George Lloyd Piano Concertos Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4
Fartein Valen Piano Concerto op. 44

Sarge
Ah, great choices Sarge! I forgot about Lloyd and would include No.1 'Scapegoat' and the epic No.3. Although I like them all. Don't know the Valen so must look out for that one.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Brass Hole

10 favorite piano concertos from the classical era which, I assume, are lesser-known to the original poster.

Wolfl Piano Concerto No 6 "The Cuckoo"
Rosetti Piano Concerto C 2
Benda G Piano Concerto in F Major
Hiller Piano Concerto Op 69
Arne Piano Concerto No 5
Paisiello Piano Concerto No 6
Kozeluch Piano Concerto No 7
Clementi Piano Concerto in C Major
Tomasek Piano Concerto No 1
Field Piano Concerto No 2

Sergeant Rock

Quote from: vandermolen on December 22, 2020, 11:52:21 PM
Ah, great choices Sarge! I forgot about Lloyd and would include No.1 'Scapegoat' and the epic No.3. Although I like them all. Don't know the Valen so must look out for that one.

Even if you don't like it, it won't waste much of your time: its three movements weigh in at only eight and a half minutes (in the recording I own), making it the shortest piano concerto I know.

Sarge
the phone rings and somebody says,
"hey, they made a movie about
Mahler, you ought to go see it.
he was as f*cked-up as you are."
                               --Charles Bukowski, "Mahler"

André

Quote from: Symphonic Addict on December 22, 2020, 07:08:06 PM
Since our tastes overlap in a big margin, I think you could like them, André.

I duly noted them, Cesar  ;)

And since our tastes overlap  :P, do give a chance to this recording of the Panufnik, Szymanski and Lutoslawski concertos:



I didn't mention the Lutoslawski because he hardly needs advocacy, but his concerto is as fine - and yet wholly different - as the other two on this disc.

Jo498

Quote from: Sergeant Rock on December 23, 2020, 04:47:51 AM
Even if you don't like it, it won't waste much of your time: its three movements weigh in at only eight and a half minutes (in the recording I own), making it the shortest piano concerto I know.
The Francaix Concertino comes in at ca. 7:30 min.
Tout le malheur des hommes vient d'une seule chose, qui est de ne savoir pas demeurer en repos, dans une chambre.
- Blaise Pascal

Symphonic Addict

Quote from: André on December 23, 2020, 05:27:00 AM
I duly noted them, Cesar  ;)

And since our tastes overlap  :P, do give a chance to this recording of the Panufnik, Szymanski and Lutoslawski concertos:



I didn't mention the Lutoslawski because he hardly needs advocacy, but his concerto is as fine - and yet wholly different - as the other two on this disc.

Sure, André. I'll be investigating the Szymanski.
Part of the tragedy of the Palestinians is that they have essentially no international support for a good reason: they've no wealth, they've no power, so they've no rights.

Noam Chomsky

Sergeant Rock

Quote from: Jo498 on December 23, 2020, 06:42:46 AM
The Francaix Concertino comes in at ca. 7:30 min.

Interesting. I don't know the piece. I'll have to YouTube it.

Sarge
the phone rings and somebody says,
"hey, they made a movie about
Mahler, you ought to go see it.
he was as f*cked-up as you are."
                               --Charles Bukowski, "Mahler"

Brahmsian

Quote from: Sergeant Rock on December 23, 2020, 04:47:51 AM
Even if you don't like it, it won't waste much of your time: its three movements weigh in at only eight and a half minutes (in the recording I own), making it the shortest piano concerto I know.

Sarge

Saint-Saens' "Wedding Cake" is about six minutes.  :D

MusicTurner

Rakov's 1st Piano Concerto is just 5 1/2 minutes of music, and the 2nd is 7 1/2 minutes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFxkODkr3D4

They aren't of mind-boggling quality, though.

mc ukrneal

I love piano concertos. I suppose my 10 'off the beaten track' would be something like:
Alnaes
Lyapunov 1
Scharwenka 4
Kalkbrenner 1 (but maybe 4, which I also love)
Brull 1
Atterberg
Busoni
Stenhammar 1
Lessel (Op. 14)

I'd love to work in a concerto from Czerny or Ries. But I think my final spot will be Bendix.
Be kind to your fellow posters!!

Symphonic Addict

Part of the tragedy of the Palestinians is that they have essentially no international support for a good reason: they've no wealth, they've no power, so they've no rights.

Noam Chomsky

kyjo

#32
I heartily second most mentioned already (esp. Alnæs, Lloyd, Sauer, Scharwenka 4, etc.) Some not mentioned yet:

L. Anderson
Damase 2
Foulds "Dynamic Triptych"
Garūta
Gipps
Kabalevsky 2
Paderewski
Röntgen 2
Tcherepnin 4 "Fantaisie"
Tveitt 4 "Aurora borealis"
"Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music" - Sergei Rachmaninoff

Brian

Mental note to revisit Viktor Ullmann's concerto, which I haven't heard in 5-6 years.

Karl Henning

Antheil 1 & 2
Carter
Malipiero 1 & 2
Mennin
Schnittke, Cto for pf & strings
Tippett
Wuorinen 3 & 4
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

amw

Dussek - Op. 49 (in G minor) - the equal, in quality and style, of Beethoven's first three
Hummel - Op. 89 (in B minor) - not quite up there with Dussek or Beethoven, but more proto-Romantic, anticipating Chopin and Mendelssohn
Skalkottas -No. 3 - I will grant that not everyone will like this
Busoni - Op. 39 (in C major) - or this
Alkan - Op. 39 nos. 8-10 - the greatest achievement of this piece is achieving all the feats of the traditional concerto without an orchestra, but even if it were arranged for orchestra the musical material is worthwhile enough to make it one of the best romantic era concertos
Ginastera - Op. 28 - a big romantic concerto in a strict twelve-tone idiom. Everyone loves it
Ginastera - Op. 39 - a bit more dependent on the classical canon, a lot harder to play, still usually fun (performance here is not ideal but you get the score)
Gerhard - for piano and strings - couldn't find a score for this one, & it's a bit hard to describe, but you'll know within a minute whether you like it or not
Berio - for two pianos - Berio didn't really write traditional concertante works, he instead used the orchestra as an extension of the solo instrument(s), and this piece is one of the most successful examples
Clementi - for piano and 14 instruments - maybe the only kind of piano concerto it's possible to write post-1945 while retaining any sense of intellectual honesty and integrity
Cage - for prepared piano and chamber orchestra - idem
Liebermann - Op. 36 (in B-flat major) - of course, there's probably an equal amount of integrity required to overtly just discard the twentieth century, rather than trying to put a layer of ironic distance between you and your models

André

#36
Quote from: amw on December 23, 2020, 06:31:00 PM
Dussek - Op. 49 (in G minor) - the equal, in quality and style, of Beethoven's first three
Hummel - Op. 89 (in B minor) - not quite up there with Dussek or Beethoven, but more proto-Romantic, anticipating Chopin and Mendelssohn
Skalkottas -No. 3 - I will grant that not everyone will like this
Busoni - Op. 39 (in C major) - or this
Alkan - Op. 39 nos. 8-10 - the greatest achievement of this piece is achieving all the feats of the traditional concerto without an orchestra, but even if it were arranged for orchestra the musical material is worthwhile enough to make it one of the best romantic era concertos
Ginastera - Op. 28 - a big romantic concerto in a strict twelve-tone idiom. Everyone loves it
Ginastera - Op. 39 - a bit more dependent on the classical canon, a lot harder to play, still usually fun (performance here is not ideal but you get the score)

Gerhard - for piano and strings - couldn't find a score for this one, & it's a bit hard to describe, but you'll know within a minute whether you like it or not
Berio - for two pianos - Berio didn't really write traditional concertante works, he instead used the orchestra as an extension of the solo instrument(s), and this piece is one of the most successful examples
Clementi - for piano and 14 instruments - maybe the only kind of piano concerto it's possible to write post-1945 while retaining any sense of intellectual honesty and integrity
Cage - for prepared piano and chamber orchestra - idem
Liebermann - Op. 36 (in B-flat major) - of course, there's probably an equal amount of integrity required to overtly just discard the twentieth century, rather than trying to put a layer of ironic distance between you and your models

The only ones I know from your list. No 1 is also on mine. A big thumbs up  :)

Christo

My favourite 'little-known' piano concerto remains the Concerto for two pianos and orchestra (1948) by Lennox Berkeley. Can add another ten, but this one will remain my main recommendation.  :)
... music is not only an 'entertainment', nor a mere luxury, but a necessity of the spiritual if not of the physical life, an opening of those magic casements through which we can catch a glimpse of that country where ultimate reality will be found.    RVW, 1948

vandermolen

Quote from: Christo on December 24, 2020, 07:13:18 AM
My favourite 'little-known' piano concerto remains the Concerto for two pianos and orchestra (1948) by Lennox Berkeley. Can add another ten, but this one will remain my main recommendation.  :)
Great work.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

vandermolen

Can't see a previous thread but I may be wrong.
Kabalevsky PC No.1 (especially the Jarvi/Stott recording). It's like a cross between Prokofiev and Khachaturian but also recognizably by Kabalevsky with an individuality and depth of its own. It has a deeply-felt and moving slow movement and a very exciting ending.
Cyril Scott PC No.1 has a hypnotic 'Chinese' quality to it (Herrmann/Ogdon is the one to have)
Lennox Berkeley Double Piano Concerto
Gordon Jacob for Two Pianos
Stanley Bate PC. No.2
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).