Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner Virtuosic Romantic piano concertos - good or indifferent?

Not the original version, though the Kurz reworking might. It's certainly long enough. I think it compares favorably to the Tchaikovsky G major.

Hardly virtuosic, the Dvořák concerto is still a mighty fine piece in the right 'hands'.

But I have always been conflicted about it. These days, the Kurz rewrite is horribly out of fashion, but IMO it is not a piece of hack work. Purists complain (not without merit) that Kurz overrides the folkish character of Dvořák's writing in favour of a more generalized Rubinstein/Scharwenka cosmopolitan virtuoso concerto.

Perhaps, but IMO there are passages in Dvořák's original which lack proper projection, they seem frustratingly provincial and sometimes just inept.

duuuuude, they're, like, totaly overated these days. Hummel's are way more epik and exxpressives and stuff, and Feilds's' are two, yah.


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But no joke: they're seriously among the best works of all time. Period.

These are worth hearing - there used to be a decent recording of all five on the Finlandia label. I particularly like the fifth.

There are quite a few I have recordings of that I'd love to hear in a good live performance - 2nd Stenhammar, 1st Sauer, Renaldo Hahn, Berwald - off the top of my head. There are even more modern ones that I'd love to hear - but I'll stick to the topic.

Question:

As for everyone above, isn't there yet at least one other unmentioned masterpiece?

Continue below... if you do not have the answer.

@bennevis,

As for both of your questions, let's not forget to include the monumental Busoni Piano Concerto:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rFV_g6T5lM

I have posted only the first of nine parts which comprise the entire concerto as performed by Marc-Andre Hamelin.

It takes a few hearings to get this one under your belt, however, after doing so there's no going back!

Technically, it has to be among the most difficult in the repertoire for the pianist.

And, there is great beauty to be found in the slow movement.

Only a true virtuoso can completely master it.

lolz dude u speak da truth

The Busoni concerto is almost mainstream these days - I've got Ogdon, Hamelin and Ohlsson on CD, and heard a few other pianists play it in concert too. But what about Reger's? It's almost an anti-concerto (a bit hard-going not just to play but to listen to......).

It's great to see so many people sharing my enjoyment of tuneful music which isn't necessarily profound but more than makes up for it in the fun factor and pyrotechnics. I've often wished that pianists would be more adventurous and play something other than Chopin/Liszt/Grieg/Schumann/Tchaik/Rach as their concerto offering. Though I suppose that many pianists are reluctant to learn a work only to find that after having recorded it for Hyperion, they find that concert promoters want to play safe and they never have the chance to play it in concert.

I can't wait to hear Moszkowski's other concerto.....

And one top of that, many of them are outrageously difficult, too. For example, I think that Hough said one of the Hummels was the single most difficult concerto he has ever learned.

Hyperian has a lengthy and wonderful series of cds ongoing with Romantic concertos by less-well-known composers. They are fun to explore and could offer interesting and surprising choices for pieces to learn. Not all of them are wonderful, but I have many of these recordings and have felt they were very worthwhile.