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SaleSgambati: Sinfonia festiva; Piano Concerto / Damerini, La Vecchia, Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma
Naxos · Dec 2023CD$19.99$13.99 -
Strauss: Oboe Concerto, Sonata & Sonatina No. 2 / Nelsons, Royal Concertgebouw
BIS · Jul 2017SACD$21.99 -
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Piano Concertos Nos. 20 & 12; Rondo for Piano in D Major, K.
Challenge Classics · Nov 2025CD$16.99 -
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Saint-Saens: Piano Concertos, Vol. 2 / Descharmes, Soustrot, Malmo Symphony Orchestra
Naxos · May 2017CD$19.99 -
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Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 5 / Bezuidenhout, Heras-Casado, Freiburg Baroque
HARMONIA MUNDI · Jan 2020CD$18.33 -
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Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 5 - Ravel: Piano Concerto in
Idil Biret Archive · Sep 2009CD$14.99
Sgambati: Sinfonia festiva; Piano Concerto / Damerini, La Vecchia, Orchestra Sinfonica di Roma
Between 1879 and 1880, as he approached his 40th birthday, Giovanni Sgambati completed his Piano Concerto in G minor, a work on which he had been working for about two years. It was a significant moment for Italian instrumental music: it was, in fact, the first Romantic piano concerto by a composer from the country that had given the world both the instrument, invented by Cristofori almost two centuries earlier, and the genre itself.
The Piano Concerto displays an assured compositional hand. It constitutes not only a new beginning for Italian piano music but also a synthesis of the possibilities offered by the genre. An extremely difficult work to play, it is not immediately accessible on a first hearing, given the density of its material, but reveals more about Sgambati’s inventiveness and technical mastery every time you listen to it.
The Sinfonia festiva (Ouverture de fête) was composed in 1878 or 1879, making it contemporaneous with the Piano Concerto and proof of Sgambati’s growing dedication to orchestral music. It is a short but mature work, confidently written, clearly inspired by the dance-like character of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony. Three main themes, the first lean and lively, the second more lyrical, the third impudent and leaping, are organized according to the principle of sonata form, with a development section in which the initial motif pops up time and again, wandering between tonalities, sometimes giving the impression of formal freedom, sometimes of obeying rondo form.
REVIEW:
A pupil of Liszt, Giovanni Sgambati (1841-1914) stood out among 19th-century Italian pianists for his advocacy of the German school and classical models. His massive three-movement Piano Concerto in G minor (1880) might be described as a hybrid that fuses the similarly scaled Brahms D minor concerto with piano writing marked by Lisztian bravura.
Imagine Liszt reworking the echt-Hungarian finale of Brahms’ Violin Concerto for piano on his own stylistic terms, and you’ll get an idea of what Sgambati’s third movement sounds like. Similarly, the grandiose first movement owes much of its existence to the arpeggiated flourishes in Beethoven’s Emperor concerto first movement and motives from Liszt’s Hungarian Fantasy.
Recorded live in 2013, the (late) pianist Massimiliano Damerini handled the daunting piano part with brilliance and confidence. He positively opens up and thrives in front of an audience.
Both conductor and orchestra make a splendid case for the delightful Sinfonia festiva (‘Ouverture de fête’), presented in its world premiere recording here.
-- ClassicsToday.com (Jed Distler)
Strauss: Oboe Concerto, Sonata & Sonatina No. 2 / Nelsons, Royal Concertgebouw
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REVIEW:
Late Strauss has a sound very different from the sumptuous, huge-orchestra one of earlier Strauss, and the 1945 Concerto for Oboe and Small Orchestra, one of the composer’s final works, shows this quite clearly. The live recording of the concerto for BIS by Alexei Ogrintchouk is a very fine, well-played one, and the conducting by Andris Nelsons is sensitive and nicely paced.
Ogrintchouk is both oboist and conductor in the other works on the SACD, which are studio recordings. The short, charming, lively and quite self-assured Serenade for 13 Wind Instruments is from the opposite, earliest part of Strauss’ career, dating to 1881.
The final work on this disc is much more substantial — longer than the other two put together. The label Sonatina therefore seems something of a misnomer. It features very skillful wind writing — a Strauss characteristic that does not always get adequate attention — and an overall warm and mellow sound somewhat reminiscent of that of Brahms. Strauss was something of a natural in wind writing, as the excellent playing on this recording makes abundantly clear.
– Infodad.com
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concertos nos. 1 & 2
Mozart & Shostakovich: Concertos for Piano and Strings & Pia
Piano Concertos Nos. 20 & 12; Rondo for Piano in D Major, K.
Mozart: Early Symphonies Vol 2 / Harnoncourt, Et Al
Harnoncourt conducts all of this music with evident affection and a welcome absence of affectation. It's fun to hear how he treats minuets: you never know how the trio will relate to its surroundings, but somehow whatever Harnoncourt does always sounds right. It almost goes without saying that the playing of the Concentus Musicus Wien is excellent; the rich, fruity quality of the woodwinds sounds particularly fine in this music, and the sonics are terrific. In short, this is a very appealing release, and it's nice to see these early symphonies coming in a two-disc-per-set format rather than a single big box. This gives you the opportunity to savor each work without feeling obligated to wade through a ton of similar-sounding stuff in one shot.
--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com
Saint-Saens: Piano Concertos, Vol. 2 / Descharmes, Soustrot, Malmo Symphony Orchestra
The Third Piano Concerto has been considered the "Cinderella" among Camille Saint-Saëns' five works in this genre, but it owes its comparative neglect to an adventurous approach to harmony which caused unrest in the audience at its premiere. Daring enough in the first movement, the search for tonality in the second was such an extreme experience that is caused unrest in the audience at its premiere. Saint-Saëns also composed for piano and orchestra in more rhapsodic forms, exploring folk tunes and rhythms from Africa, and revealing his playful side in the charming Wedding Cake Waltz. Volume 1 can be heard on 8573476.
RAVEL: PIANO CONCERTO IN G MAJOR
Higgins: Horn Concerto Study Score
Tchaikovsky: The Three Piano Concertos / Gary Graffman
At last. Gary Graffman's recordings of Tchaikovsky's Second and Third Concertos were the ones which introduced me to these works. They have remained my benchmarks ever since, the admirable couplings by Haas, Douglas, Gilels, Pletnev and others notwithstanding and despite the second movement of the Second being in the truncated Siloti edition. As Graffman makes clear in his entertaining memoir I Really Should Be Practicing (Doubleday: 1981) — among the best of pianists' autobiographies — Ormandy was a prince of accompanists. The two artists had known each other for 20 years and it shows. There are many memorable passages, among them the conclusion of the Second Concerto's volcanic central first-movement cadenza when the orchestra re-enters with the opening subject (15'58"), initially failing to subdue Graffman's ecstatic quasi-trill at the top of the keyboard; and a similar moment in the Third Concerto when Ormandy introduces (11'05") some crunching off-beat cymbal crashes.
Szell also proves a convivial, alert partner in the First Concerto, providing deft touches that lift this account above the ordinary. Listen, for instance, to the syncopated brass figure beneath the apotheosis of the last movement's second subject. If Graffman eschews the demonic brilliance of Horowitz, his reading is all about Tchaikovsky. Horowitz's is more about Horowitz.
To complete this all-Russian programme, there is Graffman's compelling Mussorgsky where once again he creates, well, pictures that live in the memory: 'Bydlo' appears in the misty distance, lumbers by and vanishes again (superb), while the unhatched chicks are played with a rare sense of fun. Finally, there is Islamey. Many aspiring pianists may think of changing professions after hearing Graffman soar through this iconic barnstormer with such dazzling élan.
-- Jeremy Nicholas, Gramophone [1/2006]
Liszt: Complete Piano Music Vol 24 / Giuseppe Andaloro
PIANO CONCERTOS NOS. 19 & 27
RAVEL PIANO CONCERTOS & FAURE BALLADE OP 19
Beethoven: Piano Concerto Op 61a; Mozart / Peter Serkin
Beethoven expended little effort over arranging his Violin Concerto for piano. He left the orchestration intact, reproduced the solo part more or less verbatim, and added just enough left-hand accompaniment to keep the soloist interested. Although he didn't provide cadenzas for the violinist, Beethoven left the pianist four from which to choose, including a wild fantasia that culminates in petulant exchanges between piano and timpani. Perhaps this concoction always will remain a curio, yet a few recent recordings elevate Op. 61a to a genuine work of stature--most notably the stylish, virile, and committed Suk/Baley (TNC) and Berezovsky/Dausgaard (Simax). So does this remarkable 1969 Peter Serkin/Seiji Ozawa collaboration, but in a completely different manner.
They consistently emphasize breadth and lyricism, and justify their uncommonly slow first-movement tempo by virtue of focused, impeccably accented phrasing that is rhythmically precise yet so vibrant and full-bodied that nothing ever sounds static or rigid. Certainly the robust sonics help, along with the New Philharmonia Orchestra's warm, responsive, and songful execution. It's all too easy for a pianist to reduce the sparse piano writing to surface tinkling, yet even Serkin's most delicate nuances and rounded cadences convey firmness and a sure sense of direction--all the more reason to welcome ArkivMusic.com's on-demand reissue of this long overlooked and underrated recording in a rare Japanese RCA reprint. You can obtain it coupled with the Serkin/Ozawa Schoenberg Piano Concerto, or as here: alongside the pianist's sparkling, cultured, and wittily nuanced Mozart F major K. 459 concerto, featuring like-minded support from the English Chamber Orchestra under Alexander Schneider's shapely and sensitive direction. Booklet notes are in Japanese only, but given such revelatory music making, who cares?
--Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com
Camille Saint-Saens: Complete Concertos (New Talents Edition
Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 & 5 / Bezuidenhout, Heras-Casado, Freiburg Baroque
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REVIEW:
Bezuidenhout’s performance of the Emperor concerto is scintillatingly dramatic, heroic, deftly articulated and, above all, fresh; and the instrument he plays seems to possess plenty of power. The Second Concerto is given equally enticingly. Both readings are enhanced by the brilliantly coloured playing of the Freiburgers under Pablo Heras-Casado.
– Sunday Times (UK)
Guarnieri: Choros, Vol. 2 / Tibiriçá, São Paulo Symphony
In his Choros, Guarnieri wrote music that conjures up the landscape and essence of Brazil. These very personal concertos reveal the composer’s refined instrumental combinations and elegant contrapuntal writing, while their dance rhythms are vivacious, drawing on the baião, maracatu and embolada. The Chorosin this second volume represent all stages of Guarnieri’s compositional development. Also included is the delightful and inventive Florde Tremembé, an early work with choro-like features. The first volume is also available on Naxos.
REVIEW:
This release, the second of two, contains Guarnieri’s Choros for clarinet (1956), piano (1956), cello (1961) and viola (1975). All four abound in high-spirited dancelike passages with syncopated Latin rhythms, alternating with music of pastoral lyricism, and usually end in a celebratory, carnival atmosphere.
The later pair, for strings, are slightly more modernist: the composer even employs a 12-tone row in the viola concerto, but his lightness of touch and Brazilian exuberance are not affected (Guarnieri hated 12-tone music and penned articles about how unnatural he found it – then wrote some to prove he could!) The program also contains an early work for chamber orchestra, Flor de Tremembé (1937), which is jazzy with echoes of Gershwin.
This disc is even more fun than Volume 1. The musicians are absolutely at home with Guarnieri’s idiom: Roberto Tibiriçá’s tempos are spot on, the soloists are terrific, the sound first rate. This Choros for Clarinet should be as popular as the Clarinet Concerto by Copland (who, incidentally, was the composer’s friend and benefactor in the US).
--Limelight (Phillip Scott)
Mendelssohn Project 2 / Hagner, Dogma Chamber Orchestra
The second installment of the dogma chamber orchestra's ambitious Mendelssohn project: this time the program includes a special triad with Symphonies Nos. 4 to 6, plus the Violin Concerto in D minor with the wonderfully versatile Viviane Hagner as soloist. With this entertaining program, one can listen to a great genius growing, for the 6th symphony at the latest fires the young Felix from the baroque models right up to the height of his time. But even the beginning is ambitious: the 12-year-old prodigy opens his C minor symphony with a Grave introduction based on the old French model; deep contrapuntal seriousness pervades the first movement, which is followed by an almost ethereal Andante that evaporates at the end. The unclouded finale, which - as in all three symphonies - follows attacca, is all the more powerful. In the E-flat Major Symphony, the young Mendelssohn takes an enormous step forward. The baroque gesture recedes in favor of a genuinely classical tonal language; the two trios in the minuet middle movement provide solo tasks for basses and violas, and the rapid guttural finale in prestissimo leaves audience and players breathless. Mendelssohn learned to play the violin from the only slightly older Eduard Rietz. Rietz's influence is clearly audible in the D minor Violin Concerto, especially in the echoes of contemporary French virtuoso literature. Viviane Hagner celebrates the typical variety of strokes with relish and audible pleasure, which reaches its exuberant climax in the lively Rondo.
Saint-Saëns: Piano Concerto No. 5 - Ravel: Piano Concerto in
Beethoven: Piano Concertos No 2 & 4 / Kovacevich, Davis, BBC SO
If I were pressed, I would have to say that this series is the most consistent in an advanced-resolution format at providing excellent sound. Listen to the Beethoven piano concertos, for instance. The listener is placed in row ten, center, and the BBC Symphony Orchestra sounds rich, full, and focused. You sense immediately that you truly do have the best seat in the house. The solo piano enters and what a sound. It is like a magnificent, properly tuned piano! The overall sound is just right. And so it goes, with every release in this series. -- Rad Bennett, Radical Sounds
A welcome pairing of the two “second-string” Beethoven piano concertos in superb performances….Brent Town Hall in London was the recording site in 1974, and the phantom center image of the soloist couldn’t be better. -- John Sunier, Audiophile Audition
Mr Kovacevich was a killer interpreter of Beethoven back then, and Davis an ideal accomplice….Played with dispatch and recorded with a full-bodied sound that doesn’t lose its characters in the quietest moments, these are performances that will never grow stale. -- Dr. Phil Muse, Classik Reviews
If you don’t already have this recording in another format, it’s worth acquiring even if you don’t have an SACD player. It’s proof audibly that the best analog (and Philips were very good at it) was better than any digital until the present, and it is ironic that the SACD format shows off how good these masters were in the 70s. -- Andrew Marshall, Audio Ideas Guide