This new, outstanding live release featuring esteemed pianist Martha Argerich was recorded in Warsaw in 2006 at the Chopin and His Europe International Music Festival. For this programme, she performs one of her favorite Concertos: Shostakovich’s First. She is joined from the podium by her long-time musical partner Alexander Rabinovich. Also featured on this recording is the light-spirited Symphony No. 9, also by Shostakovich. The International Music Festival ‘Chopin and his Europe’ – an international music festival organized in Warsaw since 2005 by the Fryderyk Chopin Institute, presenting European music within the context of its links with the life and work of the Polish pianist, composer and teacher Fryderyk Chopin (1810–1849). The project is realized as part of the government programme ‘Fryderyk Chopin Heritage 2010’. One important strand to the festival programme is historical performance – presenting works as they were originally heard, on period pianos in the possession of the Fryderyk Chopin Institute: an Erard from 1849, a Pleyel from 1846 and a Graf (a copy of an instrument from c. 1819). The festival is organized in collaboration with the Warsaw Philharmonic, Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera and Polish Radio II.
The first three volumes of Anne-Marie McDermott's Mozart piano concerto cycle with Denmark's Odense Symfoniorkester have received ecstatic notices from the international musical press. Volume 4, again conducted by German maestro Sebastian Lang-Lessing, presents two of Mozart's very greatest concertos - the grand C major, K. 503, and the brooding D minor, K. 466.
Ichmouratov: Piano Concerto; Viola Concerto No. 1 / Sylvestre, Misbakhova, London Symphony
Chandos
SACD
$21.99Jun 16, 2023
Volga-Tatar-born Canadian composer and conductor Airat Ichmouratov conducts the London Symphony Orchestra for this recording of two of his major works, Chandos’ third album dedicated to the works of this outstanding composer. Both concertos are recorded here by the soloists who premiered each work. Ichmouratov’s first viola concerto was conceived in 2004, whilst he was a conducting student at the Université de Montréal. His fellow Ph.D. candidate, the violist Elvira Misbakhova, wanted something new for her doctoral performance, preferably a concerto that combined lyrical impulses and virtuoso challenges. The resulting work is a large-scale piece in three movements that exploits and celebrated the naturally sombre character of the instrument. The Piano Concerto was written in six months in 2012 – 13 and then lingered in a drawer for almost a decade awaiting a soloist who could both do it justice and add finishing touches to the solo part. Jean-Philippe Sylvestre, a Montrealer with a fondness for the virtuoso tradition, was himself looking for a new concerto to champion. Ichmouratov gratefully acknowledges the contributions made to the solo part by Sylvestre, the concerto’s dedicatee.
Brahms: Concerto No 1, Handel Variations / Van Cliburn
RCA
CD
$8.99$17.99Save 50%Jul 09, 2008
Van Cliburn's youthful impetuosity is most convincing. This is very much a performance that takes one along with it, just as a fine performance live in the concert hall would.
It is some eighteen months since Van Cliburn's surprisingly successful account of the Brahms Second Concerto appeared, and on the face of it this vast youthful inspiration of the First Concerto should suit Van Cliburn's special qualities even more closely. And so it proves, and though Leinsdorf and the Boston Symphony do not prove such perceptive collaborators as the lamented Reiner with his Chicago Orchestra, this is in terms of pianistic display and dynamic driving force as exciting a performance as we have ever had on record. The way for example that Van Cliburn in the finale sweeps the music on from the first subject into the second is irresistible. Those pianists who insist on relaxing may seem a little lacking in excitement in direct comparison—even to Clifford Curzon. Where they score—and Curzon of course is the prime example of a thinking virtuoso in this work—is in the subtlety of shading. You could not claim for Van Cliburn much sense of 'inner' thoughtfulness. But that does not mean he is hard, and throughout the warmth of the playing is as striking as the dynamic drive. It is a pity perhaps that in the American manner the soloist is put so close to the microphone, for it is hard for him to achieve a real pianissimo, however gently he plays. But RCA's technique of spotlighting individual instruments (not merely the piano) pays off very well at the climax of the slow movement—a moment that for me at least is perhaps the most important single passage in the whole work. If in the great call of the rising fourths slowly enunciated over piano arpeggios you have a sense of culmination and achievement such as opera composers provide at moments of dramatic catharsis, then I am disposed to think favourably of the whole performance. It is so with the Gimpel performance on HMV Concert Classics where Kempe is marvellous, and here Leinsdorf (with the help of the spotlighting engineers) directs with more warmth than I remember from him for a long time.
In the first movement of course, Curzon's subtlety coupled with his wiry strength is a hard combination to compete with, but Van Cliburn's youthful impetuosity is most convincing. The speed is not fast (much less fast than in the Fleisher/Szell performance for example) and Leinsdorf, though not specially good on detail, gives the music a tremendous sweep which exactly matches the soloist's sense of command.
I hope I have made it clear that this is very much, a performance that 'adds up'. In other words it takes one along with it, just as a fine performance live in the concert hall, and on that account I have been wary of drawing too sharp a contrast with Curzon on the basis of a side-by-side comparison of extracts. Curzon, I think, would be most people's choice, but if I wanted bravura above all, then Van Cliburn even more than his fellow young American, Leon Fleisher, provides it. Apart from the balance, the recording—I have so far heard mono only—is good, though it never achieves the atmospheric clarity that the Decca engineers provided for Curzon.
-- Gramophone [3/1965] reviewing the original LP release of the concerto
Mozart: Piano Concertos, Vol. 1 / McDermott, Yoo, Odense Symphony
Bridge Records
CD
$18.99Sep 06, 2019
BrIdge Records launches Anne-Marie McDermott's Mozart Piano Concerto cycle with Vol. 1 of the series offering Concerto No. 6, K. 238, and Concerto No. 13, K. 415. The Odensesymfoniorkester (Denmark) is conducted by Scott Yoo. Of Ms. McDermott's extraordinary musicianship BBC Music Magazine recently wrote: "McDermott's heart has heft and translucence, structural certainty and seasoned humanity." In a career that has spanned over 25 years, American pianist Anne-Marie McDermott has played concertos, recitals and chamber music in hundreds of cities throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. The breadth of her repertoire matches that of her instrument, spanning from Bach, Haydn and Beethoven to Rachmaninoff, Prokoviev and Scriabin to works by today’s most influential composers -- Aaron Jay Kernis, Steven Hartke, Joan Tower and Charles Wuorinen, among them. As an Artistic Director, Ms. McDermott leads the Ocean Reef Chamber Music Festival in Florida and the Avila Chamber Music Celebration in Curacao.
When Dino Ciani died in 1974 in a car accident in Rome at age 32, the world lost a great pianist. He was described by his teacher Alfred Cortot as "a youth possessing the rarest gifts bestowed by nature.” Today he is considered an icon among classical record collectors. This new release from DOREMI features 1970 and 1973 Live broadcasts of the Beethoven Piano concertos No. 1 and No. 3. This is the first time that these recordings have been available to the public.
Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 1 & Six Piano Pieces, Op. 118
PENTATONE
CD
$17.99$19.99Save 10%Sep 11, 2026
Following the 2025 release of Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 2 and Intermezzi Op. 117 - an album that received rave reviews worldwide - Francesco Piemontesi, conductor Manfred Honeck, and the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig continue their Brahms journey with a compelling new recording of the composer's Piano Concerto No. 1. A work of striking emotional force and symphonic grandeur, it was born from a profound personal and artistic crisis. Composed in the aftermath of Robert Schumann's tragic collapse, the concerto reflects Brahms' struggle for artistic identity, as well as his confrontation with grief, responsibility, and expectation. From it's monumental opening - once likened to Beethoven's Ninth Symphony - to the deeply introspective slow movement, often understood as a portrait of Clara Schumann, this interpretation reveals the work's extraordinary psychological depth. Complementing the concerto are Brahms' Six Piano Pieces, Op. 118, works of introspection, farewell, and concentrated expression. Composed more than three decades after the concerto, these miniatures distil a lifetime of experience into music of remarkable intimacy and emotional restraint. From the consoling warmth of the Intermezzo in A Major to the desolate introspection of the Intermezzo in E-flat minor - often regarded among Brahms' darkest utterances - these pieces form a poignant counterpoint to the youthful turbulence of the concerto. Together, they trace a path from struggle to reflection, offering a profound insight into Brahms' artistic evolution and inner world. Francesco Piemontesi, one of today's most-cherished pianists, presents the sixth release in his exclusive collaboration with PENTATONE, following the widely praised Schubert - Last Piano Sonatas (2019), Bach Nostalghia (2021), Schoenberg, Messiaen & Ravel (2022), Liszt Transcendental Etudes & Piano Sonata (2023), and Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2 & Three Intermezzi Op. 117 (2025).
Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos 1 & 3 / Fleisher, Szell
Sony Masterworks
CD
$17.99Feb 18, 2010
...This is vibrant and virile music making full of passionate sweep, arresting clarity, and genuine, chamber-like give and take between soloist and orchestra.
Like his teacher and mentor Artur Schnabel, Fleisher underlines Beethoven's harmonic tension by either distending or slightly speeding up certain runs and arpeggiated sequences, yet rarely at the expense of accuracy...although he's not one to slave over making every long trill perfectly even and tapered. Under George Szell's eagle-eye, the Cleveland Orchestra members achieve staggering unanimity in regard to articulation and marcato phrasing, but with more heart and singing impulse than in Szell's relatively stiffer Beethoven accompaniments for Emil Gilels eight years later...
--Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com [reviewing the Third Concerto, Sony 78767]
Weber: Clarinet Concerto No 1; Rossini, Mozart / Stoltzman
RCA
CD
$17.99Jul 08, 2009
This is not a particularly generous collection: it was originally published in 1983 but never previously issued in the UK. It shows Richard Stoltzman, with his succulent tone and infectious bravura (so easily displayed in the finale of the Weber and the very operatic Rossini Variations), at his best, while the Mozart Andante, if it is to be transcribed for clarinet, needs a lighter touch: here the rich, rather deliberate phrasing loses the music's simplicity and charm. In the Weber the orchestral tuttis are somewhat hefty for a group called the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, but this is primarily the effect of the resonant acoustics of the unnamed hall where the recording was made. One tends to think of Weber's concertos as being rather more than halfway between the classical and romantic traditions; here the romanticism is very much in the ascendent. But overall the performance of the F minor Concerto combines a lively impetus in the outer movements with warmth in the Adagio whilst the orchestra—notably the horns—add much to the listener's enjoyment.
-- Ivan March, Gramophone [10/1989, reviewing RCA 60035]
Weber: Clarinet Concerto No 1; Rossini, Mozart / Stoltzman
RCA
CD
$17.99Mar 04, 2008
"[This collection] shows Richard Stoltzman, with his succulent tone and infectious bravura (so easily displayed in the finale of the Weber and the very operatic Rossini Variations), at his best...One tends to think of Weber's concertos as being rather more than halfway between the classical and romantic traditions, here the romanticism is very much in the ascendent. But overall the performance of the F minor Concerto combines a lively impetus in the outer movements with warmth in the Adagio whilst the orchestra—notably the horns—add much to the listener's enjoyment."
Anna Fedorova is one of the world's premier pianists. From an early age, she demonstrated an innate musical maturity and outstanding technical abilities. Her international concert career took off while she was only a child, and audiences around the world were stunned by the depth and power of her musical expression. For this all-Rachmaninov program, she is joined by Modestas Pitrenas and the Sinfonieorchester St. Gallen. Fedorova says, "Throughout my life Rachmaninov and his music have had a special place in my heart. Even though I am Ukrainian and was born in Kiev many decades after the October revolution, I always felt a connection to the old pre-revolutionary Russia. Rachmaninov was never able to return to, or even visit his home country after emigrating from Russia, but his homeland always remained in his heart, and is always reflected in his music."
Chopin: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 / Pietro de Maria, Rustioni, Tuscan Orchestra
Dynamic
CD
$18.99Mar 17, 2023
Fresh from his success in Vienna with the Rondo à la Krakowiak, Chopin decided to explore the piano concerto genre where he would compete with a triumvirate of composers then enjoying huge success in the city: Moscheles, Hummel and Kalkbrenner. Dedicated to Kalkbrenner, though inheriting influence from Hummel, the Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11 is discreetly orchestrated and marries brilliant virtuosity with expressive melancholy. Structurally similar is the Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, Op. 21, though here heroism is tempered by a more reflective intimacy that reaches its apotheosis in the beautiful slow movement.
This 2-CD release tells the story of Pollinis triumphant reunion with Staatskapelle Dresden in 2011 and 2013 and includes the acclaimed recordings of Brahmss Piano Concertos with Christian Thielemann. Those who admire the intelligent, direct and stylishly lean virtuosity that Maurizio Pollini has long brought to Brahmss Piano Concertos will want to know how the pianists recent recordings with Christian Thielemann and the Staatskapelle Dresden compare with his two earlier versions, both conducted by the late Claudio Abbado.
Rubinstein: Piano Concerto No. 1 & Don Quixote / Zamparas, Mitchell
Centaur Records
CD
$18.99Jul 08, 2016
A new addition to Centaur's Complete Recordings of Anton Rubinstein Piano Concertos, this release features Grigorios Zamparas, Jon Caender Mitchell and the Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic Orchestra. Anton Rubinstein was a Russian pianist, composer and conductor where he ranked among the besth 19th-century pianists. Grigorios Zamparas has received worldwide acclaim for his astounding musicianship and versatile performances. He has performed with prestigious orchestras such as the Porto Alegre Symphony Orchestra, Indiana University Symphony Orchestra and many others.
![Von Einem: Violin Concerto; Mussorgsky: Night On Bare Mountain, Schubert: Kupelwieser Walzer [orchestration: Von Einem] / Walter](http://arkivmusic.com/cdn/shop/files/4307862-3142987.jpg?v=1786665752&width=400)
