Unsung Rachmaninoffian Piano Concertos

[Alan Howe]

I'm sorry, but I really can't hear any Rachmaninov at all in the Kletzki - the idiom's quite different. I wouldn't discourage anyone from hearing the piece - or buying the Naxos CD (especially at bargain price), which I did, hoping it would be a better work than the reviews suggested it would be.

Thanks for the suggestion of the Tavares - clearly one to investigate, providing its falls within our revised guidelines...

[Alan Howe]

The Tavares sounds absolutely gorgeous - I'm currently listening to it on YouTube. Thanks so much, febnyc, for mentioning it. Rachmaninov plus Gershwin with a touch of Braziliana, perhaps?

[Gareth Vaughan]

The Tavares is a lovely work and was to have been included in Hyperion's RPC series - but the family, having said "Yes", then changed their mind at the last minute and said "No" - after a pianist had learned it and an orchestra and conductor been engaged and recording dates set. We can all do without that sort of copyrightholder. There is now, of course, no chance of Hyperion's recording it should the family have a mercurial change of mind!
I must agree with Alan about the Kletzki - I really can't detect any Rachmaninov in it, and, personally, it's not my cup of tea.

[Alan Howe]

What a shame, Gareth. I should have realised that you'd know it, by the way!

[Mark Thomas]

Clearly I was to hasty in my concerns about the Tavares. I'll look forward to catching up with it on YouTube. Thanks for the suggestion, febnyc.

[Gareth Vaughan]

May I add that the PC in C minor by Healey Willan (mentioned before) is a thoroughly gorgeous work.   Although the slow movt. is certainly Rachmaninovian, the last movt. is surely the PC Elgar never wrote.   This is, IMHO, fully deserving of a first rate modern recording, not that the one it received on CBC Records with Arthur Ozolins and the Toronto Symphony orchestra under Mario Bernardi in 1991 is bad - far from it.   Nevertheless, I hope Hyperion will eventually include it in the RPC series.

[Alan Howe]

Yes, you're certainly on track there, Gareth.

[X. Trapnel]

There is a recording, still available, of the Tavares concerto with Felicja Blumenthal and Anatole Fistoulari.

[Alan Howe]

Thanks - I've snapped up a copy double-sharpish!

[Mark Thomas]

... and I'm just downloading the Willan, thanks.

[febnyc]

There is a recording, still available, of the Tavares concerto with Felicja Blumenthal and Anatole Fistoulari.

That is the CD I own and it's very good. 

My only concern about mentioning it was that it (under the new manifesto) exists beyond the board's target period - at least I think it does, or does it?  It was composed after the First World War but nevertheless thoroughly is in the romantic tradition.  So does it fall within or without the boundaries of the New World Order here at our cherished UC forum?  Anyway, the Tavares Concerto is a lovely work.

PS - many thanks to kyjo for offering up his corpus to stand in the way of any direct fire!

[Alan Howe]

My only concern about mentioning it was that it (under the new manifesto) falls beyond the board's target period - at least I think it does, or does it?  It was composed after the First World War but nevertheless thoroughly is in the romantic tradition.  So does it fall within or without the boundaries of the New World Order here at our beloved UC forum?  Anyway, the Tavares Concerto is a lovely work.

Tavares would fit in the category of late, late Romantics (e.g. Marx, Korngold, etc.) whom we name as examples for guidance here:
http://www.unsungcomposers.com/forum/index.php/topic,3681.0.html
We do recognise that this is a somewhat fuzzy boundary, but it's one we'll try to exercise some discernment over as we go forward.

[MikeW]

There is a recording, still available, of the Tavares concerto with Felicja Blumenthal and Anatole Fistoulari.

I've just been listening to the first movement on Spotify. When I heard the opening chords I was about to scoff at the connection but the next few minutes were indeed quite Rachly evocative.

[Mark Thomas]

I just want to return to the Healey Willan Piano Concerto mentioned by Gareth. I downloaded the Ozolins performance and have just listened to it once through. It's a very enjoyable piece which, as Gareth wrote, is an almost pure amalgam of Elgar (predominantly the first and third movements) and Rachmaninov (the slow movement). Great fun and well played too.

[Ilja]

There is a recording, still available, of the Tavares concerto with Felicja Blumenthal and Anatole Fistoulari.

Another recording, with Arnaldo Cohen and the Orquestra Sinfônica Petrobrás Pró Música under Roberto Tibiriçá, is also available (on a Brazilian label whose name eludes me for now), which IMO is quite a lot better and has vastly superior sound. The live version of that can be found on YouTube as well (although the third movement is cut off rather awkwardly to cut out the applause, which IIRC is on the CD). Finally, there is the recording with João de Souza Lima playing and the composer conducting, also on YouTube (no CD, to my knowledge). Sound is not great, but solid playing by De Souza Lima.