Oscar Straus Piano Concerto 1870-1954

[giles.enders]

Are there any off air recordings of Oscar Straus's piano concerto in A minor?

[jerfilm]

I have it back in Minnesota on a cassette.  I expect other members probably have the same performance.  As I recall, not a particularly stellar quality recording but better than none.

Jerry

[Mark Thomas]

I was sure I had it, Giles, but I don't seem to have. Which doesn't help, I know.

[thalbergmad]

I have an mp3 that I downloaded from a particularly excellent you tube channel that now seems to be defunct.

The only info I have is that it was performed by Frieda Valenzi.

If someone could confirm this was not commercial, I am happy to upload.

Thal

[Alan Howe]

According to this source, it would appear to be a radio recording - scroll down to the list of recordings made for ORF (Austrian Radio) in Vienna:
http://www.soundfountain.org/rem/remvalen.html

[thalbergmad]

Jolly good show Sir, duly posted, awaiting approval.

Concertingly.

Thal

[Gauk]

An enjoyable listen! I think part of the reason why we don't hear things like this in the concert hall more, besides the prejudice against obscure composers, is this idea that only "great" music is worth listening to. It's what I think Harrison Birtwhistle once referred to as "Ninth Symphony syndrome". A concerto like this is unpretentious and engaging, and therefore not "great", and therefore we should all get something "great" by Rachmaninoff instead.

[Martin Eastick]

Sheer musical snobbery - no less! - and one of the main reasons why classical music (to use the generic term) rates so low in the overall popularity stakes!

[Gareth Vaughan]

Spot on, Martin.

[Alan Howe]

Absolutely, Martin. Well said.

[semloh]

I suppose the work of Oscar Straus is looked down upon because he wrote operettas rather than operas.  For listeners who don't speak German maybe they are tedious, but The Chocolate Soldier is undeniably sweet.

Many thanks for this rare opportunity to hear the Piano Concerto. 

[Gauk]

I'm not sure it is snobbery - it is more a sort of mass delusion. People are educated to believe in "greatness" in music and never question that. I strongly suspect that people who are introduced to music say, through school, are introduced to Mozart and Beethoven first, and told that is what they should be listening to. When I started listening to music I had no-one to guide me, and all names were equal. So the reverence I have for Mozart and Beethoven is discovered for myself - and equally so for Medtner and Busoni.

[eschiss1]

in my country, this would seem to be less and less an issue as funding for music education slowly (slowly?) vanishes...

[Alan Howe]

As far as I can see, many younger people have had no meaningful introduction to classical music of any kind. Would that they were even listening to Mozart and Beethoven instead of Will.i.am and Jesse J. (see - aren't I trendy? )

[eschiss1]

Some connection with classical - the opening to Beethoven's 5th shows up in innumerable movies, e.g.- but no argument on the "meaningful" part, no argument at all.