Ten (unsung) Romantic Piano Concertos to hear before you die

[John H White]

How about William Sterndale Bennett's 4th Piano Concerto? I'd also like to hear his No 6 before I die, but I very much doubt if that will ever happen.

[chill319]

Stig Westerberg knew how to bring out the best in Stenhammar's music. In his 1974 recording of Stenhammar's Piano Concerto 2 with Janos Solyam at the keyboard, the music simply bursts out of the speakers as one the most original and remarkable of all romantic piano concertos. It doesn't try to go where Rachmaninov's Concerto 2 (another most original and remarkable work) takes you. But if you are open to other kinds of musical landscapes, I heartily recommend this performance.

[LateRomantic75]

Indeed, Westerberg makes Stenhammar out to be a master composer in his recordings. His overwhelming, almost Brucknerian rendition of Stenhammar's Symphony no. 2 makes Jarvi's BIS recording pale in comparison.

[Gerhard Griesel]

The Busoni PC has already been mentioned in this thread. I regard it as the ultimate piano concerto. Apart from the reasons already mentioned, for me it is the superb build-up of tension leading to climaxes in many places in the concerto, the sheer length, and especially the fact that the piano is treated to a large extent as the ultimate percussion instrument.

[Alan Howe]

The Busoni's become less unsung over the years, of course.

[LateRomantic75]

Yes, but it's certainly not featured with any regularity on concert programs, probably because of its unwieldy length. It sure would be a spectacle to see live!

[Alan Howe]

The two statements aren't mutually exclusive...