Xaver Scharwenka Piano Concertos

[alharris]

I can barely contain my excitement. I just read an item in the February Gramophone indicating that Chandos has recorded all four Scharwenka Piano Concertos for late April release.   Alexander Markovich (a name unfamiliar to me) is the soloist; Neeme Jarvi conducts the Estonian National SO.

[edurban]

Be still my heart.  I hope for a not-too-reverberant acoustic for #2 which is somewhat thickly orchestrated and tends to sound murky.  My favorite 2nd at the moment (from an orchestral perspective) is on Centaur... the Czech National Orchestra under Paul Freeman (Laurence Jeanningros, piano) where you can hear much of the detail obscured in other recordings, even if there is little warmth.  The piano playing is very good, often poetic, though in the coupling (the first concerto) Mme. (or Mlle.) Jeanningros is clearly not in the barn-storming league of Wild and Hamelin.

I dearly love these pieces.  Thanks for the heads-up.

David

Ps. I see the following on the Scharwenka Society website:

In October 2000 Maestro Neeme Järvi conducted Xaver Scharwenka`s "Olympian" Piano Concerto No.4 with Detroit SO and Philadelphia Orchestra . Pianist Alexander Markovich gave it in Detroit 4 performances ("spectacular - his tour de force not only brought down the house, it drew genuine applause from an orchestra and conductor, who clearly enjoyed the ride" - Detroit News).

In November 2nd and 3rd 2002 Alexander Markovich has performed this concerto at Berlin Philharmonic (cond. Neeme Järvi) with tremendous success.

Further performances of this concerto will take place in 2004 in Cologne and Goeteborg.

So Jarvi and Markovich have been promoting Scharwenka (at least #4) for a while...

[Alan Howe]

Very good news indeed. Thanks for the heads-up indeed.

[FBerwald]

Wonderful news. Its weird but I the last week going through the complete concerto cycle of Scharwenka... I wonder if the pianist will be able to match / surpass (??) Stephen Hough rendition of the 4th which I have felt was a benchmark! As a Scharwenka fanatic I shall keep an open mind [and ears!!!!] :-)

[jerfilm]

Well, they're among my all time favorite concertos - especially #3, an opinion that doesn't seem to be shared by many.   However, another full set?  Probably not.

J

[FBerwald]

@jerfilm I understand what you mean about the 3rd concerto... I still find No. 3 a bit of a challenge. I still listen to it on occasions in the hope that I might crack it sometime!! 

[LateRomantic75]

I'm afraid I can't muster as much enthusiasm as some have for the second and third PCs. To me, they seem rather "hollow", for lack of a better word. The presiding influence of Chopin in both works doesn't help their substantiality. The First and (especially) Fourth concertos, however, are magnificent works of blazing passion and epic sweep. To be fair, one of the main reasons why I can't really get behind the second and third concertos is because they seem dull in comparison to the surrounding two, quite frankly. Pleasant and occasionally charming works in their own right? Yes. Undeservedly neglected masterworks? No.

But who knows? Maybe the upcoming Chandos recording will change my opinion of them!

[Vodnik]

I love all four Scharwenka concertos and am as excited as Al Harris and Ed Urban about the impending release of these new recordings. I think they embody the very best of the romantic piano concerto (my favorite genre). They share the same features--grand gestures, melting melodic lines, virtuosic piano writing, and powerful orchestral accompaniments. The fiery and impetuous 1st, the powerful 2nd (which contains my very favorite piano entrance in the 1st movement), the plaintive and soulful 3rd (which is in my favorite key, c# minor), and the magisterial 4th, the capstone of Scharwenka's output, comprise a body of work that is unmatched by other composers in the late 19th century.

I will always regret the fact that I missed seeing a live performance of the 4th concerto with Stephen Hough in 3/96 in Indianapolis as I had to move to Pennsylvania 2 weeks earlier. I remember what a reviewer had said in a review of the Earl Wild recording of the 1st concerto in 1970--this was music so good that it will bring tears to your ears. Later on, another reviewer likened Scharwenka's music to "Chopin on steroids". Perhaps these new recordings will initiate a Scharwenka renaissance, with more performances around the world (particularly in the US).

I disagree with LateRomantic75's assessment of the 2nd and 3rd concertos. To me, they're just as full of blazing passion and epic sweep as their companions. I find them both incredibly exciting and like the other two, unjustly neglected masterworks that deserve to be resurrected and played again and again instead of the zillionth performance of the usual warhorses.

BTW, has anyone else noticed the "wrong note" in the only recording of the 3rd concerto (Seta Tanyel)? In the score, it opens with 2 French horns playing the main theme in unison starting on the first beat of the first bar. The rest of the orchestra then comes in on the third beat with a G# major dominant seventh chord. In the recording, the violins play a high G# just before the French horns play the opening melody. I though it was an odd way to start the concerto until I saw the score and realized that it was wrong.

[FBerwald]

I will still beg you to give the 2nd and 3rd  a few more hearings [clear your mind off 1 & 4... if possible]

[Alan Howe]

I've always loved PCs 2 and 3 as much as 1 and 4. If Chandos really do bring them all out in excellent performances, it'll be quite an event.

[LateRomantic75]

Thanks for the encouraging replies everyone! I guess it's just the fiery romantic in me that draws me to the more extroverted first and fourth PCs instead of the more introverted middle two. I'll be getting the new Chandos recording when it comes out and hope to experience an epiphany!

[Rob H]

I too await these with baited breath! Regarding number three I have to say I was disappointed when I heard Tanyel's recording of it - numbers 1, 2 and 4 had this amazing sweep and virtuosity and suddenly there was this concerto that didn't seem to know where to go. Then I heard Ludwig Hofmann playing it and it was glorious. It just felt like a different piece. It was the same with the second. Tanyel underwhelmed me. My favourite is still Lewenthal's recording of (unfortunately) just the finale of the second - what a performance.
I seem to remember that Harold Schoenberg in Great Pianists said that the Scharwenka Concertos fell out of fashion once the Rakhmaninov Concertos appeared - were the Scharwenka ever that popular?? I would like to think so but it seems unlikely.

[FBerwald]

Is the Hofmann version available on amazon?

[Rob H]

Sorry, the Hofmann is not a commercial recording. I recorded the audio off a youtube video some time ago. I can upload the recording if the moderators are happy.
Rob

[FBerwald]

Please do. Its not there on youtube