Romantic French Works for Piano & Orchestra

[Kriton]

I LOVE them! Unfortunately, I don't know that many. Of course there are the famous examples by Chopin and Saint-Saens, and there's a fun Franck disc on Naxos including his endearing piano concerto. The Ballade by Fauré is played every now and again, but I must admit to liking his later Fantasy much better! Hyperion gave us all of Pierné's works for piano & orchestra, and those by Hahn & Massenet, and both aforementioned labels did Alkan. The only other piece I can think of, that is fairly well-known, is the Symphonie with piano by D'Indy.

The rest of the works I know are the 1-movement works by Vierne, Le Flem, D'Ollone, and Chaminade, and the concertos by Cras and Lalo.

And then I'm stretching it with mentioning:
- Boieldieu (hardly romantic...)
- Schmitt (a quasi-romantic Symphonie Concertante)
- Debussy's Fantasy (which is actually a concerto in all but name, and in my opinion very romantic - unlike those noisy pieces by Ravel)
- Biarent's Rhapsody (which is actually a concerto as well - but its composer isn't really French)

I've seen Hyperion will be doing both Widor concertos - I can hardly wait! But, in all, that's hardly 20 composers of romantic French works for piano & orchestra, against a tidal wave of german-austrian and anglo-american works. Looking at the form of most of them, it's rather obvious the French wanted to compose as un-germanic as possible, although Wagner's influence of course haunted them until the early 20th century.

But, I was wondering if any of you could recommend to me further works consistent with the title of the topic. Would be nice if recordings exist. I think I've read about concertos by Castillon and Diémer once, but have yet to find a score or recording.

[Alan Howe]

There are also the two concertos by Godard - I believe a recording may be being planned by Hyperion...

The Castillon concerto can be picked up used at Amazon...
http://www.amazon.com/Castillon-Piano-Concerto-Esquisses-Symphoniques/dp/B000005GPH/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1275772561&sr=1-10

[Kriton]

LOL, that's some revelation: recorded by Ciccolini, no less - and I'd never heard of the recording! Thanks, Alan, I will try and see if there's a copy somewhere in Europe, since I can't order from the american Amazon.

[JimL]

There was some discussion about this on the defunct Forum.  Ferdinand Herold (the composer of Zampa) composed two piano concertos which have never been recorded.  They may be lost, but apparently there were plans to record them some years back.  Unfortunately, there was a recording done of Herold's symphonies, and the works were judged to be so weak musically that the concerto project was scrapped.  Or so the story goes, IIRC.

[Alan Howe]

LOL, that's some revelation: recorded by Ciccolini, no less - and I'd never heard of the recording! Thanks, Alan, I will try and see if there's a copy somewhere in Europe, since I can't order from the american Amazon.

Trouble is, there's no copy to be had at a reasonable price in Europe. The best thing to do would be to contact the Amazon US seller and request an amendment of the shipping arrangements to include 'International Shipping'. I have made this request before and found that sellers are usually very obliging...

[eschiss1]

There was some discussion about this on the defunct Forum.  Ferdinand Herold (the composer of Zampa) composed two piano concertos which have never been recorded.  They may be lost, but apparently there were plans to record them some years back.  Unfortunately, there was a recording done of Herold's symphonies, and the works were judged to be so weak musically that the concerto project was scrapped.  Or so the story goes, IIRC.

http://piano-concertos.org/h.html lists 4 piano concertos by Herold, but I don't know the source for either claim...
Eric

[TerraEpon]

As far as Debussy goes, there's Printemps, which in the traditional orchestration by Basser is for two pianos and orchestra. It's 'true' form is orchestra with wordless chorus though.

And adding Chopin to the list makes about as much sense as adding Liszt...

(And it's one of those times I'm almost sure I'm missing something)

[Syrelius]

LOL, that's some revelation: recorded by Ciccolini, no less - and I'd never heard of the recording! Thanks, Alan, I will try and see if there's a copy somewhere in Europe, since I can't order from the american Amazon.

The Castillon disc is a wonderful CD -  not only the concerto, but also the Esquisses Symphoniques. If you find it at a reasonable price - buy it!

[Kriton]

As far as Debussy goes, there's Printemps, which in the traditional orchestration by Basser is for two pianos and orchestra. It's 'true' form is orchestra with wordless chorus though.

The former I did not know! Do you know of a recordings of this?

And adding Chopin to the list makes about as much sense as adding Liszt...

(And it's one of those times I'm almost sure I'm missing something)

Yes, Liszt spent time in Paris, but he considered himself to be Hungarian, what's more, I think he wasn't of French descent. But, I may have a vague idea of what you perhaps might be missing; actually, adding Chopin and Boieldieu to list might make no sense whatsoever: the latter composed in a time when nation states where not yet invented, and Chopin, although being a 'nationalist', might have considered himself more of a Pole. In any case, his works for piano & orchestra stand in the European, not specifically country-bound tradition of the Viennese classics, Hummel, Field, etc.

But for leaving those out, I can add Castillon, Godard, and Hérold!

'Did' the Schmitt Symphonie concertante again, yesterday. Reading through my post, I could understand that some people could find it more 'noisy' than the Ravel concertos. But is has beautiful lyrical moments, and its alleged modernism can't scare me off. I can really recommend it! But not as a first contact...

[Gooseguy]

There is a Vox Box listed on American Amazon.com - http://www.amazon.com/French-Piano-Concertos-Francois-Adrien-Boieldieu/dp/B000001K4E

You may already be aware of this, if so sorry - if not it does contain the Lalo and Chaminade works, which meet your criteria:

French Piano Concertos [Original recording remastered][Box set]
On this CD:
Concerto in F for piano & orchestra
Composed by Francois-Adrien Boieldieu
Performed by Innsbruck Symphony Orchestra
with Martin Galling
Conducted by Robert Wagner


Piano Concerto in E flat major
Composed by Jules Massenet
Performed by Westphalian Symphony Orchestra
with Marylene Dosse
Conducted by Siegfried Landau


Piano Concerto in C minor, Op. 42
Composed by Gabriel Pierne
Performed by Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra
with Marylene Dosse
Conducted by Matthias Kuntzsch


Piano Concerto in F minor
Composed by Edouard Lalo
Performed by Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra
with Marylene Dosse
Conducted by Matthias Kuntzsch


Concertstück for piano and Orchestra, Op 40
Composed by Cecile Chaminade
Performed by Luxembourg Radio Orchestra
with Rosario Marciano
Conducted by Louis de Froment


Concerto for piano & orchestra in G major, Op 36
Composed by Albert Roussel
Performed by Hamburger Symphoniker
with Maria Littauer
Conducted by Alois Springer


Concerto for piano & orchestra
Composed by Jean Francaix
Performed by Luxembourg Radio Orchestra
with Claude Paillard-Francaix
Conducted by Jean Francaix

[Gooseguy]

There is also an interesting if somewhat episodic Piano Concerto by Jean Cras (1879-1932) available on the Timpani label (TIMPANI 2C2037).  It may be little more modern than most of the works you list, but I think you will find it very accessible, as with his other compositions.

[TerraEpon]

The former I did not know! Do you know of a recordings of this?

Which? The two piano one has been recorded a number of times. The one with Martinon conduction is easy enough to get in various guises. http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/albumList.jsp?name_id1=2887&name_role1=1&comp_id=24630&genre=55&bcorder=195
As far as I know, all except the very first one are the two piano and orchestra one. The top is the wordless chorus and two piano version that Basser used to make his orchestration.
There's a recording of a reconstruction of the original (either lost or never completed) on a disc called "Debussy Rediscovered" which also has some other neat orchestrations. I guess it's OOP though, unfortunately.

Yes, Liszt spent time in Paris, but he considered himself to be Hungarian, what's more, I think he wasn't of French descent. But, I may have a vague idea of what you perhaps might be missing; actually, adding Chopin and Boieldieu to list might make no sense whatsoever: the latter composed in a time when nation states where not yet invented, and Chopin, although being a 'nationalist', might have considered himself more of a Pole. In any case, his works for piano & orchestra stand in the European, not specifically country-bound tradition of the Viennese classics, Hummel, Field, etc.

Actually when I said I was 'missing something' I meant there's a piece or two I was surely forgetting about.

[FBerwald]

There is also an interesting if somewhat episodic Piano Concerto by Jean Cras (1879-1932) available on the Timpani label (TIMPANI 2C2037).  It may be little more modern than most of the works you list, but I think you will find it very accessible, as with his other compositions.

The Jean Crass Concerto is very interesting.
I would add the Piano concerto in E flat Major by Leo(or Stanislao) Silesu - Absolutely charming work!!!!


PS: I hope Hyperion finalises the Godard concertos!!!!

[Rob H]

PS: I hope Hyperion finalises the Godard concertos!!!!

Yes, absolutely agree - I'm surprised these have never been recorded. Hopefully if they do get around to them they will also include the Introduction and Allegro op49 and the Persian fantaisie op152.

I'd also like to hear the Ravina concertos or the Prudent Concertos - I seem to remember Howard Shelley saying that he was doing at least one of the Prudent. Haven't seen any sign of it - has anyone else heard any news?
Rob

[Kriton]

Gooseguy, thanks for the suggestions, I do own the Vox set as well as the Cras concerto, and I must say I wouldn't call the latter modern - more rather 'individual', like all the rest of his music. For me, in that respect Cras composed somewhat like Fauré: in an instantly recognisable musical language, of which it would be hard to compare it with anything else. Beautiful it is, though, and suberbly orchestrated.

I would add the Piano concerto in E flat Major by Leo(or Stanislao) Silesu - Absolutely charming work!!!!

That sounds very interesting! Can you tell me anything about this piece? I must admit, I've never heard of the composer - his name sounds Eastern European to me...