Raul Koczalski Piano Concerto Nos.3 & 4

[Rob H]

Have been playing both 3rd and 4th concertos lots recently - OK, neither will oust the regular repertoire greats from the high positions but both are thoroughly enjoyable works and, much as I enjoyed the first two I find these much more appealing. My preference is perhaps for the 3rd but there are fabulous moments in both. I particularly love the allegretto: deciso of the 3rd. Really looking forward to the 5th and 6th Concertos.
Now I'm off to sample the Braunfels Piano and Orchestra disc that arrived this morning. What a time of unsung discovery we live in!

[eschiss1]

Do the Koczalski pc 3 & 4 and violin & cello discs give the source of the scores/parts performed from (eg manuscripts found in such and such a place)? Possibly in small print on the inside front cover of the booklet, but somewhere? I'm not quite sure that any of his concertos aside from the second piano concerto and oboe concertino were published even in reduction (in 1936 (Op.83, Tischer & Jagenberg) and the concertino in 1952 (Schuberth))...

(That said, his Symphonische Legende Op.53 in full score is registered as still being at a Polish library. Hopefully that will be in the series too )

[eschiss1]

Acte Préalable does offer these works in score for hire (and some of his chamber works for sale...), though piano concertos 4-6 are in prep. They seem fairly sure that the violin concerto is in A major and that the cello concerto is in B minor, but an incipit would be nice (though even then not determinative, any more than the brief incipit of a slow introduction in minor to a major mode work would establish that the work was actually in minor...) (Actually, that page looks interesting generally. I need to keep it in mind )

(Tangentially, there _are_ some works they're offering that are available already freely, I think, eg Fitelberg's first symphony op.16 (already available @ IMSLP, though presumably Acte préalable offers the parts- though I'm guessing so does Fleisher Collection to an orchestra wanting it for hire. Perhaps Acte préalable's parts are typeset...)

[eschiss1]

one more thing- one useful source of information on Koczalski (and his music??) might be Vogel's book "Raoul Koczalski: Skizze" some of which can be previewed over Google. Hrm. Mostly a collection of concert reports in which he plays other peoples' music, but not _entirely_!

[Mark Thomas]

I can't say that either of these works impressed me much, which is a disappointment. There's nothing to dislike in either of them, nothing jars, the (unmemorable) melodies flow along gently for the most part, the orchestration is serviceable, the piano parts decorative, the harmonies are safe, but Koczalski doesn't seem to have anything worthwhile to say. I thought that the third concerto's slow movement might have some depth when it began, and maybe it would have if taken at a slower tempo, but although it's the best of the work it still doesn't rise much above mere prettiness. As Alan says, the finale of the fourth concerto ends well, which is ironic. Sorry to sound so negative, but I had high(ish) hopes after the first disc. I'm not sure that I'll bother with the final pair of piano concertos.

[Mark Thomas]

Who am I kidding? I'm a completist, of course I will!

[semloh]

Never doubted it, Mark! 

[JimL]

The Violin Concerto is absolutely in a major key, and the cello concerto is definitely in a minor key a whole step up. I just got them and PCs 3 & 4 (1 & 2 are backordered.)