Piano Concertos for the left hand

[Steve B]

Paul Theissen wrote one for Michael Ponti, after his stroke, which Michael performed a few years ago, before his recent total retirement. Does anyone know of any recordings of this, eg radio broadcasts?Tx Steve

[Gareth Vaughan]

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Is this Eduard Schutt (1856-1933) the Russian composer?

Yes.

[Christopher]

Mike Spring wants very much to record the Schutt PCs, but had hoped (still hopes) to add the Left Hand "Paraphrase" to the disk. Both concertos for two hands are relatively short so the three works would fit nicely on one CD. The left hand work was never published; it remained part of the Wittgenstein family collection and could not be accessed. The MS was auctioned some years ago and is now in private hands. Rumour has it that those private hands belong to Klaus Heymann of Naxos/Marco Polo fame - but I can neither verify nor deny this rumour. I simply don't know. Anyway, until it surfaces again we can't expect to hear it. I suspect Mike thinks it may be obtainable at some future date, which would explain why the Schutt PCs have been put on the back burner for the moment.

Gareth - have you heard anything more about this possible recording of Schutt's works?

[Gareth Vaughan]

Sorry, Christopher, no.  I will ask Mike Spring though, the next time I speak with him.

[Christopher]

Sorry, Christopher, no.  I will ask Mike Spring though, the next time I speak with him.

Hello again Gareth - returning to an old question - did you ever hear anything further about a possible recording of Schutt's piano concertos?

[Gareth Vaughan]

Mike Spring has left Hyperion - as you perhaps know, but I am in cordial contact with Simon Perry regarding the RPC series in particular. The performance material for the 2 published Schutt PCs is readily available in Fleisher, but these two alone would not fill a CD. The obvious filler is, of course, the "Paraphrase" for left hand & orchestra that Schutt wrote for Paul Wittgenstein. This MS exists but is thought to be in private hands (I suspect those of Klaus Heymann). However, it was premiered a few years ago by a pianist called Kam Ching Wong. Dr Kam appears currently to be on the staff of the Hong Kong Music Academy. When I have a moment I may drop him a line. I also heard a rumour to the effect that it had been given to the Hong Kong Music Academy, or was on permanent loan to that institution - however, I cannot confirm any of this as yet.

[Christopher]

This is very interesting Gareth, thank you.