Czerny 2nd Grand Concerto in E Flat major etc.

[Alan Howe]

...forthcoming from Naxos:
https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8668505--czerny-second-grand-concerto-in-e-flat-major-concertino-rondino

[Mark Thomas]

I must say that I've found some of Rosemary Tuck's Czerny interpretations a tad pedestrian, but welcome news nonetheless.

[Gareth Vaughan]

Agreed, Mark. Compare her performance of the A minor concerto with that by Howard Shelley on Hyperion. But nonetheless a generally enticing and interesting prospect. It is unlikely we will get further recordings of these works any time soon.

[semloh]

... dare I add that the ECO are sometimes disappointing, too, although Richard Bonynge usually gets the best out an orchestra. No idea about the quality of this release, though.

[Alan Howe]

The "Second Grand Concerto" in E flat (1812-14) is an absolute monster at 45:38 (surely a record for that date)! Ms Tuck has absolutely fistfuls of notes to cope with and seems to play well enough, although Howard Shelley would probably be ideal in this music. Nevertheless this is an often exciting release.

Hardly surprisingly, the Emperor (not to mention the Eroica) are major influences on the first movement, but Czerny's grand conception is more than a mere clone. Think of it as a fond tribute to the greater composer. The remaining movements (especially the finale) seem to me to contain an inordinate amount of note-spinning, which is Czerny's besetting sin, musically speaking. When he goes too far in this direction, his music loses its sense of purpose.

[eschiss1]

Never mind, you just said so, deleting that. Yes, right, the Emperor. Exactly. (But if the Czerny is a record for that date, then only by a matter of minutes...)

[Alan Howe]

About 5 minutes, actually. The Emperor comes in typically at around 40 minutes. That makes the Czerny around 12½% longer.

[eschiss1]

Given that Reicha wrote a string quartet that was perhaps as long as practically any before Beethoven's Op.59 set, maybe his own E-flat major concerto (ms @ IMSLP) will also prove to be as long? (Don't know when it was composed, though.)

[Alan Howe]

The first movement and finale of Reicha's PC in E flat are at YouTube. They add up to approx. 16:40 of music!!
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=reicha+piano+concerto

[pianoconcerto]

Reicha's Concerto was composed 1802-4 and is only 23 minutes long.  It was left incomplete and the oboe II part and last 20 mm. of the piano part in the third mvt. were finished by Hanuš Krupka.

[eschiss1]

Ah ok, yes, there are others of the time less ambitious than Beethoven and Czerny but more than that, yes. My mistake. Right then.