Röntgen Piano Concertos 3, 6 & 7

[Alan Howe]

...forthcoming from cpo:
https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/cpo/detail/-/art/julius-roentgen-klavierkonzerte-nr-1-3/hnum/3860286

No.3 in D minor is in 4 movements and dates from 1887/8. Nos.6 and 7 are very late works (begun 1929). Once again, it is that intrepid pioneer-pianist Oliver Triendl whom we have to thank for this release.

[Gareth Vaughan]

This is excellent news, but is probably the last of Rontgen's PCs that CPO will record.
They previously released: Piano Concerto in D Major, Op. 18 (1879), designated No. 1 by the composer (as No. 2); and Piano Concerto in F major (1906), (as No. 4) on CPO 777 398-2. There is an earlier PC, dating from 1873 with a full score and set of orchestral parts in the Nederlands Musikinstitut (at least, according to their catalogue of the Rontgen archive) and it would seem that CPO are counting this as No. 1. I believe it is a student work (hence the composer's calling the 1879 work No. 1).
They have now released the PC in D minor (1887/8), which the composer called No. 2, as No. 3, and the two concertos (1930), which they call 6 & 7. The remaining PC (the composer's No. 4 - or No. 5 if you count the 1873 work) seems to exist only as 2 separate scores: 1 the piano part and 2 the orchestral parts reduced for one piano; so neither full score nor set of parts is extant.
Of course they might yet record the 1873 work (calling it No. 1) - but I somehow doubt it.

[Mark Thomas]

Thanks, Gareth, for guiding us through a very confusing situation. Whatever their number, I'm really looking forward to hearing these works.

[jonah]

There is also a Composers Voice cd (CV064) of the D major Concerto, op18 and two single-movement concertos collectively called Zwei Konzerte, played by Folke Nauta, with the Orkest van het Oosten conducted by Jurjen Hempel.
Is it known where these Zwei Konzerte fit in the canon?

[Gareth Vaughan]

These are the two concertos of 1930, which, incidentally were dedicated to Donald Tovey. There may be something deficient about the CV disk if the second of the 2 1930 concertos is in only one movt. I have the recording issued by Donemus with the same forces in which the 2nd 1930 concerto is given in 3 movts.

[Alan Howe]

It looks as though the commercially available downloads only contain the first section of PC7 (the second of the 'Zwei Konzerte' which is in three sections):
https://music.apple.com/nl/album/julius-rontgen-piano-concert/913975362
https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/7939495--rontgen-piano-concerto-no-2-op-18-etc
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Julius-R%C3%B6ntgen-Piano-Concert-Konzerte/dp/B00N5WABB8/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=rontgen+composers+voice&qid=1565473849&s=gateway&sr=8-1

My guess is that the problem lies with the fact that the rear inlay of the CD only lists 5 tracks - 3 for PC2, 1 for PC6 and 1 for PC7, whereas in fact the sleevenotes and the CD actually have two further tracks for the remainder of PC7. The rear inlay should therefore read tracks 5-7 for the second of the 'Zwei Konzerte'. Its duration is 18:31.

So, if one has the CD, all is well. The download seems to be the problem.

BTW I prefer the Donemus performance of No.2 - it has a more natural feel than that on cpo, and less pulling about of the tempi.

[Gareth Vaughan]

I agree with you, Alan, about the Donemus recording of the Op. 18 PC. I wonder how the performances of Op. 30 on CPO will compare.

[Alan Howe]

PC3 in D minor is a very fine work indeed. As with everything Röntgen wrote, there is an abundance of memorable material, superbly worked out. Why this isn't in the standard piano repertoire is completely beyond me. If Hyperion had done PCs 2 & 3 it would surely have been a best-seller.