New Recording of PCs by Barvinsky & Kosenko (3 Mov. Ver.)

[Martin Eastick]

You think the controller of Radio 3 would have the imagination to do that? Dream on!!!

The controller of BBC radio 3 most probably has never heard of Kosenko, and also many of the composers that are regularly dicussed on this forum!

[Alan Howe]

How on earth did they manage to put on Brian's Gothic back in 2011? The exception that proves the rule?

[Christopher]

A thought: invite these Ukrainians (orchestra, conductor Volodymyr Svokhip and soloist Violina Petrychenko) to perform the Kosenko at this summer's Proms: they'd go down a storm.

Hear hear! Could it echo or even surpass that moment in August 1968 when the USSR Symphony Orchestra appeared at the Proms on the same day as Soviet tanks rolled into Czechoslovakia to crush the Prague Spring.

You think the controller of Radio 3 would have the imagination to do that? Dream on!!!

Perhaps we could design a Ukrainian evening for BBC 3 controllers.

Mine would be:

Lysenko - Taras Bulba overture
Skorulskyi - Mykyta Kozhumiaka (Mykyta the Tanner) symphonic poem-story
Kosenko - Piano Concerto
Bortkiewicz - Symphony 1 or 2
encore piece 1 - Skorulskyi - Adagio of Mavka and Lukas for violin and orchestra from "A Forest Song" ballet
encore piece 2 - Hulak-Artemovsky - Ukrainian Dances from the opera "The Cossack over the Danube"

A separate Ukrainian evening could be devoted to Gliere's "Ilya Muromets" Symphony No.3 (is that still the subject of the longest thread on here (deservedly so)?!)

I think I know Alan's next comment...

[Alan Howe]

Meanwhile, back at the Kosenko/Barvinsky ranch...

[Christopher]

My CD has just arrived, very much looking forward to getting home this evening and listening.

[Alan Howe]

Having listened to the Kosenko a few more times, the Rachmaninovian fingerprints are becoming more and more obvious to me, so I think I must apologise and amend my initial opinion. This is very much 'son of Rachmaninov'- more so than any PC I can recall, with the possible exception of works by André Mathieu.
More importantly, this is without doubt the most impressive unsung piano concerto I have heard in recent years: its themes are intensely memorable and Violina Petrychenko plays it for all its worth. I'm tempted to say that I hear the work of passionate Ukrainian patriots here - which is some compensation at a time when a certain world leader has decided (contrary to the facts) that it was their country that started the war currently raging on their territory.

[Christopher]

I've always found the first movement of the Kosenko fairly Rachmaninovian, which is no slight to it as its own voice also shines through.  Movements 2 and 3 less so (and acc to the sleeve notes they were constructed many years later from Kosenko's sketches).

[Alan Howe]

It's still a magnificent beast - all 48+ minutes of its late-romantic hyper-emotionalism and pianistic rhetoric. Which I adore!

[eschiss1]

I see Bortkiewicz hasn't been played at the Proms either (though his symphonies -were- recorded by the BBC Scottish Symphony...)

[Christopher]

The Barvinsky too - all its qualities are fully brought out in this recording, which was not the case with previous recordings, when it sounded more like a nice-enough piece badly played.  With this recording we can now hear what a fine concerto it actually is (and its story is tragic too - Barvinsky had to "consent" to the destruction of all his work, before being sentenced to a gulag in Mordovia: he recreated the score in a 2-piano version which decades later was re-orchestrated by others).

[Alan Howe]

Here's an online review of the Kosenko at operius.de, translated into English:

This (i.e. the Barvinsky) is followed by the Piano Concerto in C minor by Ukrainian composer Viktor Kosenko (1896-1938) with the movements Allegro, Andante con moto and Allegro moderato. He worked on his work for nine years, but was unable to complete it. There were only sketches for the second and third movements, which Levko Revutskyi and Heorghij Majboroda completed.
The first movement begins slowly and contemplatively with low winds and is very melodious and emotional. Here, too, there are increases in tempo and dynamics and an alternation between thoughtful, emotional and dramatic, effervescent passages. What is also striking here is that the orchestra and piano are fully harmonised and Violina Petrychenko interprets her part in a powerful and energetic manner. The second movement of the romantic work is thoughtful, slow and deliberate and is repeatedly interrupted by dramatic outbursts. Violina Petrychenko also impresses here with her deeply felt playing with a delicate to powerful touch. The third movement is energetic and provides a brilliant finale with renewed climaxes.
Pianist Violina Petrychenko focusses on the preservation and dissemination of Ukrainian music and founded the Sounds of Ukraine festival in 2023. She began playing the piano at the age of six and continued her education at music academies in Kyiv, Weimar, Cologne and Essen. She has so far recorded the similarly themed albums 'Slavic Nobility', 'Ukrainian Moods', Mrii- Ukrainian Hope' and 'Winter Whispers - Ukrainian Piano Tales".
The concept of making milestones in Ukrainian music history that had previously received little attention accessible to a wider public was a complete success. For listeners interested in musical works that go beyond the usual and often recorded pieces, this CD is a real recommendation. Anyone who wants to hear more about Ukrainian music has also come to the right place.

Dr. Claudia Behn
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

[Christopher]

The section of the review quoted by Alan above which is about the Barvinsky reads as follows:

Following her CD "Winter Whispers – Ukrainian Piano Tales" (2024), Ukrainian pianist Violina Petrychenko once again provides a feast for the ears full of new impressions of Ukrainian music with a world premiere recording. This time, together with Ukrainian musicologist and conductor Volodymyr Syvokhip  and the Lviv National Philharmonic Orchestra, she performed  two piano concertos by Ukrainian romantic composers.

This is how Vasyl Barvinsky's  (1888-1963) Piano Concerto in F minor sounds with the movements Maestoso, Andante non troppo and Allegro moderato. Barvinsky worked on this from 1917 until its completion in 1937. He incorporated Ukrainian folk melodies and folkloristic elements into his romantic-tonal music. After a dramatic introduction that seems to build to the highly dramatic, his music changes into something lively and lively, almost cheerful. The change in intensity from contemplative to dramatic, booming passages is impressive, interpreted with emotion and intensity by Violina Petrychenko. Everything is woven into a dialogue between orchestra and piano, which is subtly differentiated and recorded in impressive sound quality, making the smallest nuances audible. The piano's depth of sound, the melodic passages in the piano and strings, the imitations of the piano and orchestra alike, which lead to an echo effect, but also the thematic motifs that recur, are what make the piano concerto and its interpretation so appealing. The piano is ensnared by a warm orchestral wave in which it seems to literally unfold.

https://www.operius.de/post/ukrainische-musik-von-barvinsky-und-kosenko-l%C3%A4sst-aufhorchen-violina-petrychenko-bringt-2025-erneu

[Alan Howe]

Has anyone else encountered this very fine recording?