Khachaturian Piano Concerto

[anda]

A more recent recording (live). Any comments are most welcomed - this is the first time i played this concerto, and i will be playing it again next season, so any constructive criticism will be appreciated.

1st movement

[anda]

2nd movement

[anda]

3rd movement

[fnork]

wow, great stuff! Listened to the first movement, it's really well played. Will try to find time to listen to the rest as well. Lovely piece.

did you find the concerto difficult to learn by the way? I was thinking about learning it as well...

[rachfan]

Bravo, Anda!  I first became familiar with the Khachaturian Concerto at a young age listening to the recording made by the legendary William Kapell. Since then, it's always remained a favorite of mine.  I enjoyed listening to all three movements of your recording and believe you played this beautiful and cyclical concerto brilliantly.  Congratulations on your fine achievement. 

[anda]

thanks fnork & rachfan, i'm glad you enjoyed it.

what i'm worried about (and what i'm looking to get some feedback about) is tempi and timings. i have three recordings with kapell, and i recently discovered one on youtube with peter katin - i love all these recordings, and i'm not worried that my version is pretty different, but i am worried about the timing difference (which is quite consistent). so... what am i playing too slow, and is it acceptable? does it still stand as "khachaturian's concerto" or am i to free in interpreting it?

did you find the concerto difficult to learn by the way? I was thinking about learning it as well...

well, easy it wasn't. but it wasn't as hard as it sounds - esp in terms of memorizing. it's very logical, all you have to do is analyze it, and it's not difficult to memorize. i 1st played it (with 2nd piano accompaniament) in an exam about 4 month after i had started working on it, but i had other stuff to learn in parallel, so i'm not sure how much time exactly it takes to learn.
you should learn & play it - after hearing your bartok, i'm pretty sure you'd play an awsome khachaturian.

best luck

[rachfan]

Hi anda,

On the matter of tempo, fear not, we all know and recognize that you played the Khachaturian Concerto, and played it very well too.  The real issue is that artists have been debating Italian musical terminology since the time it first went into practice.  I've always been guided by Josef Hofmann's advice:  "Consult the state of your technique and your own feeling for what is musically right in deciding upon the speed of the piece."  He also gives a caveat: "There is such a thing as 'artistic conscience'; consult it always before taking a liberty with the tempo."

The first movement is allegro ma non troppo e maestoso, or, of course, vivacious but not too much, and stately.  The tempo marking per se and the qualifying mood have the potential of working at cross purposes. 

The second is andante con anima or flowing easily with animation--so that seems a bit self-contradictory too.  We generally think of andante as being a bit leisurely.  Why did the composer not pick moderato or allegretto if it were also to be animated?  These kriptic markings always cause pause for thought.

The allegro brillante in the final movement, lively and sparkling, is more straight forward, thankfully.

There are tempo changes within the movements which introduce more variables, of course.

But there is another dimension, where this is a concerto--the conductor.  Some collaborative conductors will ask you what you want for a tempo.  Others will take the attitude, "just follow me".  As you know, these decisions depend on the seniority and stature of the piano soloist and the degree of the conductor's ego.  Sometimes there can be negotiation and compromise, other times not.  I don't know how that discussion went down before you first played at the rehearsal.

Another factor: I'm unsure as to which orchestra you played with and its degree of proficiency.  At times it sounded thinner than, say, a robust 100 member ensemble.  The conductor might have certainly taken the orchestra's proficiency  into account too. 

So, if those tempi sound right to you, and they are within or at least close to the general range of those you've encountered in recordings, then just enjoy your own recording!  To me, the tempi sound fine.  But, if you still have nagging doubts, try this: Get out the metronome and find the pace of your three movements and write them down; then do the same for the Kapell recording you like best, and compare the metronome readings.  Try his out a bit at the piano.  BUT, having satisfied your curiosity, do not necessarily be influenced by Kapell's choices!  (Could he read Italian any better than you?  Did he not also probably have some subjective notions concerning the tempi?  One consideration though: Kapell and Kachaturian lived in the same era, and could possibly have communicated, one cannot rule that out; however, should the composer be the final arbiter?)  So I again refer back to Hofmann here, meaning that tempo section is not without the individual artist's own perspective.

If you get to play this concerto again elsewhere, some or all the factors could very well change.  So all the tempi might change too!  It's good that tempo is so uncomplicated.     

[anda]

thanks, rachfan. i'll definitely try the metronome method, see where it gets me. i won't have to play this again for months, so i have all the time in the world to think about tempi (and changes of). anyway, as much as i love kapell, i never tried to copy him, and i'm glad to hear my version was still khachaturian's concerto

But there is another dimension, where this is a concerto--the conductor. 

right... i was just thinking about starting a thread on how traumatic conductors can be... what's really nasty is that they have a whole army of 60-100 people against you - should you try to disagree with them; also, an innate god complex seems to be a prerequisite...

a joke (i heard from a conductor!): q. what's the similarity between a conductor and a condom? a. in both cases, it's better without, but safer with   

[thracozaag]

The second is andante con anima or flowing easily with animation--so that seems a bit self-contradictory too. 

"Con Anima" is one of those difficult to translate things, but the gist of it means "with deepest feeling", ie--"soul" and thus does not indicate a faster tempo (a common misconception).  Chopin and Tchaikovsky use this marking occasionally and it often gets misinterpreted as playing with "animation".

[rachfan]

Hi thracozaag,

I do agree, although it might depend on the composer as well as the governing tempo marking.  Chopin did use, for example, Lento e con anima taken to mean slow and with soul.  Certainly this could only apply to a leisurely or slow tempo, and of course, you're right, the andante marking for the second movement of this concerto would definitely quality.  I should have thought about that angle more carefully!  My error.

[thracozaag]

Hi thracozaag,

I do agree, although it might depend on the composer as well as the governing tempo marking.  Chopin did use, for example, Lento e con anima taken to mean slow and with soul.  Certainly this could only apply to a leisurely or slow tempo, and of course, you're right, the andante marking for the second movement of this concerto would definitely quality.  I should have thought about that angle more carefully!  My error.

No worries--I think one of the more interesting tempo markings is for the 1st movement of the Tchaikovsky 5th symphony: "Allegro con anima", which for me is often taken at far too fast a clip and I wonder if it's because of this very misconception (Ricardo Muti at least agrees with me on this point).  The Khachaturian and Tchaikovsky movements in question seem to share that wonderful wistful quality that the "con anima" marking suggest very vividly.

[rachfan]

Yes, that wistful middle movement of the Khachaturian provides a wonderful contrast too.  When I was a student at university, I was able to get the campus radio station's "listener requests" program to play this concerto for consecutive weeks at a time.  At one point the show's host even felt compelled to read excerpts from the liner notes on the concerto and on William Kapell too.  And nobody ever complained that it was too much of a good thing!    Looking back on it now, I must have been a crazy kid then, but that's how much I loved this concerto.

[anda]

"Con Anima" is one of those difficult to translate things, but the gist of it means "with deepest feeling", ie--"soul" and thus does not indicate a faster tempo (a common misconception).  Chopin and Tchaikovsky use this marking occasionally and it often gets misinterpreted as playing with "animation".

"con anima" and "animato" are completely different indications, i completely agree. personally, i interpreted the "con anima" as "espressivo" (and also as a permission to play more freely, while still within the rigid strings' frame).

one more thing about the 2nd movement tempo: i have a general score edited by lev oborin (the pianist for whom the concerto was written, who worked with khachaturian himself and premiered the concerto). oborin writes metronome indications - that should be the closest thing to khachaturian's intentions, i believe. anyway, the "andante con anima" is marked at 68-72 quarter note - which is actually a slow andante. (for the "piu mosso" section in the 2nd movement there isn't a metronome marking written)

[thracozaag]

Lovely performance, btw--really enjoyed it.

[dmac]

Anda - brilliant! Bravo!!

This piece has always been a favourite of mine and it was a thrilling and very satisfying experience for me to listen to your recording. I just finished seconds ago and I am still excited and slightly overwhelmed by your performance.

I am very sensitive to matters of tempo and I think you navigated through all the changes expertly. I have several other recorded versions on big labels in my collection that don't manage the tempi  as well as you and your conductor have; I will prefer to listen to your version many times before I pull out some of the others I have.

I hope to give you some more appreciative comments later, after a few more listenings, but I wanted to tell you after the very first listening how much I deeply enjoyed your performance of this important work. Thank you for releasing it on this web site.

Regards,

     David.

[storyseller]

Absolutely great...

This is one of my favourite Concertos too, glad pianists as good as you play it this well.

I dont play the piece (yet) so I cant offer too much insight but it realy sounds great, logical, and fresh.

Tempo sounded ok for me too.

Keep up the good work!

[anda]

thank you for listening and for your kind words.
best wishes

[tds]

i listened to the first mov. and WOW WOW!! ur really fantastic, anda! as if there were 10 pianists in you! 

will listen to the rest tomorrow. tds