A Piano concerto to end all piano concertos

[j_menz]

Some of you may know of this, but for those who don't - enjoy!

The premise of the Concerto Popolare is that the orchestra believes it is playing Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto, but the pianist believes he or she is playing the Grieg Piano Concerto. A pitched musical battle ensues, dragging in other themes (notably from Rhapsody in Blue, the Warsaw Concerto and the music-hall song "Roll Out the Barrel"). The soloist is Yvonne Arnaud.

Not quite as dramatically, perhaps, but way to many concerto performances suffer from the same dualism.

The composer was Franz Reizenstein. He also wrote the orchestral score for the original Hammer Film "The Mummy" (1959).

That aside, he was a serious composer. His Piano Quintet in D is worth checking out, and he wrote a set of 12 preludes and fugues, earning him a special place in my affections.

[iansinclair]

I love it!  And one does have to admit that all too often one does wonder if the soloist and the orchestra (or even accompanist...) are on the same planet, never mind page.

[birba]

That's hysterical!  It must have been even more fun to watch.

[rachmaninoff_forever]

The guy on the left looks like Hitler.

Is there a score for this?!

[thalbergmad]

Don't you mean Himmler??

Yes there is a score for this.

Thal