Unfamiliar Concertos

[frederic]

Hi

I want to take part in this national competition and i need i concerto.

I am looking for a concerto which is not too common (preferably 19th century).
I first intended the Tchaikovsky No. 1 or a chopin one which i knew are played too often.

So please help whether its suggesting a concerto (please tell me a bit about it) or whether you think the tchaikovsky or chopin are good ones to choose from.

[tosca1]

What about the Schumann Concerto in A minor?  It is less often played than many of the other Romantic concertos.  It is fresh and original but has all of the qualities that no concerto should lack, pianistic brilliance, delightfully tuneful subjects and a stirring finale.
Other interesting, beautiful concerti are the Beethoven no. 1 in C major and no. 4 in G major.  These are also less frequently played.
Avoid the old "war horse" concerti that legions of aspiring pianists bash out.
Robert.

[davy10tunes]

Frederic

I'm glad to see someone wanting to play something different at a competition May I suggest Moszkowski's concerto in E major op. 59.It's dedicated to josef Hofmann, published by Peters, and before World War 1 it was supposedly one of the most popular cocertos.If you want to hear a recording of it, it's available on the Hyperion label.( www.hyperion-records.co.uk )They do a set of about 32 CD's called "The Romatic Piano Concerto", (and they use good pianists such as Nikolai Demidenko & Marc Andre Hamelin)so you won't get a bad performace like you get on other cheap labels(naxos)Most of the CD's contain concertos by composers I never heard of or I didn't know that they wrote concertos.If you visit the site you can check out the whole list. Also you should consider the contemporary composer Kapustin, I just heard some of his comps the other day and it's brilliant stuff, I highly recomend that everyone should check him out.

David

[artist]

The 19th-century? I have an original suggestion which is a lesser-known piano concerto from the Romantic period. It is a really exciting showstopper when well -performed. Saint Saens Piano concerto #2, is dramatically his finest and has a slam-bang , fast final movement in the form of a Romantic tarantella. I heard a pianist perform this concerto  once, and it brought the audience to it's feet.

It sounded like it requires great chops. If you have them, you will want to look into it

[rachfan]

Take a look at the Scriabin Concerto in F# minor (1896) in three movements-- Allegro,  Andante, and Allegro moderato.
It is lyrically neo-romantic in style, hauntingly beautiful, and puts demands on the pianist.  It seems at once restrained, yet is very powerful in different ways at the same time.  It's also not heard as much as it ought to be, so also meets your criterion of less commonly heard concertos.  My sense is that it was somewhat over shadowed by the Rachmaninoff Concertos and Rhapsody.  But it's a great concerto in its own right.   Sometimes it makes a statement not to play a tired "war horse".  Also, people enjoy hearing a wonderful work that is not overplayed.  I think you'd like this concerto a lot.

[frederic]

Thanks

I will just add something
I personally like concertos which have big chords, octaves, glissando more than those which are sort of 'shy' sounding. But its just a thought.

[Le-ackt]

Liszt 's Piano Concertos
i rarely heard performance of Liszt's concertos
or symphonic peoms . but in biography of Liszt , there exist , in numbers of them

[mikey6]

what, these people suggesting Liszt, Schumann and Saint-Saens gmin as rarely performed?

[jre58591]

why, just WHY did you bump such an OLD thread?

[Etude]

Perhaps a tribute to classicarts?

[tompilk]

Carl Vine! His concerto has big chords, and is quite romantic for a modern piece. To play it with an orchestra would be a real treat. It doesn't sound impossible either. That or Martucci's 1st. Looking at the score, it's not impossible. I want to play either of these some day...
Tom

[hodi]

Anton Rubinstein Piano Concerto No.4 in D minor

it is beautiful, highly melodic and romantic, difficult (virtuosic as well).
it's rarely played or heard.

[jre58591]

add all of anton rubinstein's other piano/orchestral works to the list as well, especially the 3rd concerto and caprice russe.

[burstroman]

You might check out the Saint-Saens Concerto #1.

[mikey6]

why, just WHY did you bump such an OLD thread?

I was bored, and thought it was funny that they were listing such mainstream concertos as unfamiliar!

[brewtality]

Ruby 3rd pwns the 4th imo. But they're both pieces that deserve to be played more in public (though the 3rd requires a big cut).

[opus10no2]

I happen to love SS3.

[jre58591]

I happen to love SS3.

i agree.

add all of the bortkiewicz concertos as well.

[soliloquy]

You probably won't be able to get a completely obscure concerto played in a competition, unless it's some tiny one where it's just an accompanist.  If it's orchestra, and you want to be just a little bit avant-garde with your repertoire (although I personally don't suggest it for the concerto) go with Tchaikovsky No. 2, Ginastera No. 1, Barber or Prokofiev No. 5

[jre58591]

dont forget the massenet.

and btw, i got my orchestra to do the arensky fantasia on russian folksongs with me, so anything is possible, skepto.

[brewtality]

i agree.

add all of the bortkiewicz concertos as well.

They are great aren't they? They so deserve to be played more.

[jre58591]

They are great aren't they? They so deserve to be played more.

indeed so. i hope that coombs or someone respectable on hyperion records them for the romantic piano concerto series. those old recordings that koji uploaded are great, but flawed.