Richard Addinsell (arr. Henry Geehl)-Warsaw Concerto (piano solo)

[ronde_des_sylphes]

Inspired by visitor posting an alternative transcription of this piece.  Private informal concert, not perfect but it was fun.

https://soundcloud.com/andrew-wright-35/warsaw-concerto

[visitor]

Hi Ronde, I am super happy you decided to share your version of this solo arrangement by Henry Geehl!  

also tickled to death my upload helped inspire this treat's availability to us!

I have a particular soft spot and speacial interest in this genre of music. I listen to pretty much every version of these things (and the popularity of this work sparked a bit if a publishijg spree in the 40's which eventually included Cornish Rhapsody, Alameim Concerto, Dream of Olwen, London Fantasia, Sweedish Rhapsody, Spellbound Concerto, Meditteranean Concerto eyc.)

i amassed a collection of the above scores and believe Geehl was involved in one or two of these other pieces in the genre as well . The others were all but forgotten but this piece endures....He does a great job at tastefully giving the piano access to those juicy orchestral interludes etc.

your playing of this piece is the most personal, unique and one of the MOST enjoyable i have ever heard. Im so glad i had a chance to hear this.  Given my investment of probably more than 350 hours of work on the concerto in prep for the piano + [wind] ensemble i worked on , that says a lot, my ear for the work is tired, so its gotta be a gem or i quickly lose interest.

as much as i love the work, my ear needs to hear something new and truly special to keep my interest and your rendition did that immediately.

In particular the stretching and compressing of at those arpegio flourishes , they breathe...sound alive and with an ebb and flow that permeates you entire perfirmance. Wow.

I like your choice of tempo amd how restrained you keep it in spots, then BANG your fingers are off to the races in other spots. Generally i preffer an overall slower approach, the solo version you played lends itself better to it, i remember having to compromise for a faster clip on my work w the conductor, your choice here is spot on. There is a trap of making it overly sentimental, its a tragic work, the context of the times it came from and the movie support this. You avoided the trap w poise where necesdary and romantic flair at other spits
  a difficult combo to pul off.

your melodies sing and you have a knack for amping up the smaltz that i think is key to making the quieter places work well w the contrast of the  bombastic entraces of the piano in other places.

again Bravo on giving these ears  of mine somethig fresh and excitng to experience on what has sort of become a war horse of sorts in my world.
 
i read the piece referred to as the wonderdul and awful warsaw concerto, recently started to understand where that moniker comes from. At this pioint there is not a lot in the middle, it pops or fizzles. You said its hard to go wrong w the work, i agree,  however it is hard to make it shine among those that work

 
Splendid performance
 I am only sorry i could not see/hear it live

PS I know you would absolutely crush it w some of the other pieces in this genre of light war music and pseucoconcertos. If you are interested in playing some of the others reach out to me via pm and i can release some of the rarer scores ive aquired over the years to you if you wish to record them  (as i aim to as well) as a few i am pretty certain have no extant recorded performances available (i have multuple versions of some as well as publishers did abridged or theme from versions along w full on transcriptions of them)

[ronde_des_sylphes]

Thanks - glad it hit the schmalzy spot

It was my first time in public with it and some things did go wrong, but I've got a lot of confidence that if I choose to record it properly I'll get good results. I saw no point in holding back: it's not the sort of music where one should, imo. The more emotional affect, the better. I refuse to worry about "taste" here - I'll save that for the day I go back to Beethoven sonatas. Possibly. 

Yes, I'm interested in whatever hidden treasures your score archive might contain. It goes almost without saying in the context of some of my recent posts that I am incredibly preoccupied with putting a big collection of recordings together just now and only once I've finished that will I feel free to think about "what next"? My initial feeling is that I would quite like to studio record this piece, and also the solo concerto I wrote - or harder still, orchestrate it properly. Eek. I'll send you a pm shortly with a bit more info.

[mjames]

bravissimo
Not familiar with this work but it's safe to say that I've fallen in love with it! Thx for sharing.

[ronde_des_sylphes]

Thanks. It's a wonderful relic from the golden age of film music.