your Favorite piano Concerto

[ahinton]

What do you think is his least strongest??

Somehow I don't get the impression that you'd give a monkey's - and you should in any case written "least strong" or "weakest" rather than "least strongest" as you did.

Best,

Alistair

[thalbergmad]

I have no idea what gives you this impression.

Thal

[ahinton]

I have no idea what gives you this impression.

Then please tell us why it shouldn't.

Best,

Alistair

[thalbergmad]

If you don't want to discuss Vaughan Williams that is up to you.

Have you heard the recording of the Soro Concerto which is on you tube? Late romantic drama at its best arguably.

Thal

[ahinton]

If you don't want to discuss Vaughan Williams that is up to you.

Indeed so, but I have no problem whatsoever in entering into discussions of Vaughan Williams, as long as it is accepted by those who read any contribution that I may make to such discussions that, regardless of how highly I value some of his works, I do not happen to believe that he was much of a piano composer, for all that he studied with Ravel (his junior by almost three years) - OK?

Best,

Alistair

[argerichfan]

Elgar's piano writing in those penny-dreadful piano and orchestra works, the Concert Allegro and the reconstructed piano concerto certainly leaves quite a bit to be desired, yet the writing in the violin sonata and piano quintet is surely rather more idiomatic.

Well I suppose it cannot be argued that Elgar's calling was for the piano, though the opus number of the Concert Allegro (41) puts it just after one of his greatest works, Cockaigne.  I do understand that he revised the work considerably, though the basic musical material is really rather wonderful, and I've come to love the work, shortcomings and all. 

You made a very thoughtful reply on the Radio 3 message board- Stockhausen or Wagner?  I know very little of Stockhausen's music (unlike Wagner), so cannot really contribute there.  BTW, my user name -not seen terribly often on that board- is completely unrelated to my user name here.   I would like to be more active on that board, and maybe you will put 2 and 2 together someday. 

[nearenough]

Chopin 1 because it is filled with glorious melodies and I had listened to it early in my life and it reminds me of the mystery of being young and experiencing great music for the first time. The rondo-like episode toward the end of the first movement is so captivating and delicious -- the repetitive da-dA-da-da-da...da-daA-da-da-da- with the trills in the left hand seems hard to play but so well done (by Rubinstein) amd at the same time to a briliant invention by CHopin it seems a work of genius.

Imagine complete memory loss for all music and having to relisted to it all for the first time again. Could you react in the same way??

Ravel's concerto for the left hand is so spacious, so wickedly spread out for that one hand as to be able to present the piece as a fully bimanual presentation, with the jazzy aspects, the shifting of clear ideas one after the other. The slowly accreting buildup of tension and an unbearable climax at the end make it a true masterpiece.

Rachmaninoffs 4th has been neglected but there are one or two typical glorious melodic enchantments with which R managed to pull off amidst its rough and tumble somewhat structural skelton.  Bravo, Sergei, we are still listening and amazed.

[11ngerman]

Here are mine!
Rach 3
Saint Saens 1 and 5
Prokofiev 2 and 5
Chopin 1 and 2
Ravel
Beethoven 1
Mozart 23

[forgottenbooks]

Mine are Rachmaninoff's second and third.

[mozartk365]

Mozart concerto in c minor, K.491 or Hummel concerto in b minor, Op.89

[pianoplayjl]

Here are mine:
Rachmaninoff 2nd and 3rd concertos
Chopin concerto 1
Liszt Totentanz
Liszt concerto 1
Tchaikovsky concerto 1
Prokofiev concerto 1

[pianolilly]

There are so many beautiful concertos. Top on the list today is the Emperor piano concerto. I just heard a live performance yesterday of the concerto with Horacio Gutierrez and the St Louis Symphony. Oh, so beautiful.

Others on my favorite list include:
Rach 2 and 3
Prokofiev 2 and 3
Grieg no 1
Bartok no 1
Brahms 1 and 2

[drkilroy]

My favourites:

Ravel's in G (third movement)
Gershwin's in F (first movement),
Grieg's in A (I do not think I can choose any movement ).

Best regards, Dr

[pianoplayjl]

The first movement of Grieg's PC in a is the highlight of the whole concerto in my opinion. I especially like the Intro.

[rv]

Scriabin
Rachmaninoff 2
Grieg

[thalbergmad]

The first movement of Grieg's PC in a is the highlight of the whole concerto in my opinion. I especially like the Intro.

Agreed, but it is a shame he did not stop after that.

Thal

[retrouvailles]

If anything, I wish Grieg had finished his second piano concerto. The sketches look mildly interesting.

[thalbergmad]

I don't usually admit to liking works written in the 1960's, but the Lees Piano Concerto No.2 has just left me in a state of exhaustion and I was only listening. Rarely have I heard something with such energy and drive.

Shame I do not have anywhere near the equipment to play this, as I am certain I could burn more calories than I can on the cross trainer.

Thal

[irrational]

Beethoven 4, Rach 3, Beethoven 5, Mozart 23.

But I am trying to find time to discover other less mainstream ones, like Kuhlau or Kabalevsky or Vanhal.

A real pity Dvorak did not know the piano that well. 8(

[zeusje]

- variations symphoniques of franck, seeing it as a piano concerto
- rachmaninoff,  paganini rhapsody
- brahms #1
- rach 3
- chopin 1&2

[jalexh]

- Mozart 9, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 23, 24, 25, 27  
- Beethoven 3, 4, 5
- Schumann
- Brahms 2
- Prokofiev 1, 2, 3, maybe 5
- Berio

Mendelssohn's set isn't bad. I have a soft spot for Shosty 1 although it's far from the best ever written.

[orangesodaking]

Both of the Brahms concertos.

[forgottenbooks]

In order: Rachmaninoff's Third, Rachmaninoff's Second, and Tchaikovsky's First.

[lau]

Prokofiev 1. This concerto has had the greatest impact on me of all i've heard.

[fftransform]

Ginastera Piano Concerto No. 2:

Stravinsky "Movements for Piano and Orchestra":

Ustvolskaya Concerto for Piano, Timpani and Strings:

Sciarrino Piano Concerto "Un'Immagine d'Arpocrate":

Jarrell Piano Concerto "Abschied":

Schnittke Double Piano Concerto:

Hurel Piano Concerto "Aura" (No recording available; explicitly told not to upload)

Durand Piano Concerto:

Hosokawa Piano Concerto "Ans Meer":

For more popular concerti, probably the Saint-Saens 2 and Prokofiev 5.  Can't believe so many people like the Busoni.  Have never been able to sit through that whole thing.  Don't even want to know how bad his other ones are.

[hoohah2]

Oh so many beautiful pieces to choose from!

Top 3:

1 - Prokofiev Concerto 3
2 - Mendelssohn Concerto 1
3 - Beethoven Concerto 4

[black_keys]

 
-Busoni piano concerto

-Alkan concerto for solo piano

[nadia goh]

Definitely Chopin's Piano Concerto No.1. This is the best piece I've ever heard.

Others are: Beethoven's Emperor, Grieg Piano Concerto No.1 and Bach Piano Concerto No.1

[pianoplayjl]

Thalberg's piano concerto is definitely up there. Bortkieweicz' and Henselt's  concerto are not bad either. Come to think of it, I only like Rachmaninoff's 2nd concerto mostly because of the 1st movement.

JL

[albertus_magnus]

I think my top 2 favourites are:

1) Rachmaninov no. 3
2) Tchaikovsky no. 1

Those pieces are my top favorites too.

[sophie117]

Brahms 1. It's definitely not love at first sight but inexhaustible once you 'get' it...
Beethoven 3 & 4. Not fan of the 5 at all 
Mozart 24 in C minor is a beautiful one.

[black_keys]

Kapustin concerto no 4

[pianoxtreme]

I absolutely love Rachmaninoff's 2nd and 3rd concertos.

[ciscoj33]

I was wondering what's the most wonderful piano concerto??

Mine is Tchaikovsky's no.1 in Bb minor.

Top for me is Rachmaninov no 2 in C minor hands down!!!  First heard it when I was 10, and been hooked ever since.  Playing it, however, is a different story.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention my other two favorites:  Tchaikovsky no 1 and Brahms no 1

[patrickd]

1) Busoni piano concerto

2) Brahms 1

[iratior]

Bach's 5th Brandenburg.  De facto, it's a concerto for keyboard.  As well as the best music ever written.  De gustibus non disputandum est.

[austinarg]

I love Tchaikovsky's First, specially this particular rendition 

[zezhyrule]

I really like Liszt's second, though I wouldn't call it my favorite.

[stoudemirestat]

I really like Liszt's second, though I wouldn't call it my favorite.

Likewise. Liszt's works for piano and orchestra get a lot of hate and I don't think they are among his best works, but I think the second, given a good performance, is a masterpiece. Simply gorgeous.

[brianvds]

Bach's 5th Brandenburg.  De facto, it's a concerto for keyboard.  As well as the best music ever written.  De gustibus non disputandum est.

He also made transcriptions of Vivaldi violin concertos for harpsichord, giving us a good idea of what keyboard concerti by Vivaldi would have been like. And he transcribed other of his own concertos for harpsichord. I have a set of three CDs with the whole bunch, and I love them all. But then, this is after all Bach: he never wrote a bad piece.

I wish Schubert wrote a piano concerto. May well have been something interesting.

Other favs:

Mozart 17, 23.
Beethoven 4.
Both by Brahms.
Rach 2 and 3.
Bartok 2 and 3.
Prokofiev 2.

I have a soft spot for plenty others that are more obscure and perhaps not among the greatest, such as some by Hummel, and the Dvorak, which is on the whole very beautiful, even if the piano writing itself isn't all that memorable (and of memory serves it had to be rewritten to make it more "pianistic" seeing as Dvorak was not a pianist.)

It brings up another issue: just how many of the great composers were pianists, and how few were not. :-)

[cazico]

Why don't more people mention the amazing concertos by Dmitry Shostakovich ??
Especially the first one is utterly supurb.

If someone could explain me this I would be very pleased.  

And Moszkowski's concerto is also amazing. I know the concertos by Chopin and Rach is some of the best (my two top favourites are Rach 2 and 3), but I think Shostakovich and Moszkowski should be mentioned more often.

Other amazing ones:
Hummel 2 and 3
Saint Saëns 5
Mozart 21
Prokofiev 3
(Benjamin Britten)
(Ravel)

[49410enrique]

i think it would be more fair to have favorite by category.

i.e. classical, modern, romantic, etc.

my vote for modern goes to the rosza concerto, really sounds like bartok 'movie music' it's incredible. i love the first mvmnt cadenza!
play list of all mvmnts

full screen link of view only
follow along if you like, i don't get tired of this thing!
https://www.scribd.com/two1367565/d/78152200-Rozsa-Concerto-for-Piano-Op-31#fullscreen

[cadenza14224]

It's hard not to be on the bandwagon for this one. But I usually have 3 favorites:

1. Rach 2
2. Mendelssohn 1
3. Chopin 1

i've repeated those on my ipod so many times it should be a crime...

[jbinks]

I personally like all the Mozart piano Concertos.. my favorite is probably no.17 in G major.

[sphince]

other than the "great" concerto's(rach,brahms,tchaikovsky and so on) i'd go for beethoven's 3rd  and scriabin

[akpl16]

I would have to say Rach's Second, nothing beats its majestic and divine quality in my opinion!