The Scherzo from Litolff's Fourth Concerto has long been a Classical lollipop; now find out what the rest sounds like …
Litolff
was one of the great virtuosi of the nineteenth century. His five
Concertos Symphoniques (the first of which is now unfortunately lost)
were of major influence in the transition from the Classically-derived
concertos of Hummel, Moscheles and Chopin to the more symphonic
late-Romantic concertos. He pioneered the use of a four-movement
structure which included a Scherzo (as in Brahms's Second Concerto) and
gave the orchestra much more of the thematic material. Indeed, although
the piano writing is very brilliant, much of it is accompanimental. The
Second Concerto is a real rarity, the orchestral parts proving very hard
to locate. This is probably its first performance in over 130 years. Hyperion
Henry Charles Litolff (1818-1891)
Concerto symphonique No 2 in B minor Op 22 [32'03]
Concerto symphonique No 4 in D minor Op 102 [37'42]
Credits :
Conductor – Andrew Litton
Orchestra – Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
Piano – Peter Donohoe
sábado, 2 de março de 2024
LITOLFF : Concerto Symphonique No 2 In B Minor (First Recording) • Concerto Symphonique No 4 In D Minor (Andrew Litton · Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra · Peter Donohoe) (1997) Serie The Romantic Piano Concerto – 14 | FLAC (image+.cue), lossless
terça-feira, 27 de fevereiro de 2024
LITOLFF : Concerto Symphonique No 3 In E Flat Major • Concerto Symphonique No 5 In C Minor (First Recording) (Peter Donohoe · BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra · Andrew Litton) (2001) The Romantic Piano Concerto – 26 | FLAC (image+.cue), lossless
This recording is the companion to Donohoe and Litton's earlier
recording of Litolff's Concerto Symphoniques 2 & 4 (CDA66889) and
completes our survey of the composer's works for piano and orchestra
(Litolff's first concerto was never published and is lost).
Both
works owe the 'Symphonique' title to their four-movement structure (all
Litolff's concertos contain a Scherzo in addition to the three
conventional movements), and the importance of the orchestra in their
thematic development. The Third Concerto was (along with the Fourth) the
most popular in Litolff's lifetime and was written for performance in
the Netherlands. It uses two popular Dutch melodies which no doubt
explains it early success. The Fifth Concerto is the most obscure of the
four extant works yet it is the most ambitious in scale with a
particularly imposing orchestral exposition. Unfortunately by the time
the work was composed (1867) Litolff had faded from the public eye and
the work received few, if any, performances. It's Scherzo, obviously
modelled on the equivalent 'hit' piece from the Fourth Concerto, has the
potential to be almost as popular, though it's virtuosic leaping octave
passages are likely to deter all but the most muscular of pianists. Hyperion
Henry Charles Litolff (1818-1891)
Concerto symphonique No 3 in E flat 'National Hollandais' Op 45[30'47]
Concerto symphonique No 5 in C minor Op 123[35'08]
Credits :
Conductor – Andrew Litton
Leader – Elisabeth Layton
Orchestra – BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Piano – Peter Donohoe
