THE
ARTS
4271 Concertos - Piano, Violin, Cello
We have, of course, seen the romantic piano concertos - from Tchaikovsky and Grieg, - many times and I have always been swept away by the beauty of these. We have also seen most of the Beethoven and many of the Mozart piano concertos, and the grandeur of the former’s is marvelous; especially the Emperor (5th) concerto. At the other extreme, and surprisingly, Gerschwin’s piano concerto, although relatively unknown, beautifully demonstrates how a jazz element can be incorporated.
The surprise was Rachmaninov. In my earlier days I was less than enthusiastic about his work. Now I rate all three of his piano concertos, along with his ‘Variations on a Theme of Paganini’, at the top of the tree.
In terms of cello concertos, nothing beats that of Elgar; though technically I prefer the recording by Paul Tortellier to that of Jacqueline du Pre. The latter, however, had a marvelous presence; though the tragic sight of her reduced by MS to playing the triangle was almost too much to bear. The Brahms and Tchaikovsky violin concertos are also favourites of mine. I have, though, a predilection for double concertos (violin and cello), especially that by Brahms. Above all, though, I love the Triple Concerto by Beethoven – though I have never been able to see this in live performance.
In terms of the soloists, in the early 1960s we saw Eileen Joyce and Myra Hess, then the leading pianists; as well as Barry Tuckwell, whose rendition of Mozart horn concertos was unsurpassed. Since then we have seen many soloists, but these blur into the mists of time.
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