Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1 [LP][Limited Edition]

Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1 [LP][Limited Edition]
- vinyl album/LP (12" size)
- released 2015 in Germany by Deutsche Grammophon (138 822)
- Genre: Classical
The present recording is a testimony in sound to a most important event in the artistic life of Vienna: a performance of Tchaikovsky s First Piano Concerto given by Sviatoslav Richter with Herbert von Karajan conducting the Vienna Symphony Orchestra.
This work concluded a most fruitful year of the composer s life. In December 1874, after being, as he wrote completely immersed in the composition of a piano concerto , he completed the score. This concerto was originally dedicated to the pianist Nicholas Rubinstein. However, he declared it to be worthless and utterly unplayable , a verdict which deeply offended Tchaikovsky. He immediately creased the dedication, inscribing the concerto instead to Hans von BÃ¼low, who conducted its first performance in the Music Hall, Boston, on the 25th October 1875. The first movement commences with a splendid Introduction. After a short orchestral prelude characterized by horn calls the soloist enters with a sequence of powerful chords against the finely flowing principal subject played by the strings. The Allegro con spirito opens with a rhythmically profiled principal theme based on a Ukrainian folksong, the Song of the Blind . Two other themes appear as subsidiary subjects: a lyrical episode for wind instruments and a melodic phrase played by muted strings. The animated dialogue between orchestra and solo instrument leads, in brilliant crescendi, to three solo cadenzas as the climaxes of the movement.
The second movement is laid out in three sections. In the Andante semplice the strings, pizzicato, accompany the cantabile theme of the flute, creating the atmosphere of a noctural serenade. The piano enters, playing its part in the music-making by night. In the Prestissimo middle section Tchaikovsky made use of the French chanson Il faut s amuser, danser et rire .
The Rondo Finale, an Allegro con fuoco, is full of the dancing verve of Russian folk music. The stamping principal theme is first given out by the soloist, then the orchestra enters to add emphasis. The amazing vehemence of the brilliant collaboration between soloist and orchestra distinguishes this movement, whose highly effective virtuosity and spirited musical substance are equally impressive.
Who among living pianists could be better equipped to perform this Concert a la Russe in a manner true to its nature than Sviatoslav Richter?
This artist comes of a musical family, and was born in 1915 at Zhitomir in the Ukraine. By the time he was eight he was an accomplished pianist, and at the age of 19 he gave his first recital (works by Chopin) in Odessa. Three years later he went to Moscow, where he completed his studies under Heinrich Neuhaus.
Concert tours in the Soviet Union, and also, since 1960, in Western Europe and the USA, have given Richter a universal reputation as a phenomenal virtuoso pianist. His style of playing, distinguished at once by a rare degree of objectivity and boundless subjectivity, has enabled him to celebrate great triumphs in all parts of the world, and to become the outstanding interpreter of the entire classical-romantic repertoire.
Country USA
Brand Deutsche Grammophon
Manufacturer Deutsche Grammophon
Binding Vinyl
ItemPartNumber 138 822
ReleaseDate 2015-02-24
UnitCount 1
UPCs 028947943853
EANs 0028947943853

Country	USA
Brand	Deutsche Grammophon
Manufacturer	Deutsche Grammophon
Binding	Vinyl
ItemPartNumber	138 822
ReleaseDate	2015-02-24
UnitCount	1
UPCs	028947943853
EANs	0028947943853

Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1 [LP][Limited Edition]

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