4260085535392

Berlin 1923: Beethoven & Schulhoff Piano Concertos

Herbert Schuch, WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne

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Format: CD

Cat No: AVI8553539

Release Date:  12 January 2024

Label:  C-Avi

Packaging Type:  Jewel Case

No of Units:  1

Barcode:  4260085535392

Genres:  Classical  Orchestral  

  • Description

    Pianist Herbert Schuch looks at the connections between Beethoven's Piano Concertos and the Concerto for Piano and Small Orchestra by Erwin Schulhoff.

    Schuch: "Indeed, it's quite exciting to look at what was going on exactly 100 years ago - perhaps because 1923 doesn't seem all that distant to us. Certain events and circumstances seem to mirror one another a century apart. From a musical point of view, Erwin Schulhoff's piano concerto is a truly interesting work that has not attained the recognition it deserves. . ...

    In terms of style, the piano concerto, composed between 11 June and 10 July 1923, is one of those works where Schulhoff radically deals with the dance types of jazz, which had crossed the Atlantic at the end of the First World War and spread out from Paris until taking all of Europe by storm..... No other pair of composers could be more different - on paper - than these two.

    Schulhoff always took a decisive stance against traditionalism. Indeed, he may have been something of an iconoclast, but he was also a talented and well-trained pianist - a pianist who wanted to earn success in that very role. Of course, Schulhoff studied the Beethoven concertos, performed them, and ultimately also took the opportunity (like many other composers before him) to put his stamp on these works by writing his own cadenzas......

    ...It was also in Berlin - in February 1923, to be exact - that Schulhoff conceived and worked out the cadenzas for the first four Beethoven piano concertos ......." (Excerpts from the booklets notes)



    GRAMOPHONE EDITORS' CHOICE FEBRUARY 2024



    "this Beethoven performance is a delight overall. Schuch comes across as a sparkling raconteur, one who knows how to make his storytelling especially vivid, whether he's pellucidly articulating a florid passage or sculpting a melody." – Gramophone, Editors' Choice February 2024



    "What a fascinating disc this is! […] The finale is a joy, Schuch's clarity perfect for this piece; strings are perfectly disciplined by Chuang while Shcuch's treble/bass dialogues (the hand crossings) are full of character" – Classical Explorer



    "this new [recording] is uncommonly effective, well recorded, sharp-edged and witty, with Herbert Schuch a crisp soloist...Schuch has a way of maintaining pulse and energy while finding room for rubato, and his gentle pulling back in some episodes is spine-tingling." – BBC Music Magazine *****



  • Tracklisting

      Disc 1

      Side 1

      • 1. Beethoven: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 1 in C Major, Op. 15 (1795) - I Allegro con brio
      • 2. Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 1 in C Major, Op. 15 (1795) - II Largo
      • 3. Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 1 in C Major, Op. 15 (1795) - III Rondo. Allegro
      • 4. Schulhoff: Concerto for Piano and Small Orchestra No. 2, Op. 43 WV 66 (1923) - I Molto sostenuto
      • 5. Concerto for Piano and Small Orchestra No. 2, Op. 43 WV 66 (1923) - II Sostenuto
      • 6. Concerto for Piano and Small Orchestra No. 2, Op. 43 WV 66 (1923) - III Allegro alla Jazz
      • 7. Concerto for Piano and Small Orchestra No. 2, Op. 43 WV 66 (1923) - IV Subito sostenuto ma alla breve. Alla zingaresca
      • 8. Concerto for Piano and Small Orchestra No. 2, Op. 43 WV 66 (1923) - V Tempo I (Allegro molto)
      • 9. Beethoven: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 1 in C Major, Op. 15 - I Allegro con brio (cadenza: Erwin Schulhoff)