A composer as prolific as Alan Hovhaness could be expected to compose his share of concertos -- over 30 of his idiosyncratic works bear that designation -- but his use of the form is often outside traditional practice, since he tends to avoid pitting the soloist or soloists against orchestra in a competitive or adversarial role. One might not recognize the Concerto for two pianos and orchestra (1954) as a concerto, since Hovhaness has detached the pianists from an integral relationship with the orchestra, and has instead ...
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A composer as prolific as Alan Hovhaness could be expected to compose his share of concertos -- over 30 of his idiosyncratic works bear that designation -- but his use of the form is often outside traditional practice, since he tends to avoid pitting the soloist or soloists against orchestra in a competitive or adversarial role. One might not recognize the Concerto for two pianos and orchestra (1954) as a concerto, since Hovhaness has detached the pianists from an integral relationship with the orchestra, and has instead assigned them free-floating parts, so that their runs, clusters, and gestures seem to hover randomly around the orchestra's placid chords without making much contact. Pianist and longtime Hovhaness advocate Martin Berkofsky is joined by Atakan Sari in the concerto, and their playing is always distinct, even when the Globalis Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Konstantin Krimets, plays at full capacity. Somewhat less intriguing are Lousadzak -- Concerto for piano and strings (1944) and...
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