If one wants to hear third-rate Romantic piano concertos, this is the way to hear them: full-bodied, hot-blooded, and totally without inhibitions. That the First Concerto of Xaver Scharwenka and the Fourth Concerto of Anton Rubinstein are third-rate is hard to dispute. Both are well-composed in the height of late nineteenth century Romantic style with magniloquent gestures and earth-shaking climaxes, but both are superficially constructed with by-the-number exposition and by-the-books development sections. Both are ...
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If one wants to hear third-rate Romantic piano concertos, this is the way to hear them: full-bodied, hot-blooded, and totally without inhibitions. That the First Concerto of Xaver Scharwenka and the Fourth Concerto of Anton Rubinstein are third-rate is hard to dispute. Both are well-composed in the height of late nineteenth century Romantic style with magniloquent gestures and earth-shaking climaxes, but both are superficially constructed with by-the-number exposition and by-the-books development sections. Both are brilliantly written for the soloist with dashing scales, rushing figurations, massive chords, and monumental double octaves, but empty of distinctive melodic or harmonic content. Scharwenka and Rubinstein's concertos are amusing while they're playing, but they're completely forgotten after they're over. But, if their worth is debatable, at least in these performances, they are incredibly exciting and wholly captivating as long as they're playing. Marc-André Hamelin is a super virtuoso of...
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Add this copy of Rubinstein & Scharwenka: Piano Concertos to cart. $22.45, good condition, Sold by Stephen White Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Bradford, WEST YORKSHIRE, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2005 by Hyperion Records Ltd.
