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Arensky & Bortkiewicz Piano Concertos - Description PDF
Arensky & Bortkiewicz Piano Concertos - Description PDF
Sergeij Bortkiewicz
(Kharkov, Ukraine, February 16, 1877 - Vienna, October 25, 1952)
Piano Concerto no. 1 in B flat major, op. 16 (1912)
I. Lento - Allegro deciso [16:50] - II. Andante sostenuto [6:39]
III. Molto vivace e con brio [12:14]
At the end of his balanced and informative sleeve-note Jeremy Nicholas suggests that “there must
always be a place for those like Arensky and Bortkiewicz who reflect so elegantly and expertly on
what has gone before, rather than shake us by the ears and grab us (sometimes screaming) into the
future”. That’s well said (though other alternatives do suggest themselves) and pertinent to the
concertos here recorded. Anton Arensky’s Op. 2 is an apprentice piece from 1881, an engaging
cocktail of Liszt, Chopin and Grieg, with echoes of Liszt’s E flat Concerto having the first and last
word; Sergei Bortkiewicz’s Op. 16, premiered in 1912, is a true product of Russia’s Silver Age, the
scent of the Nicholas and Alexandra era evoked by a blend of Rachmaninov and Parsifal. All three
works are reminders of the pleasures of easy-listening music from an age before the whole concept
was hijacked by commercialism. If this is the sort of thing you like, you’ll surely like this sort of
thing, as they say. Both concertos fall pleasantly on the ear neither it seems to me, is destined for
concert-hall revival; both find their natural place on disc. Stephen Coombs and the BBC Scottish
pay the music the compliment of careful preparation and sensitive, wholehearted advocacy.
Hyperion’s balance has the piano rather backward, not allowing it to sparkle as it ideally should,
and there are times when the music seems to demand a more outsize soloistic personality.
Otherwise this is a model issue from a source which has become a byword for the best in enterprise.
Gramophone.co.uk
Stephen Coombs
“… A couple of piano concertos that have been waiting in the wings for the committed advocacy
they deserve and have finally received’ (Fanfare, USA) “… Coombs is an artist of great sensitivity
and effortless virtuosity, and he makes the best possible case for both” (The Penguin Guide to
Compact Discs) “…Coombs’s musicianship and authority carry all before it” (Piano International)