The great composer premiered the piece himself before treating the audience to some of his famous improvisations. Mozart’s utterly delightful Piano Concerto No.21 was written in 1785. We’re heading back to the classical era for our next concerto. ‘I shall not alter a single note,’ I answered, ‘I shall publish the work exactly as it is!’ This I did.” And we are so glad you did, Pyotr. pointed out many places where it would have to be completely revised and said that if I reworked the concerto according to his demands, then he would do me the honour of playing my thing at his concert. So it’s all the more surprising that when Tchaikovsky first showed and played it to the pianist Nikolai Rubinstein, the pianist tore it to absolute shreds, as Tchaikovsky later described: “R. This is one of those pieces of music that everyone knows – even if they don’t realise it, like Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony or Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. It was apparently Rachmaninov’s favourite of all his piano concertos. The pianist to whom it was dedicated – Josef Hofmann – never performed it in public and it was the composer himself who gave the premiere in 1909 in New York. Rachmaninov’s Third Piano Concerto is one of the most technically difficult concertos ever written (which is quite something). It even includes a jokey reference to his son’s piano practise – listen out for the scales in the final movement at around 13.40.Īnother war-horse of the piano concerto repertoire from a Romantic great. The piece was written in 1957 for his son’s 19th birthday and it would be fair to say the work is one of the composer’s jollier pieces. But audiences have always begged to differ. The composer himself downplayed this concerto, saying it had “no redeeming artistic merits”. The work was written in 1932 and you can hear the influence of the jazz music that was challenging and revolutionising the classical music world. The French composer Francis Poulenc said of this concerto “You will see for yourself what an enormous step forward it is from my previous work and that I am really entering my great period.” Not one for modesty, but to be fair, this concerto is infectiously wonderful. Poulenc’s Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra It was written in 1868 when the composer was just 24 and opens with a dramatic timpani roll followed by one of the most famous flourishes in classical music. The great Norwegian composer only completed one piano concerto and it has become one of the most recognised in the world (thanks, in part, to this iconic comedy sketch by Morecambe and Wise).
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