Henry Litolff - Concertos Symphoniques Nos. 3 & 5 (Peter Donohoe)

Information

Composer: Henry Litolff

1. Concerto symphonique No. 3 in E flat major "National Hollandais", Op. 45: I. Maestoso
2. Concerto symphonique No. 3 in E flat major "National Hollandais", Op. 45: II. Presto
3. Concerto symphonique No. 3 in E flat major "National Hollandais", Op. 45: III. Andante
4. Concerto symphonique No. 3 in E flat major "National Hollandais", Op. 45: IV. Allegro vivace
5. Concerto symphonique No. 5 in C minor, Op. 123: I. Allegro maestoso
6. Concerto symphonique No. 5 in C minor, Op. 123: II. Largo
7. Concerto symphonique No. 5 in C minor, Op. 123: III. Intermède (Scherzo). Vivace
8. Concerto symphonique No. 5 in C minor, Op. 123: IV. Allegro

Peter Donohoe, piano
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Andrew Litton, conductor

Date: 2001
Label: Hyperion
http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDA67210

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Review

Litolff’s intricate and absorbing Third and Fifth Piano Concertos‚ masterfully played

Volume 26 in Hyperion’s engrossing if uneven ‘Romantic Piano Concerto’ series completes Peter Donohoe’s magisterial survey of Litolff’s five piano concertos (sadly‚ the First is lost). Litolff’s dauntingly capacious and ambitious structures accommodate every possible style‚ looking forwards and backwards Janus­style‚ yet reaching out in the strange almost Alkanesque oddity of the Fifth Concerto’s last two movements towards a more personal and distinctive style. Admired by Tchaikovsky‚ Liszt and Berlioz (though with some telling reservations)‚ Litolff enjoyed a hectic career (part idyll‚ part drama and novelistic intrigue according to the pianist Marmontel) which is mirrored in writing of a formidable intricacy. So even if claims that he was ‘the English Liszt’ and that his development sections are similar to late Beethoven seem far­fetched‚ the sheer energy and resource of Litolff’s writing are absorbing.

Few pianists of any nationality could approach‚ let alone top‚ Peter Donohoe’s blistering virtuosity in these works. His performances throughout are as rock­steady as they are dazzling‚ sweeping aside torrents of notes with both affection and an imperious authority. Hear him in the fugal cadenza of the Fifth Concerto’s finale‚ in the exultant whirl which opens the Third Concerto’s finale‚ or (to recall for a moment Litolff’s most popular work) in his ferocious clip through the Scherzo of the Fourth Concerto‚ and you can only marvel at such unfaltering command‚ ideally complemented by Andrew Litton and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. The recordings are even more successful in terms of sound and balance than on Volume 14 (4/97)‚ and Jeremy Dibble’s superb notes are a major asset. The Fifth Concerto receives its first recording‚ and this is an invaluable issue for lovers of intriguing repertoire and piano­playing of pulverising mastery.

-- Gramophone

More reviews:

BBC Music Magazine  PERFORMANCE: **** / SOUND: *****

ClassicsToday  ARTISTIC QUALITY: 9 / SOUND QUALITY: 9

http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2002/Aug02/Litolff35.htm

http://www.amazon.com/The-Romantic-Piano-Concerto-Symphoniques/dp/B00005MGAC

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Henry Litolff (5 February 1818 – 5 or 6 August 1891) was a piano virtuoso, composer of Romantic music and music publisher. A prolific composer, he is today known mainly for a single brief work – the scherzo from his Concerto Symphonique No. 4 in D minor – and remembered as the founder of the Collection Litolff, a highly regarded publishing imprint of classical music scores. His most notable works were the five concertos symphoniques, essentially symphonies with piano obbligato. The first one, in D minor, is lost. His music was admired by Franz Liszt and he was the dedicatee of Liszt's own First Piano Concerto.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Litolff

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Peter Donohoe (born 18 June 1953 in Manchester, England) is an English classical pianist. Donohoe exclusively signed with EMI Records in 1988, beginning a relationship that lasted until 1993, producing a major collection of CDs, which tend largely towards 20th century composers. Since 1993, he has made many recordings on a freelance basis with Deutsche Gramophon, Hyperion, Chandos, BMG, Warner and Naxos. His series of recordings devoted to British works for piano and orchestra was inaugurated in 2001, growing to a catalogue of 14 works.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Donohoe_(pianist)
http://www.peter-donohoe.com/en/home

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