A belated thank you for your support, Antonio.

Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Henryk Melcer-Szczawinski - Piano Concertos (Jonathan Plowright)


Information

Composer: Henryk Melcer-Szczawiński
  1. Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor: 1. Maestoso
  2. Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor: 2. Andantino
  3. Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor: 3. Vivo ma non troppo e poi molto accelerando
  4. Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor: 1. Allegro moderato
  5. Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor: 2. Andante non troppo lento
  6. Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor: 3. Allegro con fuoco

Jonathan Plowright, piano
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Christoph König, conductor

Date: 2008
Label: Hyperion
http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDA67630

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Review

A musical alchemist again works his magic on some obscure repertoire

Henryk Melcer (‑Szczwinski) does not merit a mention in every musical reference work. He was born near Warsaw in 1869 and died from a heart attack mid-lecture at that city’s conservatory in 1928. His career, defined by a succession of pedagogic appointments and artistic directorships throughout Europe, is well charted in Joseph A Herter’s valuable booklet.

Not a prolific composer, Melcer, a pupil of Leschetizky, wrote his Piano Concerto No 1 in 1892‑94. It gained a measure of popularity at the time and was first recorded in 1980 by Michael Ponti. Sir Henry Wood, who conducted the work in 1911, thought “it was quite worth hearing once”. I think it is better than that. True, there are passages of glittering superficiality and predictable gestures but these are more than compensated for by its many arresting features like the dramatic fermata in the first movement at 9'26" followed by (most unusually) a full-blown fugue.

The Second Concerto from 1898, also in three movements, is crowned by a hair-raising final Allegro con fuoco, a remarkable tour de force which, were it ever to be heard in a concert hall, would have you on your feet at the end cheering. As with his compelling performances of the two Stojowski concertos (6/02 – not to mention his subsequent Hyperion discs of Paderewski and Bach-Rummel), Plowright enhances his glowing reputation as a musical alchemist of rare distinction with a transcendent technique. The piano/orchestra balance is well focused, captured in a slightly less resonant acoustic than usual in this venue (City Halls, Glasgow) which, in some ways, I prefer. I need hardly add that collectors of this historic Romantic Piano Concerto series need not hesitate.

-- Jeremy NicholasGramophone

More reviews:
ClassicsToday  ARTISTIC QUALITY: 8 / SOUND QUALITY: 10
http://www.classical-music.com/review/melcer
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2008/Jan08/Melcer_CDA67630.htm
http://www.classicalsource.com/db_control/db_cd_review.php?id=5424
http://www.musicalcriticism.com/recordings/cd-melcer-concertos-1207.shtml
http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-romantic-piano-concerto-44-melcer-piano-concertos-nos-1-amp-2-mw0001573212
http://www.amazon.com/Melcer-Piano-Concertos-Nos-Romantic/dp/B000Z6OLOK

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Henryk Melcer-Szczawiński (September 21, 1869 – April 18, 1928) was a Polish composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher. His works include two piano concertos, one in E minor (1892-4) and one in C minor (1898); a violin sonata (1907),[1] and a piano trio in G minor (probably written 1892-4); a tragedy "Protesilas i Laodamia" (1902, libretto by S. Wyspiański), and a Symphony in C minor. Both piano concertos were recorded in the past on Olympia and on Muza, and in 2007 on Hyperion. The Violin Sonata for Violine in G major, the Dumka for Violin and Piano and the Piano Trio, Op. 2 were recorded by the Warsaw Trio for the AP label.

***

Jonathan Plowright (born 1959 in Yorkshire) is a British concert pianist. He studied with Alexander Kelly at the Royal Academy of Music in London, and with Julio Esteban at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore. Plowright performed worldwide as recitalist, appeared with leading orchestras and ensembles, made many commercial recordings and appeared on radio and TV broadcasts. He championed neglected music from Polish Romantic composers, Stojowski, Paderewski and Melcer, which he has recorded for Hyperion Records.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

FLAC, tracks
Links in comment
Enjoy!

2 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Copy Adfly (adf.ly/XXXXXX) or LinkShrink (linkshrink.net/XXXXXX) to your browser's address bar, wait 5 seconds, then click on 'Skip [This] Ad' (or 'Continue') (yellow button, top right).
    If Adfly or LinkShrink ask you to download anything, IGNORE them, only download from file hosting site (mega.nz).
    If you encounter 'Bandwidth Limit Exceeded' problem, try to create a free account on MEGA.

    MEGA
    http://adf.ly/1Rzru1

    booklet
    http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/notes/67630-B.pdf

    ReplyDelete