Ignaz Brüll - Piano Concertos; Andante & Allegro (Martin Roscoe)

Information

Composer: Ignaz Brüll

1. Piano Concerto No. 1 in F major, Op. 10: I. Allegro moderato - Cadenza - Tempo I
2. Piano Concerto No. 1 in F major, Op. 10: II. Andante. Molto expressivo - attacca:
3. Piano Concerto No. 1 in F major, Op. 10: III. Finale. Presto
4. Andante and Allegro, Op. 88: I. Andante moderato, con moto
5. Andante and Allegro, Op. 88: II. Allegro vivace
6. Piano Concerto No. 2 in C major, Op. 24: I. Allegro moderato
7. Piano Concerto No. 2 in C major, Op. 24: II. Andante ma non troppo - attacca:
8. Piano Concerto No. 2 in C major, Op. 24: III. Allegro

Martin Roscoe, piano
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Martyn Brabbins, conductor

Date: 1999
Label: Hyperion
http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDA67069

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Review

Ignaz Brull (1846-1907) is remembered today for two things: first his hugely successful opera Das goldene Kreuz, and secondly, for being a member of Brahms’s circle in Vienna. His association with Brahms has to some extent militated against an independent evaluation of his work, something this recording should go some way towards redressing. As so often with earlier volumes, we are indebted to Hyperion’s Romantic Piano Concerto series for unearthing such a wealth of wonderful music and presenting it so superbly.

Brull was an early developer (the booklet contains a photograph of him aged 24 with a six-inch beard!) and his two piano concertos are youthful works. The first was written when he was just 14, and it shows an incredible fertility of ideas and maturity of formal and orchestral handling. The first movement is bold and passionate, and the finale is witty and brilliant, but it is the powerful central Andante that most impresses. The Second Concerto, written when Brull was 22, is a more accomplished work, with a stronger melodic vein and more varied and imaginative orchestral writing. After its publication in 1875 it was more widely played than the First Concerto, and unlike the other works on this disc it has been recorded before (by Frank Cooper on Genesis). The Andante and Allegro, Op. 88 (1902) is a more mature work, the lyrical first section (based on an earlier unpublished song) offset by a sparkling finale.

The performances are exemplary, full of warmth and character from soloist and orchestra. Indeed, this is one of the finest discs I’ve heard from Roscoe, his muscularity and authoritative firmness of style complemented by his delicacy and range of colour. And the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra offer tonal refinement and some lovely woodwind playing. All this is helped by the full and clean recorded sound – the clarity, balance and tonal blending really are magnificent – and the lucid and informative booklet-essay further adds to the value of this disc. Another Hyperion triumph.

-- Tim Parry, Gramophone

More reviews:
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/may99/brull.htm
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2002/Oct02/Brull.htm
http://www.amazon.com/Br%C3%BCll-Piano-Concerti-Romantic-Concerto/dp/B00000IAE0

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Ignaz Brüll (7 November 1846 – 17 September 1907) was a Moravian born pianist and composer who lived and worked in Vienna. His operatic compositions included Das Goldene Kreuz (The Golden Cross), which became a repertory work for several decades after its first production in 1875, and a small corpus of finely crafted works for the concert hall and recitals. Brüll's compositional style was lively but unabashedly conservative, in the vein of Mendelssohn and Schumann. Brüll was also highly regarded as a sensitive concert pianist. In recent years, Brüll's concert music has been revived on CD.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignaz_Br%C3%BCll

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Martin Roscoe (born 3 August 1952 in Halton, Runcorn, Cheshire) is an English classical pianist, who performs as a concerto soloist, as a recitalist and as a chamber musician. He studied at the Royal Manchester College of Music with Gordon Green and Marjorie Clementi. He has a repertoire of over 100 concertos performed or recorded. His chamber music partnerships include Peter Donohoe, Tasmin Little, Jennifer Pike and many more. Having had over 500 broadcasts, including seven BBC Prom appearances, Martin is one of the most regularly played pianists on BBC Radio 3.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Roscoe

http://www.martinroscoe.co.uk

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