Rodion Shchedrin; Igor Stravinsky - Piano Concerto No. 5; Firebird Suite (Denis Matsuev; Mariss Jansons)

Information

Composer: Rodion Shchedrin; Igor Stravinsky

• (01-07) Stravinsky - L'oiseau de feu, Suite
• (08-10) Shchedrin - Concerto for piano and orchestra No. 5

Denis Matsuev, piano
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
Mariss Jansons, conductor

Date: 2005
Label: Sony Classical

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Review

PERFORMANCE: **** / SOUND: ****

Dedicated to the Finnish pianist Olli Mustonen, who premiered it in 1999, Rodion Shchedrin’s Fifth Piano Concerto is an accessible and expertly written work. Shades of Prokofiev haunt the brilliant outer movements whilst Shostakovich is evoked in the intense string polyphony of the central Andante. Yet those who have heard Shchedrin’s earlier piano concertos will certainly recognise his authorship in various turns of phrase and in the vivacious relationship that is set up between piano and orchestra. Nowhere is this dialogue more confrontational and exciting than in the perpetuum mobile finale which unleashes a veritably orgiastic flurry of activity from both protagonists.

It’s little wonder then that the Munich audience responds so enthusiastically to this performance which introduces us to yet another Russian lion of the keyboard. Without doubt Denis Matsuev delivers the piano part with astonishing bravura, and Jansons ensures that the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra is kept on its toes to guarantee impeccable ensemble throughout. Although the disc as a whole offers rather short measure, the Stravinsky Firebird Suite that precedes the Shchedrin is no mere aperitif. Luxuriously recorded in the Munich’s Philharmonie am Gasteig, it not only demonstrates Jansons’s orchestra responding so incisively and imaginatively to his direction, but also highlights interesting textural details that are not always captured on other recordings.

-- Erik Levi, BBC Music Magazine

Another review:
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2006/Mar06/Stravinsky_Shchedrin_82876703262001.htm

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Rodion Shchedrin (born 16 December 1932 in Moscow) is a Russian composer and pianist. He is also a citizen of Lithuania and Spain. Shchedrin studied at the Moscow Choral School and Moscow Conservatory under Yuri Shaporin and Yakov Flier. Shchedrin's early music is tonal, colourfully orchestrated and often includes snatches of folk music, while some later pieces use aleatoric and serial techniques. In the west the music of Shchedrin has won popularity mainly through the work of Mstislav Rostropovich who has made several successful recordings. Shchedrin is a virtuoso pianist and organist.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodion_Shchedrin

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Denis Matsuev (born June 11, 1975 in Irkutsk) is a Russian classical pianist. Matsuev entered the Moscow Conservatory as a student of Aleksey Nasedkin. After 1997, he studied under Sergei Dorensky. Matsuev won the 11th International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1998 at age 23. Since then, Matsuev has become a virtuoso in the grandest of Russian pianistic tradition and has quickly established himself as one of the most prominent pianists of his generation. He has performed with best known orchestras and conductors on the stage today. In 2016 Matsuev was announced as 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Ambassador.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denis_Matsuev
http://matsuev.com/en/

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Mariss Jansons (born 14 January 1943 in Riga, Latvia) is a Latvian conductor. His father Arvīds Jansons was assistant to Evgeny Mravinsky at the Leningrad Philharmonic. Jansons studied piano and conducting at the Leningrad Conservatory, and continued his training in Vienna with Hans Swarowsky and in Salzburg with Herbert von Karajan. He was music director of Oslo Philharmonic (1979-2000), Pittsburgh Symphony (1997-2004) and Royal Concertgebouw (2002-2015). Currently, Jansons is serving as music director of the Bavarian Radio Symphony (contract extended to 2021).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariss_Jansons

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