Search - Alfred Walter :: FURTWANGLER: Piano Concerto in B Minor

Massive Piano Concerto gets Competent Performance

mahlerii@aol.com | Richfield, MN | 08/08/1999

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Furtwangler as a composer is not very well known. His style seems to be a combination of Mahler, Bruckner and Wagner. If there is any originality in this music, it is in the sheer length and the seriousness of his intentions. The problem is, there is so much seriousness and not much lightheartedness. For instance, the final 30 seconds of the first movement is a mad dash, but the rest of the movement is rather dark and serious. This is not the longest piano concerto written (Busoni's takes the prize for that, for now) but it might seem rather long for those not familiar with his compositions. This is the only recording, and it will do but is far from perfect. The sound quality is scrawny, and the orchestra's imperfections are highlighted instead of hidden. The pianist, David Lively (who has also recorded the Busoni concerto) is impressive, but the piano sound is clattery. There was a Pilz compact disc of Edwin Fischer and Furtwangler conducting from a concert of the first performance. This is much preferable although the sound quality is even worse, but you get a better idea of the work. This is a work for Marc-Andre Hamelin to tackle-he is very good about making these super-hard pieces easier to listen to."