Search - Ferruccio Busoni, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Bayerischen Rundfunkorchester :: Ferruccio Busoni: Konzert für Klavier und Orchester mit Schlußchor, Op. 39 / Piano Concerto op. 39

A FORGOTTEN MASTERPIECE FROM AN UNDER-APPRECIATED COMPOSER

11/24/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"QUITE SIMPLY THE MOST AMBITIOUS, LONGEST AND MIND BOGGLING PIANO CONCERTO EVER WRITTEN. THIS IS A MASTERPIECE OF ORCHESTRATION, DEPTH, AND INSPIRATION THAT SIMPLY DESERVES TO BE PERFORMED IN THE MAJOR CONCERT HALLS OF THE WORLD. IT IS TO THE PIANO CONCERTO WHAT BEETHOVEN'S NINTH IS TO THE SYMPHONY. FERRUCCIO BUSONI'S PIANO CONCERTO IS A CULMINATION OF 19TH CENTURY ROMANTICISM, AND IS, IN ITS AMBITION AND SCOPE; A CONCERTO TO END ALL CONCERTO'S. FERRUCCIO BUSONI'S PIANO CONCERTO GENUINELY AND SINCERLY DISPLAYS THE 19TH CENTURY FASINATION WITH THE VIRTUOSO SOLOIST. IT IS TECHNICALLY BRILLIANT AND INSPIRING. HOWEVER, THE MUSIC GOES BEYOND TECHNIQUE AND IS HIGHLY EXPRESSIVE. EACH MOVEMENT REPRESENTS A PERIOD OF FERRUCCIO BUSONI'S LIFE. IT IS AN ACHIEVEMENT OF EPIC PROPORTIONS- INTROSPCETION VS. THE NEED TO EXPRESS ONE'S ROMANTIC PASSIONS. WITH THIS PIANO CONCERTO, COMPLETED IN 1904, FERRUCCIO BUSONI HAS IN ONE PIECE GLORIOUSLY ACHIEVED WHAT BEETHOVEN AND BRAHMS COULD ONLY STRIVE FOR IN THEIR OWN CONCERTOS; NAMELY THE NEED TO REMAIN WILDY INDIVIDUALISTIC AND EXPRESSIVE WHILE NOT GOING BEYOND THE BOUNDS OF ROMANTIC STRUCTURE AND LETTING INATE IMPULSES TAKE CONTROL OF THE MUSIC. WITH HIS PIANO CONCERTO, FERRUCCIO BUSONI HAS PERFECTLY SHOWN HOW THE INDVIDUAL CAN INTIMATELY SOAR WITH HIS OWN VOICE WHILE REMAINING TRUE TO THE ROMANTIC CONCEPTIONS AND BOUNDRIES OF THE 19TH CENTURY. IT IS THE GREATEST REPRESENTATION OF THE ROMANTIC PIANO CONCERTO EVER WRITTEN, AND IT IS VIRTUALLY UNKNOWN! IT'S TRULY SAD THAT ALL THE MAJOR CONCERT HALLS HAVE TO BE CONSISTENTLY HELD HOSTAGE TO BEETHOVEN,BRAHMS, AND MOZART WHEN GREAT MUSIC LIKE THIS REALLY DESERVES AN AUDIANCE. SINCE IT APPEARS THAT ALL THE MAJOR CLASSICAL LABELS WANT (IN TERMS OF SERIOUS INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC) TO RECORD IS NORTHERN-EUROPEAN AND RUSSIAN BASED MUSIC, YOU MAY HAVE A DIFFICULT TIME FINDING ANY OTHER RECORDING OF THIS PIECE. IF YOU CAN FIND IT, THERE IS A RECORDING OF THIS PIECE WITH THE CLEVELAND SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA ON TELARC THAT IS BOTH WELL PERFORMED AND TECHNICALLY FLAWLESS."

A monster concert played with superb conviction!

Hiram Gomez Pardo | Valencia, Venezuela | 08/22/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"
Until this date, Volker Banfield has performed his best musical achievement in his lifetime, playing with meridian commitment and overwhelming virtuosity this demanding piano concert,, and proudly we may cite him among the best three available versions of this exigent piece; the others two pianists (to my view) are John Ogdon and Mark Andrea Hamelin.



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