Search - Max Bruch, Matthias Kuntzsch, Lutz Herbig :: Violin Concerto

The Concerto for Two Pianos is a great undiscovered treasure

David Arenson | 03/19/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I searched out this CD because it features one of the great little-known works of the romantic era, Bruch's Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra. There's an interesting story behind how the concerto was written, lost, then rediscovered (it's all in the liner notes). This recording, which dates from 1977, was the premiere recording of the concerto, done by pianists Martin Berkofsky and David Hagan with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra conducted by Lutz Herbig. (Vox had issued it on a cassette tape, with middling sound quality, so I was glad to see it had been reissued on CD, which has greatly enhanced the sound.) While the concerto has been recorded a couple of times since, none approaches this performance. The chorales on Capri themes that Bruch used for it lend it a majesterial air, and the performers proceed at a fair pace, giving the work a sense of excitement that is missing from some of the more anemic, dawdling performances that followed. The other pieces on the CD are icing on the cake: This is the first recording of Bruch's Swedish Dances for piano. His Fantasy for Two Pianos, which shows the influence of his study of Bach's works for organ, may come as a pleasant surprise to those who don't think of Bruch as a muscular composer. The famous Violin Concerto in G gets a heartfelt performance from Ruggiero Ricci, though I wish they'd have substituted more piano works instead."