Paul Wee: Piano Concertos – SUPER-AUDIO CD

Title: Piano Concertos
Artist: Paul Wee
Label: Bis
Product Type: SUPER-AUDIO CD
UPC: 7318599927152
Genre: Classical
Release Date: 2024-05-31
Number of Discs: 1
Additional Details: HYBRID SACD

After three solo recordings, virtuoso pianist Paul Wee brings us two forgotten concertos from the Romantic period with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra conducted by Michael Collins. Premièred by Clara Schumann under the baton of Felix Mendelssohn, Adolph von Henselt’s Concerto in F minor was eventually performed by the greatest virtuosos of the 19th and 20th centuries. It has, however, inexplicably disappeared from the repertoire despite it’s obvious qualities: soaring melodies and tender lyricism, colourful orchestration, dramatic intensity across it’s three movements and piano writing of astounding inventiveness and brilliance. The familiarity between Henselt’s concerto and some of Sergei Rachmaninov’s works can be explained by the profound influence that the German composer exerted on the Russian. Hans von Bronsart’s Concerto in F sharp minor did not enjoy the same public acclaim, although it is rousing, intimate and electrifying in turns. The richness of it’s orchestration is matched by an uncommonly brilliant piano part that is a model of practical virtuosity. Breathing late-Romanticism, it requires a soloist to embrace it’s superheated Romantic language unashamedly if it’s passions are to take flight.

Tracks:
1.1 Piano Concerto in F minor, Op. 16~I. Allegro patetico – Religioso – Reprise
1.2 Piano Concerto in F minor, Op. 16~II. Larghetto
1.3 Piano Concerto in F minor, Op. 16~III. Allegro agitato
1.4 Piano Concerto in F sharp minor, Op. 10~I. Allegro maestoso
1.5 Piano Concerto in F sharp minor, Op. 10~II. Adagio ma non troppo
1.6 Piano Concerto in F sharp minor, Op. 10~III. Allegro con fuoco