KuK-Art.com

E

steemed friends of audiophile music, the concert grand piano is incontestably the king of instruments. I could now wax lyrical about its incomparable dynamics and go into its ability to go from the tenderest of sounds in a soft minor key to the magnificent power of a fortissimo, or I could rhapsodise about its impressive size and elegance. But what makes this instrument really fascinating is its individuality, since each one is unique in itself - created by a master. A concert grand has a life all of its own that a virtuoso can really "get into" and hence bring the work of the composer to life. In our Grand Piano Masters series, we get into the character and soul of the concert grand piano and experience, during the performance itself, the dialogue between the instrument, the virtuoso and the performance space.
Appassionata - appassionato (passionate, impassioned) - passione (passion), to have a passion for something, to be a passionate artist, going to the limits of suffering for the sake of it, not because of the benefits. I might perhaps also mention the word 'calling' here, the passion that is the prerequisite of mastery. For, esteemed friends, which of us today still feels himself called to do something and is prepared to live for that calling? To wander up to the heights and down into the deep valleys, to accept setbacks, other people's lack of understanding, personal sacrifices and much, much more?
The young virtuoso in his prime and with all his charm must first be polished year after year in order to become a glittering diamond - a true master. For what distinguishes a master is the passion, the fervour and, above all, the experience. I like youthful "Sturm and Drang", as you no doubt also do - it comes at us like a breath of fresh air, irrepressible and powerful. Yet when that first fame evaporates, when you've played the big houses and the euphoria of the moment inevitably ends up back in the same old rooms? What then?
Then you need love, unconditional passion and a deeply felt calling to make it to true masterdom. This particular recording is of a concert by a true past master who has "been there and done that" and who is now conveying and passing on her experiences and artistic merit to the up-and-coming generation. Lilya, with all her humaneness and virtuosity of performance, has crossed the boundary into that space where pride is refined into modesty, with the result that what is being played is measured against how it is conveyed to the person instead of against the preordained perfection of the music aristocracy.
Melancholy for the transience of the moment is etched in her features when she has given the audience her all. At the "Bad Homburg Bechstein Concerts in the Castle", we had the opportunity to witness her interpretation of two impassioned composers - Beethoven, who carried the "Appassionata" inside him, and Brahms, who until his death held fast to his unrequited "Passione" for Clara Schumann, the love of his life...

Josef-Stefan Kindler

E

steemed friends of audiophile music, the concert grand piano is incontestably the king of instruments. I could now wax lyrical about its incomparable dynamics and go into its ability to go from the tenderest of sounds in a soft minor key to the magnificent power of a fortissimo, or I could rhapsodise about its impressive size and elegance. But what makes this instrument really fascinating is its individuality, since each one is unique in itself - created by a master. A concert grand has a life all of its own that a virtuoso can really "get into" and hence bring the work of the composer to life. In our Grand Piano Masters series, we get into the character and soul of the concert grand piano and experience, during the performance itself, the dialogue between the instrument, the virtuoso and the performance space.
Appassionata - appassionato (passionate, impassioned) - passione (passion), to have a passion for something, to be a passionate artist, going to the limits of suffering for the sake of it, not because of the benefits. I might perhaps also mention the word 'calling' here, the passion that is the prerequisite of mastery. For, esteemed friends, which of us today still feels himself called to do something and is prepared to live for that calling? To wander up to the heights and down into the deep valleys, to accept setbacks, other people's lack of understanding, personal sacrifices and much, much more?
The young virtuoso in his prime and with all his charm must first be polished year after year in order to become a glittering diamond - a true master. For what distinguishes a master is the passion, the fervour and, above all, the experience. I like youthful "Sturm and Drang", as you no doubt also do - it comes at us like a breath of fresh air, irrepressible and powerful. Yet when that first fame evaporates, when you've played the big houses and the euphoria of the moment inevitably ends up back in the same old rooms? What then? Then you need love, unconditional passion and a deeply felt calling to make it to true masterdom. This particular recording is of a concert by a true past master who has "been there and done that" and who is now conveying and passing on her experiences and artistic merit to the up-and-coming generation. Lilya, with all her humaneness and virtuosity of performance, has crossed the boundary into that space where pride is refined into modesty, with the result that what is being played is measured against how it is conveyed to the person instead of against the preordained perfection of the music aristocracy.
Melancholy for the transience of the moment is etched in her features when she has given the audience her all. At the "Bad Homburg Bechstein Concerts in the Castle", we had the opportunity to witness her interpretation of two impassioned composers - Beethoven, who carried the "Appassionata" inside him, and Brahms, who until his death held fast to his unrequited "Passione" for Clara Schumann, the love of his life...

Josef-Stefan Kindler

E

steemed friends of audiophile music, the concert grand piano is incontestably the king of instruments. I could now wax lyrical about its incomparable dynamics and go into its ability to go from the tenderest of sounds in a soft minor key to the magnificent power of a fortissimo, or I could rhapsodise about its impressive size and elegance. But what makes this instrument really fascinating is its individuality, since each one is unique in itself - created by a master. A concert grand has a life all of its own that a virtuoso can really "get into" and hence bring the work of the composer to life. In our "Grand Piano Masters" series, we get into the character and soul of the concert grand piano and experience, during the performance itself, the dialogue between the instrument, the virtuoso and the performance space.
Appassionata - appassionato (passionate, impassioned) - passione (passion), to have a passion for something, to be a passionate artist, going to the limits of suffering for the sake of it, not because of the benefits. I might perhaps also mention the word 'calling' here, the passion that is the prerequisite of mastery. For, esteemed friends, which of us today still feels himself called to do something and is prepared to live for that calling? To wander up to the heights and down into the deep valleys, to accept setbacks, other people's lack of understanding, personal sacrifices and much, much more?
The young virtuoso in his prime and with all his charm must first be polished year after year in order to become a glittering diamond - a true master. For what distinguishes a master is the passion, the fervour and, above all, the experience. I like youthful "Sturm and Drang", as you no doubt also do - it comes at us like a breath of fresh air, irrepressible and powerful. Yet when that first fame evaporates, when you've played the big houses and the euphoria of the moment inevitably ends up back in the same old rooms? What then?
Then you need love, unconditional passion and a deeply felt calling to make it to true masterdom. This particular recording is of a concert by a true past master who has "been there and done that" and who is now conveying and passing on her experiences and artistic merit to the up-and-coming generation. Lilya, with all her humaneness and virtuosity of performance, has crossed the boundary into that space where pride is refined into modesty, with the result that what is being played is measured against how it is conveyed to the person instead of against the preordained perfection of the music aristocracy.
Melancholy for the transience of the moment is etched in her features when she has given the audience her all. At the "Bad Homburg Bechstein Concerts in the Castle", we had the opportunity to witness her interpretation of two impassioned composers - Beethoven, who carried the "Appassionata" inside him, and Brahms, who until his death held fast to his unrequited "Passione" for Clara Schumann, the love of his life...

Josef-Stefan Kindler

E

steemed friends of audiophile music, the concert grand piano is incontestably the king of instruments. I could now wax lyrical about its incomparable dynamics and go into its ability to go from the tenderest of sounds in a soft minor key to the magnificent power of a fortissimo, or I could rhapsodise about its impressive size and elegance. But what makes this instrument really fascinating is its individuality, since each one is unique in itself - created by a master. A concert grand has a life all of its own that a virtuoso can really "get into" and hence bring the work of the composer to life. In our "Grand Piano Masters" series, we get into the character and soul of the concert grand piano and experience, during the performance itself, the dialogue between the instrument, the virtuoso and the performance space.
Appassionata - appassionato (passionate, impassioned) - passione (passion), to have a passion for something, to be a passionate artist, going to the limits of suffering for the sake of it, not because of the benefits. I might perhaps also mention the word 'calling' here, the passion that is the prerequisite of mastery. For, esteemed friends, which of us today still feels himself called to do something and is prepared to live for that calling? To wander up to the heights and down into the deep valleys, to accept setbacks, other people's lack of understanding, personal sacrifices and much, much more?
The young virtuoso in his prime and with all his charm must first be polished year after year in order to become a glittering diamond - a true master. For what distinguishes a master is the passion, the fervour and, above all, the experience. I like youthful "Sturm and Drang", as you no doubt also do - it comes at us like a breath of fresh air, irrepressible and powerful. Yet when that first fame evaporates, when you've played the big houses and the euphoria of the moment inevitably ends up back in the same old rooms? What then?
Then you need love, unconditional passion and a deeply felt calling to make it to true masterdom. This particular recording is of a concert by a true past master who has "been there and done that" and who is now conveying and passing on her experiences and artistic merit to the up-and-coming generation. Lilya, with all her humaneness and virtuosity of performance, has crossed the boundary into that space where pride is refined into modesty, with the result that what is being played is measured against how it is conveyed to the person instead of against the preordained perfection of the music aristocracy.
Melancholy for the transience of the moment is etched in her features when she has given the audience her all. At the "Bad Homburg Bechstein Concerts in the Castle", we had the opportunity to witness her interpretation of two impassioned composers - Beethoven, who carried the "Appassionata" inside him, and Brahms, who until his death held fast to his unrequited "Passione" for Clara Schumann, the love of his life...

Josef-Stefan Kindler

T

he 8 Piano Pieces op. 76 by Johannes Brahms comprise four Capriccios and Intermezzi each. With this collection of character pieces, published in February 1879, Brahms came forward again after a long time with a work for solo piano, which was premiered by Hans von Bülow in Berlin on October 29, 1879. While he had already composed the first Capriccio in 1871, he wrote the remaining pieces in 1878 in Pörtschach on Lake Wörth. The collection, originally divided into two booklets, shows the influence of Robert Schumann and Frédéric Chopin, whose complete editions published by Breitkopf & Härtel Brahms supervised at this time. In condensed form, the mostly three-part pieces already point to the internalized late style of Opera 116 to 119, whose characteristics include the multi-layered piano movement, chromaticism, and rhythmic refinements. The piano pieces appeared only after Brahms had not written any independent solo piano works for an extended period. After the Paganini Variations published in 1866, the Waltzes for piano four hands op. 39, which he held in high esteem, and the first part of the Hungarian Dances, initially also written for four hands, there was a long pause in publication in this field, which ended only in 1879. For Andrea Bonatta this shows how difficult it was for Brahms to find new expressive possibilities after the pianistic explorations of the virtuoso Handel and Paganini Variations. For the pianist, chamber musician and gifted sight-reading player, this phase did not mean that he would have completely abandoned the piano. In addition to the Waltzes and Hungarian Dances, he wrote the Sonata for Piano and Violoncello op 38, the Liebeslieder Waltzes op 52, the version for two pianos of his Haydn Variations op 56b, the Piano Quartet No. 3 in C minor op 60 and the Neue Liebeslieder op 65 during this period. In 1878, he also began to work on his symphonic Second Piano Concerto in B flat major; the piano thus played an important role in chamber and later concertante music.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator

E

steemed friends of audiophile music, the concert grand piano is incontestably the king of instruments. I could now wax lyrical about its incomparable dynamics and go into its ability to go from the tenderest of sounds in a soft minor key to the magnificent power of a fortissimo, or I could rhapsodise about its impressive size and elegance. But what makes this instrument really fascinating is its individuality, since each one is unique in itself - created by a master. A concert grand has a life all of its own that a virtuoso can really "get into" and hence bring the work of the composer to life. In our "Grand Piano Masters" series, we get into the character and soul of the concert grand piano and experience, during the performance itself, the dialogue between the instrument, the virtuoso and the performance space.
Appassionata - appassionato (passionate, impassioned) - passione (passion), to have a passion for something, to be a passionate artist, going to the limits of suffering for the sake of it, not because of the benefits. I might perhaps also mention the word 'calling' here, the passion that is the prerequisite of mastery. For, esteemed friends, which of us today still feels himself called to do something and is prepared to live for that calling? To wander up to the heights and down into the deep valleys, to accept setbacks, other people's lack of understanding, personal sacrifices and much, much more?
The young virtuoso in his prime and with all his charm must first be polished year after year in order to become a glittering diamond - a true master. For what distinguishes a master is the passion, the fervour and, above all, the experience. I like youthful "Sturm and Drang", as you no doubt also do - it comes at us like a breath of fresh air, irrepressible and powerful. Yet when that first fame evaporates, when you've played the big houses and the euphoria of the moment inevitably ends up back in the same old rooms? What then?
Then you need love, unconditional passion and a deeply felt calling to make it to true masterdom. This particular recording is of a concert by a true past master who has "been there and done that" and who is now conveying and passing on her experiences and artistic merit to the up-and-coming generation. Lilya, with all her humaneness and virtuosity of performance, has crossed the boundary into that space where pride is refined into modesty, with the result that what is being played is measured against how it is conveyed to the person instead of against the preordained perfection of the music aristocracy.
Melancholy for the transience of the moment is etched in her features when she has given the audience her all. At the "Bad Homburg Bechstein Concerts in the Castle", we had the opportunity to witness her interpretation of two impassioned composers - Beethoven, who carried the "Appassionata" inside him, and Brahms, who until his death held fast to his unrequited "Passione" for Clara Schumann, the love of his life...

Josef-Stefan Kindler

Galina Ustvolskaya: Concerto for piano, strings and timpani

"It's not you who are under my influence, it's me who is under yours". This quote by her teacher Dmitri Shostakovich has become the defining words for the relationship between himself and his pupil, Galina Ustvolskaya. The "teacher-pupil" dynamic notwithstanding, for her own part, Ustvolskaya spent her life trying to distance herself from her violent relationship with Shostakovich. This seems an obvious sign of sincerity, the pursuit of impartial and unrestrained untamedness of the composer. These adjectives also certainly best describe the few works that make up her comprehensive output, which made themselves known without adapting to any one style. Though she rarely left her hometown until her death in 2006, she was a part of the music scene in St. Petersburg both under Soviet regime and after its collapse - an enigmatic phenomenon untouched by all political or aesthetic trends. In her case, she chose the life of an outsider completely of her own accord. Ustvolskaya did not tolerate any superficial interference, according to the musicologist Olga Gladkova, out of a desire to maintain her own individuality, compoure, and intentions. Therefore she never took commissions, on the contrary, she refused even partial interpretations of her work if the composer did not appear "real" to her.
Especially in her "Concerto for piano, strings and timpani", written in 1946, the composer starts to withdraw herself from her academic influences, to strike a new path, and to find completely new ways of expression. It is not without motive that she decided to start her official list of works with this concerto. The first noticeable feature is the single-piece form, which is described by the composer as cohesive but still contrasting.
The opening theme is highly concentrated within the Rhythm. No notes seem to be wasteful. The piano breaks out of the silence like an explosion with the specific dotted thirty-second notes in fortissimo that are repeated in unison by the orchestra and which are concluded by the timpani. All the followings motives are developed from the basic theme. Olga Gladkova compared the concentrated main theme with a nuclear reaction - after the explosion many infinitely small atoms are produced, instantaneously destructive and creative. Close beside is a plain melody in subito - pianissimo, circling around itself, not leading anywhere. This is a very fundamental characteristic of the later works by Ustvolskaya. The second theme, which branches out wildly, seems to come rushing in a fugue. But academic processes and stencils are avoided consequently and the fugato is being constantly taken to explore new avenues, like a kaleidoscope, out of which unexpected new pictures are formed. In addition to the rigid and concentrated 4/4 measure, the quiet secondary theme is at the quietly flowing 6/8 measure. The "continuity", which is described by the composer, happens also by the very strong contrasts.
Especially remarkable is the coda of the concerto. The rhythmically striking dotted thirty-second notes are taken from the initial theme and with full force repeated again and again.
An unprecedented massive structure comes into being, which instead of running to the disaster leads into a C major chord, which appears at the moment of most extreme tension and repeats in a big crescendo until the end. The immense focus on one rhythm, the constant repetition of this rhythm and the unbridled force of it, speaks to the forementioned monstrous new language of the composer.
Although the great crescendo of the coda is written in C major, it seems to evoke various kinds of associations. In the dialogue with the young musicians of the ensemble, I would like to describe three different impressions. On the one hand there is the feeling of generous grace, of forgiveness, the cathartic effect after a prayer. Facing this sensation is the feeling of being threatened by a wall that is approaching you relentlessly, without ability to escape. The third association is similar to the theme of Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony - forced rejoicing, created under threat. An eagerly awaited end of the war, but an ending with terror.

Peter Leipold
Translation by Catie Leigh Laszewski

Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-Flat Major, Op. 19

It can now be assumed, that on the 29th of March 1795 what is now known as the second concerto in B flat major Op. 19 was presented to the Viennese public in Hofburgtheater. Announced was "a new concerto on the pianoforte, played and composed by the maestro, Herr Ludwig van Beethoven". The origins of the composition date back to the year 1790. At that time Beethoven was living in Bonn and had begun to give many concertos as a soloist - in Bonn, Vienna and on tour. The concerto went through four different versions before it was first printed in 1801. Further versions were developed between 1793 and 1794, when the third movement was added, as we know it today. This Rondo, in 6/8 measure, exhibits particularly significant features. First the metric shift of the main theme, which creates an unusual syncopation; the first note appears on the first metric beat and not as an upbeat, as would be expected. This syncopation also remains the connecting rhythmic element for the whole movement. Only once, namely in the coda, does the first eighth note appear as an upbeat, but here it does so in the completely surprising "wrong" key of G major. The movement through keys in the Rondo is in principle quite remarkable; the minor variant of the main theme first appears in G-minor, then in C-minor and then completely unexpectedly in the far distant B-flat minor. Generally the work with motives and the development of the main theme are already very significant and certainly influenced by his then newly acquired teacher Joseph Haydn, as well as the ending of the Rondo, which to this day has not lost its witty effect. The piano seems to be completely lost in a cadence before the orchestra abruptly sets the five sensational final bars of the concert in subito fortissimo. Last but not least is the aforementioned syncopated character, which also could be traced back to the influence of folk music in the symphonic music of Haydn.
The final version of the orchestral score, as we know it today, was built on the highly successful concert tour to Prague in 1798, whose success Beethoven used to generously revise the Concerto in B. Only the piano part was completed in 1801 in Vienna. The unusually long time-frame of the composition over 11 years echoes the visible transformation of Beethoven from a traveling virtuoso to an established composer. At the same time it also shows the continuous process of establishing independence from his education and his heroes. This is illustrated precisely in the way he reworks an earlier work. In the first impression the main motive of the first movement appears very much in the sense of Mozart and Haydn. But also at the same time it is already in the same manner he created his later main motives, which exist primarily to be further developed. Compared for example with the main theme of the "Eroica" - here and there it's built up exclusively by broken triads whose motific development run through the whole movement. An equally characteristic feature is the completely contrasting lyrical response to the main theme, which quite abruptly follows it in the second measure.
Similarly significant is the dialogue between the piano and the orchestra at the end of the second movement, the Adagio, which is entitled "con grande espressione". The piano seems to be able to convince and reassure the orchestra - as it also does later in the second movement of the fourth piano concerto.
Following the initiative of the Stuttgart piano teacher and publisher Prof. Dr. Sigmund Lebert, several arrangements of piano concertos of Ludwig van Beethoven emerged in 1881 "...for study and concert-hall" and for which he was able to get famous composers, such as Franz Liszt or Vincenz Lachner. We owe to the latter the transcription of the second concerto, which gets a fascinating, rarely heard chamber music sound through careful allocation of the parts and refined orchestration and which appears for the first time with this recording.

Peter Leipold
Translation by Catie Leigh Laszewski

Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-Flat Major, Op. 19

It can now be assumed, that on the 29th of March 1795 what is now known as the second concerto in B flat major Op. 19 was presented to the Viennese public in Hofburgtheater. Announced was "a new concerto on the pianoforte, played and composed by the maestro, Herr Ludwig van Beethoven". The origins of the composition date back to the year 1790. At that time Beethoven was living in Bonn and had begun to give many concertos as a soloist - in Bonn, Vienna and on tour. The concerto went through four different versions before it was first printed in 1801. Further versions were developed between 1793 and 1794, when the third movement was added, as we know it today. This Rondo, in 6/8 measure, exhibits particularly significant features. First the metric shift of the main theme, which creates an unusual syncopation; the first note appears on the first metric beat and not as an upbeat, as would be expected. This syncopation also remains the connecting rhythmic element for the whole movement. Only once, namely in the coda, does the first eighth note appear as an upbeat, but here it does so in the completely surprising "wrong" key of G major. The movement through keys in the Rondo is in principle quite remarkable; the minor variant of the main theme first appears in G-minor, then in C-minor and then completely unexpectedly in the far distant B-flat minor. Generally the work with motives and the development of the main theme are already very significant and certainly influenced by his then newly acquired teacher Joseph Haydn, as well as the ending of the Rondo, which to this day has not lost its witty effect. The piano seems to be completely lost in a cadence before the orchestra abruptly sets the five sensational final bars of the concert in subito fortissimo. Last but not least is the aforementioned syncopated character, which also could be traced back to the influence of folk music in the symphonic music of Haydn.
The final version of the orchestral score, as we know it today, was built on the highly successful concert tour to Prague in 1798, whose success Beethoven used to generously revise the Concerto in B. Only the piano part was completed in 1801 in Vienna. The unusually long time-frame of the composition over 11 years echoes the visible transformation of Beethoven from a traveling virtuoso to an established composer. At the same time it also shows the continuous process of establishing independence from his education and his heroes. This is illustrated precisely in the way he reworks an earlier work. In the first impression the main motive of the first movement appears very much in the sense of Mozart and Haydn. But also at the same time it is already in the same manner he created his later main motives, which exist primarily to be further developed. Compared for example with the main theme of the "Eroica" - here and there it's built up exclusively by broken triads whose motific development run through the whole movement. An equally characteristic feature is the completely contrasting lyrical response to the main theme, which quite abruptly follows it in the second measure.
Similarly significant is the dialogue between the piano and the orchestra at the end of the second movement, the Adagio, which is entitled "con grande espressione". The piano seems to be able to convince and reassure the orchestra - as it also does later in the second movement of the fourth piano concerto.
Following the initiative of the Stuttgart piano teacher and publisher Prof. Dr. Sigmund Lebert, several arrangements of piano concertos of Ludwig van Beethoven emerged in 1881 "...for study and concert-hall" and for which he was able to get famous composers, such as Franz Liszt or Vincenz Lachner. We owe to the latter the transcription of the second concerto, which gets a fascinating, rarely heard chamber music sound through careful allocation of the parts and refined orchestration and which appears on CD for the first time with this recording.

Peter Leipold

Galina Ustvolskaya: Concerto for piano, strings and timpani

"It's not you who are under my influence, it's me who is under yours". This quote by her teacher Dmitri Shostakovich has become the defining words for the relationship between himself and his pupil, Galina Ustvolskaya. The "teacher-pupil" dynamic notwithstanding, for her own part, Ustvolskaya spent her life trying to distance herself from her violent relationship with Shostakovich. This seems an obvious sign of sincerity, the pursuit of impartial and unrestrained untamedness of the composer. These adjectives also certainly best describe the few works that make up her comprehensive output, which made themselves known without adapting to any one style. Though she rarely left her hometown until her death in 2006, she was a part of the music scene in St. Petersburg both under Soviet regime and after its collapse - an enigmatic phenomenon untouched by all political or aesthetic trends. In her case, she chose the life of an outsider completely of her own accord. Ustvolskaya did not tolerate any superficial interference, according to the musicologist Olga Gladkova, out of a desire to maintain her own individuality, compoure, and intentions. Therefore she never took commissions, on the contrary, she refused even partial interpretations of her work if the composer did not appear "real" to her.
Especially in her "Concerto for piano, strings and timpani", written in 1946, the composer starts to withdraw herself from her academic influences, to strike a new path, and to find completely new ways of expression. It is not without motive that she decided to start her official list of works with this concerto. The first noticeable feature is the single-piece form, which is described by the composer as cohesive but still contrasting.
The opening theme is highly concentrated within the Rhythm. No notes seem to be wasteful. The piano breaks out of the silence like an explosion with the specific dotted thirty-second notes in fortissimo that are repeated in unison by the orchestra and which are concluded by the timpani. All the followings motives are developed from the basic theme. Olga Gladkova compared the concentrated main theme with a nuclear reaction - after the explosion many infinitely small atoms are produced, instantaneously destructive and creative. Close beside is a plain melody in subito - pianissimo, circling around itself, not leading anywhere. This is a very fundamental characteristic of the later works by Ustvolskaya. The second theme, which branches out wildly, seems to come rushing in a fugue. But academic processes and stencils are avoided consequently and the fugato is being constantly taken to explore new avenues, like a kaleidoscope, out of which unexpected new pictures are formed. In addition to the rigid and concentrated 4/4 measure, the quiet secondary theme is at the quietly flowing 6/8 measure. The "continuity", which is described by the composer, happens also by the very strong contrasts.
Especially remarkable is the coda of the concerto. The rhythmically striking dotted thirty-second notes are taken from the initial theme and with full force repeated again and again.
An unprecedented massive structure comes into being, which instead of running to the disaster leads into a C major chord, which appears at the moment of most extreme tension and repeats in a big crescendo until the end. The immense focus on one rhythm, the constant repetition of this rhythm and the unbridled force of it, speaks to the forementioned monstrous new language of the composer.
Although the great crescendo of the coda is written in C major, it seems to evoke various kinds of associations. In the dialogue with the young musicians of the ensemble, I would like to describe three different impressions. On the one hand there is the feeling of generous grace, of forgiveness, the cathartic effect after a prayer. Facing this sensation is the feeling of being threatened by a wall that is approaching you relentlessly, without ability to escape. The third association is similar to the theme of Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony - forced rejoicing, created under threat. An eagerly awaited end of the war, but an ending with terror.

Peter Leipold

T

he "concerto classico" op. 37 refers, as it can be seen from the title, back to the classical structure and the motives in terms of Haydn. As customary habit at the time, rhythmic set phrases and harmonic collocations of today have been used and processed. In the theme of the first movement can easily be noticed. Thus, the formal arrangement between tutti and solo is obliged to the classical model. Some surprising twists, especially the intensifying rhythm throughout the piece, combine typical formula of the First Viennese School to contemporary elements. The simple theme of the second movement is enriched with complex harmonic turns. Due to the interjections of the piano, a harmonically opposed dialogue is created. The pianos' harmonics, conducted with whole tones and additionally colored by the fifths of the strings, comes finally to a quiet ending. After a virtuosic opening, the third movement is designed concerto-grosso-style. The tutti is dominating the string orchestra. It is interrupted by the pianos’ soloist tours with a rather "groovy" basso continuo. The contrabass is taking the bass line in the middle part to calm the ensemble. After a wild cadence of the piano, the strings return with momentum and vividly end the work with copious virtuous piano figures.

Franz Vorraber

C

astles and palaces have always been stimulating human fantasy, just think of the tales of Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. These connotations are also shaping musical compositions, in fabulous - simply romantic music. Beautiful creations that are able to express joy, love, sorrow and grief; silence as well as jubilance, melancholia as well as exaltation to today's audience no less that 500 years ago, differing not in time, but in a mode of feeling and perception that depends on composer, artist, performance space and - last but not least - you, dear audience. Therefore we choose the motto "Centuries of Romance" for our "Castle Concerts Series", and, to be honest: castles and romance, that fits quite nicely.
Giving a stage to this thought is the next step. We invited Franz Vorraber in his capacity as a pianist, composer and romanticist to plan and, eventually, to realize the present production. Franz built a beautiful concertant bridge from the 18th century to his specially created contemporary composition, and arranged it for piano and string quartet explicitly according to our visions. The work is being performed by the composer as both artist and conductor with an orchestra carefully selected by himself - the result is stunning. But just lean back and listen for yourself…

Josef-Stefan Kindler

C

astles and palaces have always been stimulating human fantasy, just think of the tales of Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. These connotations are also shaping musical compositions, in fabulous - simply romantic music. Beautiful creations that are able to express joy, love, sorrow and grief; silence as well as jubilance, melancholia as well as exaltation to today's audience no less that 500 years ago, differing not in time, but in a mode of feeling and perception that depends on composer, artist, performance space and - last but not least - you, dear audience. Therefore we choose the motto "Centuries of Romance" for our "Castle Concerts Series", and, to be honest: castles and romance, that fits quite nicely.
Giving a stage to this thought is the next step. We invited Franz Vorraber in his capacity as a pianist, composer and romanticist to plan and, eventually, to realize the present production. Franz built a beautiful concertant bridge from the 18th century to his specially created contemporary composition, and arranged it for piano and string quartet explicitly according to our visions. The work is being performed by the composer as both artist and conductor with an orchestra carefully selected by himself - the result is stunning. But just lean back and listen for yourself…

Josef-Stefan Kindler

P

apa Haydn - nothing of the sort! The great musician always knew how to entertain people without using cheep templates filled with gaudy timbres or highly dramatic gestures. For him, joie de vivre is admissible, even desirable. Behind this rhythmic vitality and all the gestures, the master distinguishes and seduces people to superior thoughts, too. Little is known about the creation of the piano concert in G major. Guaranteed is just a date of performance on April 28th, 1784 at the Concert spirituel in Paris with the blind Viennese pianist Maria Theresia Paradis, whom i. a. Mozart composed for. The importance of Haydn as author of concertos is still underestimated in the History of Music. This particular concerto is composed for a string quartet only, without blowers. It comprises a typical, classically built work full of surprises and embellishments. This extent of humor and playfulness will rarely be accomplished by composers later born.

Franz Vorraber

C

astles and palaces have always been stimulating human fantasy, just think of the tales of Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. These connotations are also shaping musical compositions, in fabulous - simply romantic music. Beautiful creations that are able to express joy, love, sorrow and grief; silence as well as jubilance, melancholia as well as exaltation to today's audience no less that 500 years ago, differing not in time, but in a mode of feeling and perception that depends on composer, artist, performance space and - last but not least - you, dear audience. Therefore we choose the motto "Centuries of Romance" for our "Castle Concerts Series", and, to be honest: castles and romance, that fits quite nicely.
Giving a stage to this thought is the next step. We invited Franz Vorraber in his capacity as a pianist, composer and romanticist to plan and, eventually, to realize the present production. Franz built a beautiful concertant bridge from the 18th century to his specially created contemporary composition, and arranged it for piano and string quartet explicitly according to our visions. The work is being performed by the composer as both artist and conductor with an orchestra carefully selected by himself - the result is stunning. But just lean back and listen for yourself…

Josef-Stefan Kindler

A

s a source of inspiration for 'a piacere', being created due to encouragement and request of the pianist Christoph Soldan, I benefited in multiple regards from the piano concerto K. 415 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. I have, aside from an intense connection to the oeuvre of Mozart due to my work for the 'Neue Mozart Ausgabe', also an intimate relation to the piano concerto, as it is the only concerto I could interpret myself. The most obvious reference to Mozart's work is the choice of the instrumentation: piano and string orchestra or piano with string quartet - as it pleases you, just 'a piacere'. The melodic material I choose from a miniature cadence in bar 199 of the first movement of Mozart's K. 415 and by modification of the octave position I created a seemingly original texture out of a literal quote - the gesture is preserved. The rhythmic figures live on the sequence of impulses of 4 - 1 - 5. In this work of one movement there is a change of strictly notated parts with rhythmically deliberated parts, signed over 'a piacere', before concluding in a finale that is accompanied by an oscillating string figure - as in Mozart's concerto.

Helmut Schmidinger

Released with kind permission of Doblinger Music Publishing, Vienna