Notes and Editorial Reviews
Murray Perahia's 1987 Schumann and Grieg concertos with Colin Davis remain the most recommendable digitally recorded pairing of these war-horses, and they bloom even more via Sony's Expanded Edition remastering. I'd also add that this release constitutes the finest of Davis' three recorded Schumann/Grieg couplings (the others are with Arrau/Boston Symphony and Kovacevich/BBC Symphony). Although Perahia remade the Schumann seven years later with Claudio Abbado and the Berlin Philharmonic, I lean toward the earlier recording. Davis' accompaniments provide more solid rhythmic underpinning in the outer movements, with fuller-bodied string tone and more carefully sculpted woodwind chording. By contrast, Abbado favors a more blended, rounder
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sonority. Certain details in the solo piano part emerge with greater transparency and refinement under Abaddo, such as the Finale's cross-rhythmic filigree and the voice leading in the first-movement cadenza. Yet Perahia's added thrust and greater attention to bass lines under Davis, together with more impetuous conversational give and take between soloist and orchestra in the Intermezzo clinch my recommendation.
Poetry and precision triumphantly fuse in the Grieg Concerto, where Perahia's fabulous technique and ravishing tone make this overplayed work sound quite invigorating. I particularly admire the effortlessly effected tempo relationships between sections, plus the welcome melodic emphasis with which he shapes the Finale's flashy runs and the first-movement cadenza's bass rumbles. An excellently played Finale to Mendelssohn's D minor concerto is tacked on as a bonus track.
--Jed Distler, ClassicsToday.com Read less
Works on This Recording
1.
Concerto for Piano in A minor, Op. 54 by Robert Schumann
Performer:
Murray Perahia (Piano)
Conductor:
Sir Colin Davis
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1841-1845; Germany
Venue: Philharmonie Gasteig, Munich, Germany
Length: 30 Minutes 14 Secs.
Notes: Philharmonie Gasteig, Munich, Germany (01/14/1987 - 01/17/1987)
2.
Concerto for Piano in A minor, Op. 16 by Edvard Grieg
Performer:
Murray Perahia (Piano)
Conductor:
Sir Colin Davis
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
Period: Romantic
Written: 1868/1907; Norway
Venue: Philharmonie Gasteig, Munich, Germany
Length: 28 Minutes 39 Secs.
Notes: Philharmonie Gasteig, Munich, Germany (01/13/1987 - 01/16/1987)
3.
Concerto for Piano no 2 in D minor, Op. 40: Finale "Presto scherzando" by Felix Mendelssohn
Performer:
Murray Perahia (Piano)
Conductor:
Sir Neville Marriner
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
Period: Romantic
Written: 1837; Germany
Venue: CBS Studios, London, England
Length: 6 Minutes 47 Secs.
Notes: CBS Studios, London, England (08/23/1974 - 08/24/1974)
Sound Samples
II. Intermezzo. Andantino grazioso
I. Allegro molto moderato
III. Allegro moderato molto e marcato
III. Finale. Presto scherzando from Concerto No. 2 in D minor for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 40
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