Pabst: Concerto for piano and orchestra in E-Flat Major - Rimsky-Korsakov: Concerto for piano and orchestra in C-Sharp Minor - S

Album review

Although each significant players in the Russian School of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the piano concertos of Pavel Pabst, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Scriabin have been largely neglected by comparison to the other titanic piano concertos to come from the likes of Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky, and Rachmaninoff. Unlike their contemporaries, each of these three composers wrote but one piano concerto and in one way or another were writing outside of their comfort zone. Rimsky-Korsakov, for example, was a fine orchestrator, but had little experience writing for the piano. By contrast, Scriabin was a brilliant pianist and writer for his instrument, but his concerto represents his first attempt at writing an orchestral work. The results, as one might expect, are concertos that do not necessarily represent the pinnacle of each composer's compositional skills. Still, they merit performance and enjoyment. Pianist Oleg Marshev and the South Jutland Symphony Orchestra under Vladimir Ziva ensure that this is possible. Marshev's technique is powerful and dexterous, characteristics absolutely necessary for the fiendishly difficult demands placed on the pianist by both Pabst and Scriabin. He is equally at home delivering sentimental simplicity, warmth, and elegance. Marshev's knowledge of the orchestral score is also quite clear as he ties his own playing in tightly with the orchestral accompaniment, an especially important feature in the Rimsky-Korsakov concerto, whose orchestral part is at least equally significant as the piano part. The South Jutland Symphony Orchestra performs with an abundance of sound -- surprising considering its relatively small numbers -- and Ziva leads the ensemble through one well-rehearsed and detail-oriented performance after another.

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