Busoni - Piano Concerto

Album review

Here is a CD reissue that collectors have sought for decades: John Ogdon's magnificent 1967 EMI Angel recording of Ferruccio Busoni's Piano Concerto, Op. 39, with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under Daniell Revenaugh. This was the first commercial recording of Busoni's elephantine concerto, which is in five movements, calls for male chorus in the last movement and lasts as long as Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Since its 1967 release, some earlier recordings of the Busoni concerto, made live with Noel Mewton-Wood and Gunnar Johansen, have surfaced, and new ones have been made, most notably with Garrick Ohlsson (for Telarc) and Marc-André Hamelin (for Hyperion). But nothing can supplant the Ogdon recording -- it not only established the Busoni concerto as an unjustly neglected masterpiece well worth hearing, but it also helped begin the process of Busoni's rehabilitation as a composer of worth. For those not familiar with the Busoni Piano Concerto, then this arrives as an excellent, low-cost option to sample it.
The sound quality of this EMI Encore CD is excellent, far better than the original American LP release that, though enclosed in one of the handsomest packages accorded to an instrumental EMI release in the 1960s, suffered from ticky surfaces and indifferent mastering. The new CD also reveals that Daniell Revenaugh's accompaniment, often the target of negative commentary from critics who have dealt with this recording over the years, really isn't as bad one may have thought judging from the murky LP pressing. It's a dense recording to start with, one that incidentally was interrupted momentarily by Paul McCartney, who shunted Revenaugh aside to lead the orchestra in overdubs for the Beatles' A Day in the Life. Pink Floyd was also recording A Piper at the Gates of Dawn down the hallway at the time.
Unfortunately, the concerto gobbles up all but one minute of this 70-minute CD, so we are not treated to the original album filler, a transparent account by Revenaugh and the RPO of Busoni's Sarabande & Cortège, Op. 51. However, given the low asking price of this Encore issue there really isn't that much to complain about, apart from skimpy, practically nonexistent notes and a generic cover design. However, Ogdon's palpitating, Mephistophelean performance is the main reason to own it -- he powers through Busoni's finger-busting piano part like a sawmill through frozen butter, making relatively short work, at least to the ears, of some of the most difficult keyboard music in history.

© TiVo