![Dvorak-Piano Conc g-moll281](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/22/Dvorak-Piano_Conc_g-moll281.jpg)
The Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in
G minor
G minor is a minor scale based on G, consisting of the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has two flats. Its relative major is B-flat major and its parallel major is G major.
According to Paolo Pietropaolo, it is the cont ...
, Op. 33, is the only
piano concerto
A piano concerto is a type of concerto, a solo composition in the classical music genre which is composed for a piano player, which is typically accompanied by an orchestra or other large ensemble. Piano concertos are typically virtuoso showpiec ...
by Czech composer
Antonín Dvořák
Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8 September 1841 – 1 May 1904) was a Czechs, Czech composer. Dvořák frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravian traditional music, Moravia and his native Bohemia, following t ...
. Written in 1876, it was the first of three
concerto
A concerto (; plural ''concertos'', or ''concerti'' from the Italian plural) is, from the late Baroque era, mostly understood as an instrumental composition, written for one or more soloists accompanied by an orchestra or other ensemble. The typi ...
s that Dvořák completed, followed by the
Violin Concerto, Op. 53 from 1879 and the
Cello Concerto, Op. 104, written in 1894–1895. The piano concerto is probably the least known and least performed of Dvořák's concertos.
As the eminent music critic
Harold C. Schonberg
Harold Charles Schonberg (29 November 1915 – 26 July 2003) was an American music critic and author. He is best known for his contributions in ''The New York Times'', where he was List of chief music critics, chief music critic from 1960 to 198 ...
put it, Dvořák wrote "an attractive Piano Concerto in G minor with a rather ineffective piano part, a beautiful Violin Concerto in A minor, and a supreme Cello Concerto in B minor".
Background
Dvořák composed his piano concerto from late August through 14 September 1876. Its autograph version contains many corrections, erasures, cuts and additions, the bulk of which were made in the piano part. The work was premiered in
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
on 24 March 1878, with the orchestra of the Prague Provisional Theatre conducted by
Adolf Čech
Adolf Čech (born Adolf Jan Antonin Tausik; 11 December 184127 December 1903) was a Czech conductor, who premiered a number of significant works by Antonín Dvořák (the 2nd, 5th and 6th symphonies, more than any other conductor; other importan ...
with the pianist
Karel Slavkovsky. The first performance in England was with soloist
Oscar Beringer
Oscar Beringer (14 July 1844 – 21 February 1922) was an English pianist and teacher of German descent.
He was born in Furtwangen in the Black Forest, but by 1849 he had moved to London when his father became a political refugee. Due to impo ...
at the Crystal Palace on October 13 1883.
While working on the concerto, Dvořák himself realized that he had not created a virtuosic piece in which the piano does battle with the orchestra. Dvořák wrote: "I see I am unable to write a Concerto for a virtuoso; I must think of other things." What Dvořák composed instead was a symphonic concerto in which the piano plays a leading part in the orchestra, rather than opposed to it.
In an effort to mitigate awkward passages and expand the pianist's range of sonorities, the Czech pianist and pedagogue
Vilém Kurz
Vilém Kurz (23 December 1872 – 25 May 1945) was a Czechs, Czech pianist and renowned piano teacher.
Career
Kurz was born in Havlíčkův Brod, Německý Brod, Bohemia in 1872. He became a professor at the State Conservatory in Lviv and Vi ...
undertook an extensive rewriting of the solo part; the Kurz revision is frequently performed today.
The concerto was championed for many years by the noted Czech pianist
Rudolf Firkušný
Rudolf Firkušný (; 11 February 191219 July 1994) was a Moravians, Moravian-born, Moravian-American classical pianist.
Life
Born in Moravian town Napajedla, Firkušný started his musical studies with the composers Leoš Janáček and Josef ...
, who played it with many different conductors and orchestras around the world before his death in 1994. Once a student of Kurz, Firkušný performed the revised solo part for much of his life, turning towards the original Dvořák score later on in his concert career.
In discussing the piano music of
Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...
, the pianist
Leslie Howard
Leslie Howard Steiner (3 April 18931 June 1943) was an English actor, director and producer.Obituary ''Variety'', 9 June 1943. He wrote many stories and articles for ''The New York Times'', ''The New Yorker'', and '' Vanity Fair'' and was one ...
, who has recorded all of it, notes: "... there is nothing in Liszt that is anywhere near as difficult to play as the Dvořák Piano Concerto - a magnificent piece of music, but one of the most ungainly bits of piano writing ever printed".
Form
The concerto is scored for solo piano and an orchestra consisting of 2
flute
The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...
s, 2
oboe
The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range.
A ...
s, 2
clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound.
Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...
s, 2
bassoon
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuo ...
s, 2
horns Horns or The Horns may refer to:
* Plural of Horn (instrument), a group of musical instruments all with a horn-shaped bells
* The Horns (Colorado), a summit on Cheyenne Mountain
* ''Horns'' (novel), a dark fantasy novel written in 2010 by Joe Hill ...
, 2
trumpet
The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...
s,
timpani
Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionall ...
, and
strings
String or strings may refer to:
*String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...
. It has three movements:
A typical performance of the work lasts 38–40 minutes.
Selected discography
*
Sviatoslav Richter
Sviatoslav Teofilovich Richter, group= ( – August 1, 1997) was a Soviet classical pianist. He is frequently regarded as one of the greatest pianists of all time, Great Pianists of the 20th Century and has been praised for the "depth of his int ...
: Dvořák's Piano Concerto & Schubert's "Wanderer" Fantasy. Bavarian State Orchestra conducted by
Carlos Kleiber
Carlos Luis Bonifacio Kleiber (3 July 1930 – 13 July 2004) was an Austrian conductor who is widely regarded as among the greatest conductors of all time.
Early life
Kleiber was born as Karl Ludwig Bonifacius Kleiber in Berlin in 1930, the ...
. EMI Great Recordings of the Century (catalog no. 66947)
*
Radoslav Kvapil
Radoslav Kvapil (born 15 March 1934 in Brno) is an internationally acclaimed Czech pianist.
At the end of the 20th century, he devoted his concert programmes to works by Frédéric Chopin, particularly in France, in the Chopin International Pi ...
: Dvořák: Piano Concerto, Op.33. Czech State Philharmonic Orchestra (Brno) conducted by František Jilek. Supraphon, 1996.
*
Rustem Hayroudinoff
Rustem Hayroudinoff (russian: link=no, Рустем Афзалович Хайрутдинов) is a Russian concert pianist. Tatar by nationality, he was born in Kazan, Russian Federation (Republic of Tatarstan). His father, Afzal Hayroudinoff is a ...
: with the
BBC Philharmonic
The BBC Philharmonic is a national British broadcasting symphony orchestra and is one of five radio orchestras maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation. The Philharmonic is a department of the BBC North Group division based at MediaC ...
conducted by
Gianandrea Noseda
Gianandrea Noseda (born 23 April 1964, Sesto San Giovanni, Italy) is an Italian conductor.
Biography
Noseda studied piano and composition in Milan. He began conducting studies at age 27. He furthered his conducting studies with Donato Renzett ...
. (
Chandos Records
Chandos Records is a British independent classical music recording company based in Colchester. It was founded in 1979 by Brian Couzens.[James Ehnes
James Ehnes, (born January 27, 1976) is a Canadian concert violinist and violist.
Life and career
Ehnes was born in Brandon, Manitoba, the son of Alan Ehnes, long time trumpet professor at Brandon University (Canada), and Barbara Withey Ehnes, ...](_b ...<br></span></div> catalogue no. CHAN 10309); Also on this CD is the Violin Concerto performed by <div class=)
*
Ivo Kahánek
Ivo Kahánek (born 1979) is a Czechs, Czech pianist. He won the Prague Spring International Music Competition in 2004 and gained awards at other leading international piano competitions (Maria Canals Piano Competition in Barcelona, Vendome Prize ...
: Dvořák & Martinů: Piano Concertos.
Bamberg Symphony
The Bamberg Symphony (German: Bamberger Symphoniker – Bayerische Staatsphilharmonie) is a German orchestra based in Bamberg. It is one of the most prestigious orchestras in Germany. The orchestra was formed in 1946 mainly from German musicians ...
conducted by
Jakub Hrůša
Jakub Hrůša (born 23 July 1981 in Brno), is a Czech conductor.
Education
Hrůša is the son of the architect Petr Hrůša. Hrůša studied piano and trombone, and developed an interest in conducting, during his years at Gymnázium třída K ...
. (
Supraphon
Supraphon Music Publishing is a Czech record label, oriented mainly towards publishing classical music and popular music, with an emphasis on Czech and Slovak composers.
History
The Supraphon name was first registered as a trademark in 1932. T ...
SU 4236-5). On this CD with the Piano concerto No. 4 by
Bohuslav Martinů
Bohuslav Jan Martinů (; December 8, 1890 – August 28, 1959) was a Czech composer of modern classical music. He wrote 6 symphonies, 15 operas, 14 ballet scores and a large body of orchestral, chamber, vocal and instrumental works. He bec ...
. 2020 BBC Music Magazine Awards winning recording in category Concerto Award.
References
External links
About Piano Concerto on a comprehensive Dvorak siteReview of recording of concerto in its original version by Radoslav Kvapil and in its Kurz edition by
Ivan Moravec
Ivan Moravec (9 November 1930 – 27 July 2015) was a Czech concert pianist whose performing and recording career spanned nearly half a century. Media and critics worldwide often called Moravec "a poet of the piano" or "pianist supreme". He is cons ...
.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Piano Concerto (Dvorak)
Compositions by Antonín Dvořák
Dvorak
1876 compositions
Compositions in G minor