Customer Reviews

Arensky: Piano Concerto in F Minor, Op. 2; Fantasia, Op. 48 / Bortkiewicz: Piano Concerto No. 1 in B Flat, Op. 16

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3 star:		(1)
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If you enjoy a romantic piano concerto but feel, sadly, that you have exhausted the venue, take heart and take a listen to the two included on this CD. The Arensky concerto was composed while he was a student at the St. Petersburg Conservatory and clearly owes a debt to Tchaikovsky.

This is the first recording of the complete Bortkiewicz concerto. He too studied at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, but he also studied at the Leipzig Conservatory, where he came under the influence of the conservative German tradition.

The two piano concerti are worth visiting. Arensky's fantasia is extra icing.

This CD provides ample evidence that there are many little known composers whose work is very worthy of examination.

The Bortkiewicz concerto is one of great treasures of the late Romantic period. Wonderful, soul-stirring music with beautiful melodies and lush, dramatic orchestration. The concerto has a big, powerful sound like Rachmaninov #2 with lots of brass and complex sequences of passionately emotive piano chords. The Arensky concerto is also first rate and it is obvious that pianist Steven Combs and the orchestra poured their hearts and souls into this excellent recording. Highly recommended.

Sergei Bortkiewicz's First is one of the great unknown piano concertos, along with Castellon, Moszkowski, and Andre Mathieu's Fourth. I can't imagine a better performance than Stephen Coombs's. A casual listener might take it for Tchaikovsky's Fourth or Rachmaninoff's Fifth. An uncasual one will hear delightful reminders of them, and yes the swans put in an appearance, just as they do in Tchaikovsky's second concerto. Arensky's pieces are interesting, but Bortkiewicz's is a real discovery.

This is a CD that you cannot find easily in the store. But Anton Arensky's paino concerto really brings us something refreshing. I like the Fantasia on Russian Folk Songs very much and I think this is truly a remarkable piece of Romantic music.

Arensky (1861-1906) and Bortkiewicz (1877-1952) are at their thought provoking best. If you are familiar with Bortkiewicz' two Symphonies, then you know what capable hands you are in. His Concerto is laced with lovely soulful themes. I listen to these works over and over. If you are not familiar with Bortkiewicz' two Symphonies, even more pleasures await you there.
Thank you, Hyperion.

This was a tough piece to get a hold of, but it was worth the wait (I took about three months chasing this one down). From the perspective of someone who plays the piano, this is a show piece that I would love play. Stephen Coombs BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra obviously had a great time putting this one together

It pains me to be the first to throw cold water on this particular fire, but after reading all the other glowing reviews here, I must ask: what is the big deal? One might agree that these pieces are indeed artistic creations, but where is the hand of the inspired creator?

I am a BIG fan of Hyperion's Romantic Piano Concerto series. As a whole this series has unearthed some real gems and given them new life through GREAT performances-but...

Not here.

With the exception of the mildly entertaining fantasia, I could take or leave this disc without much emotional involvement. There are some moments of lyricism and beauty to be found here. That said, most of this music is pasty, derivative, and underwhelming.

In any event, I do not feel this is the performer's fault. The conductor has given us three other more than solid entries in this series. Mr. Coombs (the soloist) has been both revelatory and solid in this series (I loved his Glazunov and his Hahn/Massenet recordings, I was impressed by his Mendelssohn).

I believe that this music suffers from the same fate as much 19th century landscape painting. It may be pretty to look at, but you've seen it all before. We are called, as children of the Greatest Artist to partake in the act of His creation-not just to play variations on a dead horse.

The horse is too long dead here for me to recommend riding it.