Customer Reviews

Tcherepnin: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 3; Festmusik; Symphonic March

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

We should be thoroughly grateful to BIS's efforts on behalf of the music of Alexander Tcherepnin, giving us his complete symphonies and piano concertos in superb performances (the piano concertos have been recorded complete by the indefatigable Murray McLachlan as well, though I have not heard these versions). The first piano concerto is cast in one movement, just as Prokofiev's first which it does, in some respects, resemble. The melodic material is essentially romantic, but it is subjected to more modern harmonizations, and the piano part is craggily brilliant. It is a convincing, relatively coherently argued (even if the material is stylistically rather all over the place) work and quite fun and even memorable, especially when performed with the kind of crystalline but energetic bravura Ogawa and the Singapore Symphony manage to realize.

The third concerto is more thoroughly spiky and modern in sound, though it is still melodic and easily attractive. The romantic warmth has to an extent dried up, however, but instead we get a dazzling array of brilliant colors and spice. Nevertheless, the argument is taut and the long lines clear - and they are clearly drawn by Ogawa without sacrificing color and brilliance.

The Festmusik is a short suite consisting of four dances from an opera; it is light but very fun, clever and entertaining. The same goes for the colorful and jubilant Symphonic March, which has none of the rigid dourness one could fear from a composition of this kind. Throughout the orchestral performances are excellent and the sound is of the high quality we have come to expect from BIS. Although I am inclined to recommend the disc containing the third symphony as the place to start for newcomers to the composer, this is still an enormously valuable addition to the catalogue.