Customer Reviews

Weber: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2; Polacca Brillante; Konzertstück

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

 

 

Carl Maria von Weber gave the first performance of his Opus 11 Concerto in C Major on 19 November 1810 in Mannheim. This work provides a connection between Mozart and Beethoven and those who followed as Classical eventually gave way to Romantic. There are considerable technical demands made on any pianist who attempt to play Weber's piano works. This was because Weber's hands had a particularly wider stretch than most. The soloist on this recording is Benjamin Frith, who seems to be up to the challenge. Weber's Piano Concerto No. 2 in E flat was completed in 1812, with the first performance given by the composer on 17 December. He started on a 3rd concerto in 1815, which turned out to be just a single movement Konzertstuck (Concert-Piece) in F minor, Op. 79. It was completed in 1821. Gramophone magazine's review stated that "The Konzertstuck goes very well, with plenty of colour in the phrasing and a lively orchestral accompaniment to match." The very challenging arpeggios and other heavy demands are expertly dispatched by the soloist Frith. The Penguin Guide states that Frith "receives splendid support from (conductor) O'Duinn and the excellent Dublin Sinfonietta...(the Konzertstuck is particularly fine)". As a nice bonus Naxos adds Weber's solo piano work, the Polacca Brillante, that was transcribed by Franz Liszt for piano and orchestra. Liszt uses as an introduction to this work part of Weber's earlier Grande Polonaise. All in all, this CD is very well recorded, if a little heavy on the timpani. This is contrary to the anonymous reviewer below. Although perhaps not quite up to Steven Hough's full-priced recording on Hyperion, this budget price release on the highly-respected Naxos label is an attractive alternative.

Well, I agree the anonymous reviewer needs to remove the wax from his or her ears. This is a lovely CD, the pianist gives very sensitive performances, with the restraint that this music deserves. He resists the temptation to schmaltz it up. The orchestral playing is fine, too. Certainly not deserving of censure. My only quibble, and this is where the anonymous reviewer's point is taken, is that the sound quality of the recording is muddy. In this day and age of recording technology, inexcusably so. It reminds me somewhat of the early Nimbus recordings in which a deliberate effort was made to replicate the sound of hall in which they were recorded. They pulled it off. Naxos didn't. Fortunately, this is outside the norm. Most of the Naxos discs I own, at least those from the mid 1990s though present, are splendidly recorded.

The performance of Benjamin Frith with Duinn at Dublin National Concert Hall resulted in a great recording of Weber two piano concertos. Recommended to all who want know more deeply Weber and his work. Although Weber piano concertos are not to be frequently plays at radios and concert halls as List, Beethoven and Schumman, Naxos now offer to us the opportunity to explore an amazing works of Romantic period.

This CD is a poor peformance of some wonderful music. The sound quality is bad, and the rendition second rate. The wonderful piano music of Weber deserves better. The Konzertstuk, alone, is worth listening to.