"Concert sans orchestre" - this was the title under which Robert Schumann's Opus 14, later re-declared as the 3rd Piano Sonata in F minor, was first published in 1836. The unusual title probably did not originate from the heavily involved publisher Tobias Haslinger, as was assumed for a long time, but most likely goes back to Schumann himself. Although the composer most likely chose the term with a tendency toward irony, the very serious idea of a concerto for solo piano had long been in the air by the beginning of the 19th century. Bach had already written such a concerto around 1735: the famous "Italian Concerto" BWV 971 can, in a sense, be considered an archetype of a "Concert sans orchestre". Almost fifty years later, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, for example, composed parts for his Piano Sonata in B flat major, K. 333, in which a virtual orchestral accompaniment (tutti) seems to be integrated into the otherwise concertante-playful piano part. Of course the idea also remained popular after Schumann's death. In the case of Camille Saint-Saëns' Allegro op.29, it is nothing less than a well-considered reworking of the opening movement of the 3rd Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in E-flat major into a work for solo piano. Alexander Scriabin's "Allegro de concert" Opus 18, on the other hand, is an extremely brilliant piano piece conceived from the outset specifically for concert use, which, however, already clearly anticipates the style of Scriabin's only "real" piano concerto (Op. 20, with orchestra).

"Concert sans orchestre" - so this term practically stands for a whole, remarkable genre. The selected repertoire for this recorded album now released by Elena Kolesnitschenko creates an interesting overview, carefully tailored to the inclinations and pianistic qualities of the pianist. Kolesnitschenko presents well-known as well as still comparatively unknown pieces, that are to be discovered.
The name of the Ukrainian pianist Elena Kolesnitschenko, who has lived in Hanover for many years, became known in Germany not least through the highly acclaimed documentary film by German director Irene Langemann "Russia's Wunderkinder" (2000, WDR/ARTE /Filmstiftung NRW) and the corresponding sequel "The Competitors - Russia's Wunderkinder II" (2010, RBB/ARTE Filmstiftung NRW).

This recording on a C. Bechstein grand piano D 282 was made possible by the support of the Funk Foundation, b-sharp music & media solutions and GWK Records.
Video and photo credits go to Burkhard Scheibe and Uwe Arens.

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