- Composer: Franz Xaver Scharwenka (6 January 1850 -- 8 December 1924)
- Orchestra: Poznań Philharmonic Orchestra
- Conductor: Łukasz Borowicz
- Soloist: François Xavier Poizat
- Year of recording: 2009
Concerto for piano & orchestra No. 4 in F minor, Op. 82, written in 1908.
00:00 - I. Allegro patetico
19:28 - II. Intermezzo. Allegretto molto tranquillo
26:27 - III. Lento, mesto
35:46 - IV. Allegro con fuoco
Scharwenka's most outstanding and most popular compositions are his 4 piano concertos, works which made him famous as a composer and pianist on both sides of the Atlantic. The Concerto in F minor, is Scharwenka's last piano concerto. It crowns his experience of the form, and appears to be his final "coming to terms" with piano music, for the technical demands of the solo part reach the apex of performance skills, particularly in the outermost movements. The massive texture of the piano part based on octave repetitions and bravura passages, as well as sequences of broken chords in octaves, and virtuoso cadenzas covering the entire sound range of the instrument create an impression that the composer wanted to embrace the entire history of the form, as well as summarize achievements of the pianism of the time in a single composition. From the stylistic point of view, the concerto is an eclectic piece, which combines elements typical of brillante concertos with those typical of Mendelssohn's, Liszt's and Tchaikovsky's works. Thematic material is presented mainly by the orchestra, with the piano part instantly transforming it. Orchestra tutti are also intended to counterpoint bravura fragments of the solo part, or to provide chordal accompaniment.
Although the concerto consists of three movements, it lacks the usual classical structure, and proportions of particular elements are distorted. Instead of a typical slow fragment, the second movement is an Allegretto molto tranquillo of dance-like quality, which -- as noted by the composer in the score -- is the intermezzo between the first movement, and the beginning of the third movement, the Lento. An Allegro con fuoco, whose melodic pattern brings to mind Scharwenka's Polish folk-dances, forms the second part of the third movement, and, simultaneously, the finale proper. The formal integrating factor is the main theme of the Allegro patetico, which, at the same time, constitutes the core of the whole concerto. Reminiscences appear in the second and third movements. The theme is also present in the wind parts (bassoon, clarinet) of the third movement (following the Lento), announcing the following part of the movement, the final Allegro. Formally speaking, it is a very interesting example of a piano concerto whose virtuoso quality influences its structure.
The Piano Concerto had its première in Berlin in October 1908, with Scharwenka's pupil and later assistant, Martha Siebold, as soloist. Two years later the composer played the concerto himself in New York. Scharwenka, who appeared with the New York Symphony Orchestra under Gustav Mahler, described the evening in a rather laconic way: He conducted my work in an accomplished manner. It is a well-known fact that Scharwenka and Mahler did not get on particularly well. Following the New York première, Scharwenka played the concerto in America a number of times, both under Mahler and Leopold Stokowski, to great success.
Though a work of genius, its incredible technical and interpretational difficulty resulted in the Concerto in F minor being rejected by most pianists, even in Scharwenka's lifetime. Too demanding, too laborious, too many possible pifalls. And yet surely the prospect of an exceptional experience and rediscovery of this forgotten musical Atlantis is worth taking the risk?
The concerto is dedicated: "Ihrer Majestät der Königin Elisabeth von Rumänien ehrfurchtsvoll zugeeignet."
