Poznań Philharmonic Orchestra, Łukasz Borowicz & Jonathan Powell - Scharwenka: Piano Concerto No. 1 · Symphony C minor (2024)

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Poznań Philharmonic Orchestra, Łukasz Borowicz & Jonathan Powell - Scharwenka: Piano Concerto No. 1 · Symphony C minor (2024)

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The Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor, Op. 32, is a work for piano and orchestra completed by Xaver Scharwenka in 1876. The first performance was given on 14 April 1875 by the composer at the piano, under Julius Stern's direction. The work is dedicated to Franz Liszt.

The concerto is scored in three movements. It is one of the only concertos to present three Allegro movements consecutively.

I. Allegro patetico - Adagio (average performance time: 10-12 mins)
II. Allegro assai (7-8 mins)
III. Allegro non tanto (10-12 mins)

A typical performance lasts around 28 to 33 minutes.

The first movement opens with a short tutti in fortissimo, directly announcing part of the thematic material that will be developed over the course of the movement. The piano quickly enters, cutting short the orchestral overture without a complete statement of the two themes as would be expected in a conventional concerto first movement. In fact, more than a conflict between two contrasting themes as is typical of pieces in sonata form up to the 19th century, the concerto is a development on multiple thematic ideas, with lyrical and introverted moments interspersed with virtuosic bravura reminiscent of the compositional style of Franz Liszt, the piece's dedicatee, known for his outstanding pianistic skill. Another unconventional feature is the interruption of the development section by a wistful Adagio, the only slow passage of the entire concerto. These ideas recall the pieces' origins as a fantasia for solo piano.

The second movement, a Scherzo in the style brillant recalling Hummel and Chopin, shows a different character to the reflective first movement by its contrastingly extroverted writing, in the key of G-flat major.

The finale opens with a mysterious orchestral opening followed by a solo discourse, with allusions to the first movement's themes. Yet again, the work's origins as a fantasia are recalled by Scharwenka's quasi-improvisational approach in pianistic writing. A Maestoso cadenza once again reintroduces the work's opening theme, before the concerto concludes with a highly virtuosic and dramatic coda, ending in the original key of B-flat minor.

A master of melody, Scharwenka developed his skills mostly as a piano composer and virtuoso. But he was also a very typical late romantic orchestral composer and his symphony proves his excellent sense of pace and melody. The Andante should be a standard work for everybody longing for peace and stillness.

"All in all this Symphony is to be warmly welcomed: a work with sometimes resolute character, a slight Russian accent on occasions and the regal/pastoral tendencies of Dvorák's Fifth and Sixth Symphonies." - MusicWeb