Robert Schumann; Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Piano Concertos (Byron Janis)

Information

Composer: Robert Schumann; Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

• Schumann - Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54
• Schumann - Arabeske, Op. 18
• Tchaikovsky - Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor, Op. 23

Byron Janis, piano

Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra / Stanisław Skrowaczewski

London Symphony Orchestra / Herbert Menges

Date: 1962; 1963; 1960

Label: Mercury

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Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Romantic Russian composer. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popular concert and theatrical music in the current classical repertoire, including the ballets Swan Lake and The Nutcracker, the 1812 Overture, his First Piano Concerto, Violin Concerto, the Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy, several symphonies, and the opera Eugene Onegin. Despite his many popular successes, Tchaikovsky's life was punctuated by personal crises and depression.

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Robert Schumann (8 June 1810 – 29 July 1856) was a German composer and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era, and left an array of acclaimed music in virtually all the forms then known. Schumann's published compositions were written exclusively for the piano until 1840; he later composed works for piano and orchestra; many Lieder (songs for voice and piano); four symphonies; an opera; and other orchestral, choral, and chamber works. Schumann suffered from a lifelong mental disorder, and died in 1856 without having recovered from his illness.

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Byron Janis (March 24, 1928 – March 14, 2024) was an American classical pianist. He was a student of Josef and Rosina Lhévinne, Adele Marcus and Vladimir Horowitz. He was invited six times by four sitting Presidents to perform at the White House. Janis was also a composer and wrote music for musical theater and television shows. He made numerous recordings for RCA Victor and Mercury Records, and occupies two volumes of the Philips series Great Pianists of the 20th Century. His discography included major piano concertos from Mozart to Rachmaninoff and Liszt to Prokofiev.

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