Ernő Dohnányi - Piano Concertos (Martin Roscoe)

Information

Composer: Ernő Dohnányi

• Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 5
• Piano Concerto No. 2 in B minor, Op. 42

Martin Roscoe, piano

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

Fedor Glushchenko, conductor

Date: 1993

Label: Hyperion

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Review

The sixth disc in Hyperion's admirable if uneven series, ''The Romantic Piano Concerto'' (the choice of works is enterprising, the selection of soloists sometimes unwise), this coupling provides a salutary reminder of two of Dohnanyi's most substantial if sadly neglected works. Both concertos—separated by 50 years, but mildly rather than radically different in their musical language—burgeon with sufficient heartfelt melody and high-flying pianistics to satisfy even the most ardent aficionado of the genre. And if, as the insert-note so aptly puts it, Dohnanyi hardly provides anything so important as a bridge between Liszt and Bartok, and remains ''stuck in a style somewhere between Brahms and Saint-Saens'', his alternation of dark and scintillating ideas is accomplished with an easy and professional aplomb. The Second Concerto's crisply accented finale in whirling and nationalistic duple time is notably attractive.

Martin Roscoe's superbly authoritative performances are majestic and glittering as required, and his survival of his recessed placing in relation to the orchestra (the split-chord ascent at 5'08'' in the First Concerto, and the decoration at 12'06'' in the Second are two among several virtually inaudible details) is doubly to his credit. Fedor Glushchenko's partnership is excellent and, overall, the recordings are of high quality.

— Bryce Morrison

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Ernő Dohnányi (27 July 1877 – 9 February 1960) was a Hungarian composer, pianist and conductor. Dohnányi studied in Budapest at the Royal Academy of Music. As a pianist he traveled widely and established a reputation as one of the best performers of his day. In 1948 he left Hungary as a political exile and became a U.S. citizen in 1955. Dohnányi's music, which was chiefly influenced by Johannes Brahms, was late Romantic and conservative in style, and after 1910 he occupied only a minor place among contemporary Hungarian composers. His works include three symphonies, a ballet, three operas, and chamber works.

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Martin Roscoe (born 3 August 1952) is an English classical pianist. Born in Halton, Runcorn, Cheshire, he studied at the Royal Manchester College of Music with Gordon Green and Marjorie Clementi. Roscoe has played as a soloist under many of the world's leading conductors, and also gives regular recitals at the Wigmore Hall. He has an international reputation and has played in many countries, including Hong Kong, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, South America, Australia, USA and France. Roscoe has taught at the Royal Northern College of Music, Royal Academy of Music, and Guildhall School of Music & Drama.

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