Ferruccio Busoni, Garrick Ohlsson, Christoph von Dohnanyi, The Cleveland Orchestra and Men's Chorus - Busoni: Piano Concerto

The Grand Late Romantic Fashion

If you like music in the grand late-Romantic fashion (Tchaikovsky/Rachmaninoff/Nielsen/Sibelius/Richard Strauss/Mahler/Bruckner); then you must have this recording. Here, the composer, Fredericcio Busoni tries to write the loudest, most sweeping, longest and lustiest piano concerto ever. Longer than even Beethoven's Ninth (and with it's own choral finale), it pulls out every stop. The fifteen minute first movement is an introduction of great Romantic energy and power. The third (middle movement), is an "Italian" movement that is also quite charming (and it goes on for over 20 minutes!).

In its great length it doesn't bore as everything is so "over the top".

Everything about this concerto is quite grand and majestic. The soloist plays a Bosendorf piano which is perfectly suited to bring out the grandiousity-it has just the right echo that makes you feel as if you are in the presence of greatness.

December 10, 2007

Unbeatable version

There's little I can add to the very well written reviews included here. However, I had the opportunity to listen to Hamelin's version, so I'd like to offer some quick comparisons. Whereas it's true that Hamelin offers some demonic virtuosity here and there, Ohlsson's performance seems more powerful and majestic. Of course Hamelin's is mighty powerful as well, but at times I felt that the piano was a bit engulfed by the massive orchestra. That, I believe, is rarely the case with Ohlsson, who, besides apparently being able to play louder, seems to understand that there are no casual remarks with Busoni, to the point that every note is actually a big statement. The orchestral textures seem more finely detailed with Hamelin's version, and the choir is lovely, perhaps even more passionate. But the piano (and the pianist) are meant to be the heroes. For that reason alone Ohlsson's triumphant performance is more to my liking. July 23, 2007

Surprise yourself with this unique recording!

I have perceived Busoni's piano concerto as a magnificent work for the orchestra, with piano as one of its instruments. Piano does get many solos, but it spends much time either accompanying the orchestra as a whole, or other instruments from the orchestra, or playing just one out of many orchestral voices.
There are five movements of great beauty in which both the orchestra and piano shine. In the fifth movement a men's chorus is added, with a splendid effect.
The idea of an orchestra with a piano as one of its voices is great. It works well. The best-remembered piano solos are the thunderous ones, but there are others, which are poetic and impressionistic.
The orchestral part, with piano in it, is what I liked the best. The piano solos were never long enough to get me out of the orchestral mood. As for Mr. Ohlsson's performance, I give him the highest mark for being a perfect member of the orchestra. He stood out only when called for. This piano concerto is one of the most difficult ones, I understand, probably reflecting the fact that Busoni was an extraordinary piano virtuoso.
It is historic that Mr. Ohlsson, who in his youth was a winner of the Busoni competition, should play it. I would love to hear the live performance of this piece, as I suspect that its grand sound cannot be adequately experienced in my living room.
As for the length of the concerto, which is ca. 70 minutes, I did not feel that it was that long. I felt that Busoni was building up each movement, without the resolution. Thus, one is naturally listening for the next movement. The most beautiful is the last movement with a men's chorus. After much drama of the last movement, the concerto comes to an abrupt end.
I am dying to know the words of the text that the chorus is singing to. I was able to find out only that the text comes from the Danish poet and playwright Adam Gottlob Oehlenschlager, from his "Aladdin".
I have read numerous music critics, who made an effort to criticize and find things wrong with Busoni as a composer. I even found one music scholar who is apparently getting tenured and promoted by criticizing Busoni and analyzing to death what is wrong with Busoni's musical structures and forms. I liked Busoni's music just as it is, and I think that you will too.
Surprise yourself with this unique recording!


February 23, 2007

Thinking Big

For those who have not had the pleasure of hearing a rare live performance of Ferruccio Busoni's Piano Concerto Opus 39, this magnificent recording of pianist Garrick Ohlsson with Christoph von Dohnanyi conducting the Cleveland Orchestra and Men's Chorus will come as a satisfying experience! Busoni's epic work is rarely performed, as it is lengthy at 72 minutes, demands large supporting forces, and calls for a pianist with not only stamina but also commitment to the grand scale of the work.

Ferruccio Busoni is not widely heard in the concert hall, so should the reader not have a clue as to what this piano concerto is like, think Bruckner, Wagner, Mahler, and early Schoenberg in piano concerto format and the image comes into focus. This is Romanticism of the highest degree with indulgences that border on excessive. But at the same time there is some exquisite orchestral writing as well as some fiendishly difficult piano writing, all balanced by the surging power most felt in the slower movements and the final movement which, like Mahler, calls for choral punctuation.

Garrick Ohlsson seems just the right pianist for the work. While he is best known for his survey of all the piano music of Chopin, he is a brilliant technician capable of making a big sound and yet equally at home with the gentler poetic moments. von Dohnanyi collaborates with Ohlsson with tremendous sensitivity to line and scale and the Cleveland forces shine like Rhinegold! This is one of those odd pieces that may take a few exposures to appreciate, but if you ever wondered just how far Romanticism would have gone if unchecked, this work is up there with Schoenberg's 'Gurrelieder', and from this listener that is high praise. Grady Harp, April 06 April 12, 2006

Great listening

The Busoni concerto should be known, in my opinion, as being up there with the best of the genre rather than infamous for being long and huge. There are plenty of delightful and memorable moments and tunes throughout; the work is never cold or austere in its scale, as a few 19th-century symphonies can tend to be. If you break the 72-minute work down into movements and subjects it is actually a very digestible piece, long, yes, but also warm and spirited and memorable. Ohlsson's playing of the piece is great and his kind of big-boned approach is suitable for such a large-scale work. I've heard a small sample of Hamelin's and it sounded very good, but a bit too virtuosic where Ohlsson's was more monumental and exalted. Although he wrote some nice chamber music, in my mind Busoni would be similar to Godowsky, mostly a "transcription guy," were it not for this brilliant and wonderful piano concerto that rivals just about any I've heard. February 6, 2006

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