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Track(s) taken from CDA66597

Allegro de concert in A major, Op 46

composer
1841; originally the opening movement of a Piano Concerto No 3, begun in 1830 in Nohant

Nikolai Demidenko (piano)
Recording details: February 1992
St George's, Brandon Hill, United Kingdom
Release date: July 1992
Total duration: 11 minutes 32 seconds
 

Other recordings available for download

Garrick Ohlsson (piano)

Reviews

‘You will be hard pressed to find playing of such super-fine precision and sensitivity. This is undoubtedly one of the most crystalline and exclusive Chopin recitals I have heard for some time. Such pianism forbids even whispered comparisons’ (Gramophone)

‘One of the finest pianists of our time’ (CDReview)
Drawing tangibly on material for the first movement of a concerto sketched in Paris in 1832, and tentatively on ideas for a concerto for two pianos discussed by Chopin in Vienna a couple of years previously, the Allegro de Concert in A major was completed in May 1841. References to its concerto genesis are found, overtly, in letters from Chopin’s father written in 1834 and 1835 (‘You don’t mention whether you have finished your third concerto’) as well as in Chopin’s own correspondence (where it is specifically identified as a ‘concerto’ in a missive to Fontana from early October 1841).

In this allegro, Schumann told his readers in the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik, ‘a fine middle melody is wanting, though the cantilena is rich in new and brilliant passages; but it floats past us too restlessly, and we feel the absence of a slow after-movement, an adagio – for the entire plan suggests a complete concerto in three movements. The idea of raising the pianoforte to the highest point of independence possible, and of rendering the orchestra unnecessary, is a favourite one with young composers, and it seems to have influenced Chopin in the publication of his allegro in this form; but this new attempt again proves the difficulty of the task, though it will by no means serve as a warning against future endeavours.’

from notes by Ateş Orga © 1992

L’Allegro de Concert en la majeur fut terminé en mai 1841. Il puise manifestement dans le matériel du premier mouvement d’un concerto esquissé à Paris en 1832, et de façon moins définie dans des idées pour un concerto pour deux pianos dont Chopin avait parlé à Vienne deux années auparavant. Des références à l’origine de ce concerto sont faites ouvertement dans des lettres que le père de Chopin lui écrivait en 1834 et 1835 («Vous ne dites pas si vous avez fini votre troisième concerto») ainsi que dans la propre correspondance de Chopin (qui l’identifie spécifiquement comme un «concerto» dans une lettre adressée à Fontana du début d’octobre 1841).

extrait des notes rédigées par Ateş Orga © 1992
Français: Alain Midoux

Das Allegro de Concert in A-Dur, das eindeutig auf Material zum 1832 in Paris skizzierten ersten Satz eines Konzerts zurückgreift und weniger deutlich auf Ideen zu einem Konzert für zwei Klaviere, die Chopin einige Jahre zuvor in Wien diskutiert hatte, wurde im Mai 1841 vollendet. Unverkennbare Hinweise auf seine Ursprünge im Konzert finden sich in Briefen von Chopins Vater aus den Jahren 1834 und 1835 („Du sprichst nicht davon, ob du dein drittes Konzert fertiggestellt hast“) und in Chopins eigener Korrespondenz (wo es in einem Schreiben an Fontana Anfang Oktober 1841 eindeutig als „Konzert“ identifiziert wird).

aus dem Begleittext von Ateş Orga © 1992
Deutsch: Anne Steeb/Bernd Müller

Other albums featuring this work

Chopin: The Complete Works
CDS44351/6616CDs Boxed set (at a special price) — Download only
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