The
Adagio ed Allegro di bravura Op 102 (1830)—dedicated to His Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Hesse—is a glittering entertainment piece, to which Chopin’s
Andante spianato and Grande Polonaise is not unrelated. The orchestra’s sombre Adagio maestoso, in A flat major, is contrasted by the piano’s plaintive entry (‘simplice’). A fanfare from the horns and woodwind heralds the exuberant rondo theme of the Allegro vivace with a solo part every bit as treacherous and, let us admit it, crowd-pleasing as those of the two concertos. Kalkbrenner certainly knew how to wow the public.
from notes by Jeremy Nicholas © 2012
