Hyperion Records

This concerto, the finest of Scharwenka’s four—and a work for which he especially wished to be remembered—was first performed on 31 October 1908 in the Beethovensaal, Berlin. The soloist was Scharwenka’s pupil, and later assistant, Martha Siebold, and Scharwenka himself conducted. The correspondent of the London Musical Times reported that ‘the hall was crowded by an audience which may, without exaggeration, be said to have included almost every pianist—virtuoso, teacher and student—in Berlin. The work, which was received with tremendous enthusiasm, is sure to become a favourite with pianists able to do justice to its great difficulties, for, while providing an orchestral part of true symphonic importance, the work is a genuine virtuoso concerto. The music is remarkably fresh in invention, and yet it is a generation since the composer wrote his first concerto in B flat minor.’ Moriz Rosenthal, perhaps Liszt’s greatest pupil and a great admirer of Scharwenka, wrote of the new work: ‘It has charmed and moved me to no little degree. In your youth you created that master-work, your B flat minor Concerto, and now in your mature years you present to the world a work full of youthful fire and ardour which rivets the attention with its verve and impetuosity.’

from notes by Steven Heliotes © 1995