TCHAIKOVSKY: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 3

Album review

One of the most frequently performed and recorded works of all time, Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 is, unsurprisingly, the main attraction of this disc. That it receives a superb performance is a plus, and listeners will not be disappointed by the recorded sound, which is wonderful. Yet connoisseurs of less familiar fare may be drawn instead to the Piano Concerto No. 3, coupled here with Sergey Taneyev's orchestration of Tchaikovsky's putative sketches for two additional movements. Based on material from the rejected Symphony No. 7, the single-movement concerto was all that Tchaikovsky had composed at the time of his death. Taneyev, guessing Tchaikovsky's intentions, orchestrated the symphony's Andante and Finale with a piano part and published them as Op. 79, to be appended to the Allegro brillante to create a viable three-movement concerto. While this rarely heard addendum lacks authenticity and is decidedly less scintillating than Tchaikovsky would have made it, Taneyev's completion offers a fascinating byway for speculation of what might have been achieved had not fate intervened. Pianist Konstantin Scherbakov and the Russian Philharmonic Orchestra, directed by Dmitry Yablonsky, deliver both concertos with excitement and brilliant color and the sound is excellent. Collectors, take note: this fine recording is also available on Naxos in a hybrid SACD format.
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