Chopin – Loewe Piano concertos

The programme of the CD at hand may appear odd at first, perhaps even a little wilful – however, it is at least exciting and conspicuous, as it heralds the meeting of Frédéric Chopin‘s Piano Concerto in F minor with Carl Loewe‘s Piano Concerto in A, two heavyweight virtuoso concertos – one of them stemming from the quill of the “Paganini of the Piano”, the other from that of the “King of the Vocal Ballad”. So what can be expected? More than an hour of highly polished pianistic jewels displayed upon a luxurious silken orchestral carpet. Nothing more, but also nothing less: for an in-depth discussion about the status and value of the works in the piano-concerto genre does not arise, as neither work is based on the Classical symphonic concerto (with its ingenious dialogue structures between the soloist and orchestra as equal partners) which had already been elaborated upon and perfected by Mozart and Beethoven. These compositions are much more representatives of the “Virtuoso Concerto” genre, where nothing must distract the listener from the playing of the soloist. Here, the duty of the orchestra is simply to increase the excitement of the public with regard to the longed-for entrance of the soloist by first presenting an extensive orchestral exposition, and then providing melodic and harmonic support in the further course of the brilliant solo part.