Dvořák: Piano Concerto

Dvořák: Piano Concerto

PCL10272 (Piano Classics, CD)

DDD
FIRST RELEASE (1 November 2023)
Tracks: 5
Booklet pages: 8
℗ 2023 Piano Classics
© 2023 Piano Classics
Main country of recording: Czech Republic
Country of manufacture: European Union
Reviewer: Gerald Fenech
Review of Dvořák: Piano Concerto published on 12 October 2023

Leonardo Pierdomenico, piano (tracks 1-3)
Markéta Čepická, violin (track 4)
David Matoušek, cello (track 5)
Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Pardubice
Vahan Mardirossian, conductor

Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904):

Piano Concerto in G minor, Op 33 (original version)
1 Allegro agitato
2 Andante sostenuto
3 Allegro con fuoco

4 Mzurek for violin and orchestra, Op 49

5 Rondo for cello and orchestra, Op 94 in G minor

Leonardo Pierdomenico's new recording of the Piano Concerto by Dvořák, made in the Czech Republic with an orchestra who live and breathe the composer's music. One of his most neglected works, the Piano Concerto requires particularly devoted advocacy as well as formidable virtuosity to overcome the technical shortcomings of Dvořák's piano writing, but the effort is rewarded with episodes of no less ardent lyricism than the high points of his concertos for violin and cello. The Piano Concerto, however, burns with a ferocity all its own, more similar in that regard to Schumann's impassioned writing for soloist and orchestra. The unusual pairings draw on the talents of the Pardubice orchestra's front desks, with two equally unfamiliar concertante miniatures by Dvořák, the Mazurek for violin and orchestra (dedicated to Pablo de Sarasate) and the Rondo for cello and orchestra intended for Hanus Wihan, who would in time inspire Dvořák to compose the Cello Concerto. Thus the album will complete a Dvořák concerto collection on CD as well as offering a further demonstration of Leonardo Pierdomenico's artistry.

Recorded 28-29 October 2022 at Suk Hall of the House of Music, Pardubice, Czechia.