Hiller: Piano Concertos 1-3
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Composer: Ferdinand HillerConductor: Howard Shelley
Performer: Howard Shelley
Orchestra: Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra
Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown)
Format: Import
CD Release Date: 2008-05-13
Music Label: Hyperion UK
Soundtracks:
- Concerto for Piano no 1 in A flat major, Op. 5: 1st movement, Allegro moderato
- Concerto for Piano no 1 in A flat major, Op. 5: 2nd movement, Adagio
- Concerto for Piano no 1 in A flat major, Op. 5: 3rd movement, Allegro moderato e con grazia
- Concerto for Piano in F sharp minor, Op. 69: 1st movement, Moderato, ma con energia e con fuoco
- Concerto for Piano in F sharp minor, Op. 69: 2nd movement, Andante espressivo
- Concerto for Piano in F sharp minor, Op. 69: 3rd movement, Allegro con fuoco
- Concerto for Piano no 3 in A flat major, Op. 170: 1st movement, Allegro con anima
- Concerto for Piano no 3 in A flat major, Op. 170: 2nd movement, Andante quasi adagio
- Concerto for Piano no 3 in A flat major, Op. 170: 3rd movement, Allegro con spirito
Free Music Notes for Hiller: Piano Concertos 1-3
Free Music Review: Arguably the best volume of a single composer in the series
Hit: 5 Stars
I have never held a very high regard or was very fond of the piano concertos by the three great Romantics - namely Schumann, Liszt and Chopin. While their genius and originality shone indelibly through their solo masterworks, somehow their works for their chosen instrument with the orchestra always seem to leave something more to be desired.
Since hearing concertos by their older contemporaries like Ignaz Moscheles (who was never given to frivolity and mere showmanship), my view was somewhat reinforced. The three piano concertos of Ferdinand Hiller served only to augment that opinion.
It is ironic that Hiller, up to the point of this volume's release, was known (do any search online) only vis-a-vis Schumann's piano concerto as its dedicatee. What a shame!
For what reasons the highly attractive and effective Concerto in f minor, Op. 5 was not recorded and commercially released hitherto I cannot fathom. It has the makings of all that is imaginative and desirable as an example par excellence of an Early Romantic Concerto (c. 1830). In the introduction, the trombones majestically announce a motif not unlike the "fate" of Beethoven's Fifth symphony; yet the mood is not one of despair or anguish, but one of ebullience, an early example of a mood characterization that moves away from the classical "sturm and drang" treatment of minor keys. Schumann's acute observation that Hiller's music was never given to fluff unlike contemporaries like Herz or Thalberg is well-founded even in this early concerto. Written as a vehicle for his piano technique, all its displays are carefully subsumed under a cohesive and engaging musical structure. Hiller's affinity for Beethoven (being present at his deathbed with his teacher Hummel) is further evident in the ethereal second movement, where the "question and answer" mode uncannily reminds one of the second movement of Beethoven's own Fourth piano concerto that depicts a dialogue between Orpheus and the Furies.
The second concerto had been recorded years back by Michael Ponti, who had done the honour of letting listeners re-discover neglected piano concerto masterpieces of composers unjustly forgotten by music's historical discourse. The most passionate of the three that fits well into the genre of mid-Romanticism, it is little surprise why listeners accustomed to full-blown Romanticism became most familiar with the work. Hiller's genius and gift for melody and harmonic modulation shines through and through in this piece, expecially so in the slow movement. The third movement ends the work in a capriciously good mood.
The third concerto is altogether quite different from its predecessors, showing how inventive a composer Hiller could be. The opening of the first movement is imbued with a warm lyricism and yearning of spring not unlike Bartok's own third concerto (I would not be surprised if the composer was himself acquainted with the piece before writing his own). The woodwinds announce a question that seem to beckon the piano's entry as the harbinger of spring. After some figurations that seem to mimic the sounds of birds in spring, the piano then states the lyrical theme first announced by the strings in the first few bars. The theme undergoes some variations in a clever interplay between the orchestra and the piano, demonstrating in the process the composer's maturity in the treatment of the form since his First concerto. The second movement offers a contrast in mood from the first with the woodwinds announcing a mystical theme that seems to hark back to more ancient times, a melody reminiscent of Rachmaninov's piano solo theme in his Third piano concerto as well as his favourite Russian "Dies Irae" motif). Trills rapture in the middle of the movement, uncovering the undulating emotions beneath. The mystical theme recapitulates with a brief mouvement perpetuel left hand accompaniment in chromaticism that again, looks forward to Rachmaninov. The third movement ensues in high spirits with some very unique piano figurations that again like in the first movement, resemble the call of birds. Hiller builds up the feeling of victory effectively, letting up in moments only as a way to diffuse the tension and to build a bigger climax at the very end.
Howard Shelley mesmerizes his audience once again as the impeccable and irreproachable champion of neglected Romantic piano concerti masterworks.
Arguably the best volume of a single composer in the series.
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