Johann Baptist Cramer (1771-1858)
Concerto pour piano n° 5 en do mineur, Op.48

Carl Czerny (1791-1857)
Divertissement de Concert, pour piano & orchestre, op. 204

Ferdinand Ries (1784-1838)
Concerto pour piano & orchestre en do dièse mineur, Op 55

Muzio Clementi (1752-1832)
Concerto pour piano en do majeur (orchestrated by Johann Schenk)

John Field (1782-1837)
Concerto pour piano n° 2 en la bémol majeur, H. 31

Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778-1837)
Concertino pour piano & small orchestre en sol majeur (revision of Concerto pour mandoline, S. 28), op. 73

Ignaz Moscheles (1794-1870)
Concerto pour piano n° 3 en sol mineur, op. 60

Ferdinand Hiller (1811-1885)
Concerto pour piano n° 2 en fa dièse mineur, op. 69

Henry Litolff (1818-1891) Charles
Concerto Symphonique pour piano & orchestre n° 3 en mi bémol majeur, op. 45

Frédéric Kalkbrenner (1785-1849)
Concerto pour piano & orchestre n° 1 en ré mineur, op. 61

Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778-1837)
Concerto pour piano en mi majeur (Les Adieux), op. 110

Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826)
Concerto pour piano n° 1 en do majeur, J. 98 (op. 11)
Concerto pour piano n° 2 en mi bémol majeur, J. 155 (op. 32)
Konzertstück pour piano & orchestre en fa mineur, J. 282 (op. 79)

Robert Volkmann (1815-1883)
Konzerstück pour piano & orchestre, Op 42

Adolf Henselt (1814-1889)
Concerto pour piano & orchestre in F, Op 16

Ferdinand Hiller (1811-1885)
Konzertstück pour piano & orchestre, op. 113

Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)
Allegro de Concert en la majeur, B 72op. 46

Moritz Moszkowski (1854-1925)
Concerto pour piano & orchestre en mi majeur, op. 59

Philipp Scharwenka (1847-1917)
Concerto pour piano in C, Op 56

Joseph Joachim Raff (1822-1882)
Concerto pour piano & orchestre en do mineur, op. 185

Mihály Mosonyi (1815-1870)
Concerto pour piano & orchestre en mi mineur

Bernhard Stavenhagen (1862-1914)
Concerto pour piano & orchestre en si mineur, Op 4

Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
Fantaisie über Motiven aus Beethovens Ruinen von Athen, pour piano & orchestre, S. 122 (LW H9)
Polonaise brillante (Weber) pour piano et orchestre, S 367R 460
Concerto pathétique, pour piano & orchestre en mi mineur, S. 365b (LW H11)
Hungarian Fantaisie (Fantaisie über ungarische Volksmelodien), pour piano & orchestre, S. 123 (LW H12)
Wanderer Fantaisie (Fantaisie von Franz Schubert), pour piano & orchestre (d'après Schubert, D. 760), S. 3
Malédiction, pour piano & orchestre de cordes (or Sextuor à cordes), S. 121 (LW H1)

Eugen d'Albert (1864-1932)
Concerto pour piano n° 2 en mi majeur, op. 12

Hans von Bronsart (1830-1913)
Concerto pour piano & orchestre, Op 10, en fa dièse mineur

Franz Berwald (1796-1868)
Concerto pour piano n° 1 en ré majeur

Charles-Valentin Alkan (1813-1888)
Concerto da chambre, pour piano & orchestre n° 2 en do dièse mineur, op. 102

Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Introduction and Allegro appassionato pour piano et orchestre en sol majeur, op. 92

Joseph Joachim Raff (1822-1882)
Ode to Spring pour piano & orchestre, op. 76

Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
Totentanz pour piano, S 525

Simon Mayr (1763-1845)
Concerto pour piano, 2 hautbois, 2 trompettes & orchestre de cordes en do majeur

Albert Roussel (1869-1937)
Concerto pour piano & orchestre en sol majeur, op. 36

Gabriel Pierné (1863-1937)
Concerto pour piano en do mineur, op. 12

Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
Concerto pour piano n° 3 en mi bémol majeur, op. post. 75
Concert Fantaisie pour piano et orchestre en sol majeur, op. 56

Christian Sinding (1856-1941)
Concerto pour piano & orchestre in C sharp, Op 6

Hermann Goetz (1840-1876)
Concerto pour piano & orchestre in B flat, Op 18

Carl Reinecke (1824-1910)
Concerto pour piano n° 1 en fa dièse mineur, op. 72

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Capriccio brillant pour piano et orchestre en si mineur, op. 22

Joseph Rheinberger (1839-1901)
Concerto pour piano en la bémol majeur, op. 94

Anton Rubinstein (1829-1894)
Concerto pour piano n° 4 en ré mineur, op. 70

Sigismund Thalberg (1812-1871)
Concerto pour piano & orchestre en fa mineur, Op 5

Nikolay Medtner (1880-1951)
Concerto pour piano n° 3 en mi mineur (Ballade), op. 60

Mily Balakirev (1837-1910)
Concerto pour piano n° 2 en mi bémol majeur (completed by Lyapunov)

Sergey Lyapunov (1859-1924)
Rhapsodie on Ukrainian Thèmes, pour piano & orchestre, op. 28

Edouard Lalo (1823-1892)
Concerto pour piano en fa mineur

Alexander Glazunov (1865-1936)
Concerto pour piano n° 2 en si majeur, op. 100

George Gershwin (1898-1937)
Concerto pour piano en fa majeur

Samuel Barber (1910-1981)
Concerto pour piano, op. 38

Edward MacDowell (1860-1908)
Concerto pour piano n° 2 en ré mineur, op. 23

Amy Beach (1867-1944)
Concerto pour piano en do dièse mineur, op. 45

Felicja Blumenthal, piano
Hans Kann, piano
Jerome Rose, piano
Roland Keller, piano
Michael Ponti, piano …

Saluons à nouveau la très belle initiative du label Brilliant Classics qui à travers ce généreux coffret de 40 disques nous fait découvrir des concertos romantiques de compositeurs méconnus. Ecrites au 19ème siècle, ces pages sont l’œuvre de "petits maîtres", souvent oubliés, et pour la plupart restés dans l’ombre de leurs plus illustres contemporains. Ces compositions pleines de charme, parfois brillantes, trouvent ici toute l’attention qu’elles méritent. De Hummel à Czerny, de Scharwenka à Balakirev, ce sont les œuvres de plus de 60 compositeurs injustement délaissés par l’histoire qui revivent à travers cette édition, et sous les doigts experts de grands interprètes comme Felicja Blumenthal, Jerome Rose ou Michael Ponti. Issus pour une large majorité du riche catalogue Vox, ces trésors inattendus, soigneusement restaurés, sont une découverte indispensable à tout mélomane amoureux du répertoire romantique.

Why is it that, when asked to name the most magnificent piano concertos of the Romantic age, only a select few spring to mind? And while these may have been recorded numerous times, why do we allow other concertos of the period to languish in obscurity? This exciting new release aims to shine a light on those other pieces from the period, which deserve to be better known. It takes in over 60 composers and runs the full gamut of the age we now call ‘Romantic’ – from the initial stirrings of Romanticism in the works of Clementi and Stamitz, through the early adopters such as Field and Hummel, to the passionate virtuosity of Liszt, Saint-Saëns and Lalo, as well as those neo- Romantic composers who looked fondly back to the era, such as Samuel Barber. Although some of the earliest composers on this boxset are essentially Classical, it is not difficult to detect qualities we now call ‘Romantic’ evident in the composers’ writing, as they leaned away from the restraint, symmetry and clarity of the Classical period. Among those on this release are Stamitz, Hoffmeister and Paisiello, who went on to influence some of the most important composers of the 18th and 19th centuries. These composers, born towards the end of the 18th century, were just beginning to benefit from new advances in the development of the piano; it would be up to their successors to exploit these fully. Born around the same time was John Field, an Irish composer, who was the forerunner of the Romantic period and is best known as the instigator of the nocturne. Five of his piano concertos feature on this release, revealing the composer’s foreign influences, as – having spent much of his life in Russia – he began to add local flair to his works, such as the balalaika. Almost an exact contemporary of Field was Hummel, who taught Czerny, who went on to teach Liszt. Hummel – who himself had been taught by Mozart – was one of the greatest virtuosi of his time, and his A minor and B minor piano concertos were standard repertoire works of the early 19th century, studied by all the budding virtuosos of the period. The concept of a ‘virtuoso’ performer was a relatively new one, exemplified by Paganini and the attention he drew to the violin as a virtuosic instrument. The piano was not far behind, however, and this reached its climax with the rivalry between Liszt and Thalberg – two stupendous pianists, the same age, whose performance at a benefit in Paris was tantamount to a piano duel. Some of Liszt’s most fiendish works feature on this release, including his Malédiction for piano and strings, and Totentanz, famed for its shockingly percussive piano effects. Thalberg is not forgotten, with his Piano Concerto No.5 showcasing the composer and pianist’s penchant for virtuosity, even if it was written in his teens. The release is rounded off by Romantic composers from further afield; some of the finest American composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries appear, including Daniel Mason – little known here but much admired during his lifetime – as well as Beach, Barber and Gershwin. Mason was a devotee of Brahms and fiercely opposed to modern developments in music, such as Impressionism. Amy Beach was more open to stylistic changes during her lifetime, while Barber – born in 1910 – loved to utilise the expressive tonality of the 19th century in his compositions, including in his 1962 Piano Concerto, on CD19 of this boxset. The perfect starting point for exploring Romantic piano music. It features historic recordings of a truly excellent standard, including Blumental with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra under Helmuth Froschauer, the Orchestra of Radio Luxembourg with Pierre Cao accompanying French pianist Dosse, Boehm with the Westphalian Symphony Orchestra under Siegfried Landau, and Antal Doráti conducting the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with Ilse von Alpenheim.