Search - Julius Rontgen, Jurjen Hempel, National Symphony Orchestra :: Piano Concertos By Julius Rontgen 1855-1932

Neglected Romantic Masterpiece

A K Howe | Clacton-on-Sea, England | 10/05/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Julius Röntgen (1855-1932) was a German-born (later Dutch) composer of the late-romantic period who composed over 600 works in all musical genres. For example, there are 18 extant symphonies, most of them written in his final years, and seven piano concerti, including the three on this CD.



The Second Piano Concerto (1879) turns out to be the great discovery on this disc. Although reminiscent of Brahms, you have to force yourself to remember that the older composer's own Second Piano Concerto had not yet been written! A case, as one musicologist has put it, of 'great minds thinking alike'! And in this case, Röntgen stakes his own claim to musical fame. The first movement is a broadly conceived, 15 minute-long lyrical-dramatic outpouring clearly influenced by Beethoven (Fourth Piano Concerto: opening piano solo), Schumann (some of the orchestral writing from his Piano Concerto) and Brahms (First Piano Concerto: piano solo following orchestral introduction). The second movement is a long-breathed, songful interlude of great beauty and the finale is somewhat in the style of Brahms' Hungarian Dances, with a joyful conclusion.



What impresses, however, is the sheer quality and memorability of this 33-minute work. It is far more than simply another unfamiliar romantic concerto - it is a noble masterwork by a wonderful and scandalously neglected master-composer. It would be a definite 'hit' in the concert hall, and would adorn the repertoire of any great virtuoso. Are you seeking an alternative to the ubiquitous Schumann, Grieg, Brahms and Rachmaninov concerti? Then Röntgen's Second Piano Concerto should be your choice - and the only available recording is a superb realisation of it, both musically and sonically. Sell your shirt - and, if necessary all those needless concerto duplications - and buy it, before it disappears!







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