Balakirev & Rimsky-Korsakov: Piano Concertos (Hyperion Romantic Piano Concerto 5)

Featuring

Malcolm Binns
David Lloyd-Jones
Orchestra of Opera North
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Mily Balakirev

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Composition History

Balakirev's Piano Concerto No 2 in E flat major was started in 1861 but abandoned, with only the second movement completed by him before his death in 1910; Sergei Liapunov completed the finale.

Recording & Production

This album is part of "The Romantic Piano Concerto" series by Hyperion Records, which aims to explore obscure Romantic concerto literature.

Composition History

Mili Balakirev's Piano Concerto No 1 in F sharp minor was first performed in February 1856, when he was still in his teens, but he never completed it beyond the first movement.

Compositional Technique

Rimsky-Korsakov's Piano Concerto, dedicated to Liszt, uses a single-movement structure similar to Liszt's Second Concerto in A major, but is based on only one theme from Balakirev's folksong collection.

Compositional Technique

The slow movement of Balakirev's Piano Concerto No 2 uses the Russian Orthodox Requiem chant 'So sviatymi upokoi' as its main theme.

Compositional Technique

Balakirev's Piano Concerto No 2 features unorthodox key schemes, such as the principal second subject recapitulating in D major instead of E flat, and a strikingly beautiful slow movement in B minor.

Composer Biography

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's Piano Concerto was composed during a happy middle period of his life, which also produced the opera The Snow Maiden and the orchestral piece Szakza ('Fairy Tale').