IDAGIO | BERLIN 1923 - Beethoven & Schulhoff: Piano Concertos 00028948655311

Featuring

Herbert Schuch
Tung-Chieh Chuang
WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln
Ludwig van Beethoven
Erwin Schulhoff

Did you know?

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Performer Biography

Pianist Herbert Schuch, born in Romania, is known for his thoughtfully conceived concert programs and recordings, and also plays chamber music and is involved in classical music education for schools.

Compositional Technique

Erwin Schulhoff's Piano Concerto, composed in 1923, incorporates jazz dance types, including a furious foxtrot in the final section, and even features an anvil strike.

Composer Biography

Erwin Schulhoff, a gifted pianist and composer, died in 1942 in a concentration camp in Bavaria from tuberculosis after being interned following the German invasion of the Soviet Union.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Schulhoff, despite being an iconoclast against traditionalism, wrote cadenzas for Beethoven's piano concertos, seeing it as an opportunity to put his own stamp on the works, much like Beethoven himself did.

Album & Artwork

The album title "BERLIN 1923" refers to the year Erwin Schulhoff composed his Piano Concerto and the cadenzas for Beethoven's concertos, and also the city where Schulhoff worked at the time.

Interpretation

Pianist Herbert Schuch made slight deviations from Schulhoff's score in the Piano Concerto, primarily octave doublings, to ensure the piano is audible against the thick orchestration.