Robert Schumann had attempted and failed to complete seven piano concertos or concert-pieces before beginning the work that would become his Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54.
Performer Biography
Andris Nelsons, the conductor for this album, became Music Director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 2014 and Gewandhauskapellmeister of the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig in 2017-18.
Composer Biography
Robert Schumann, a composer on this album, was a "tortured, hyper-sensitive aesthete" who died in a mental asylum, while Antonín Dvořák, the other composer, was an "earthy, often cantankerous train-spotter and pigeon-fancier" who died as a national treasure.
Composer Biography
Johannes Brahms, a famous composer, sponsored Dvořák's career, much like Robert Schumann had sponsored Brahms's own career.
Composition History
Both Schumann's and Dvořák's piano concertos were completed around their respective composers' thirty-fifth birthdays, written quickly in bursts of inspiration, and initially rejected by publishers.
Performer Biography
Stephen Hough, the pianist on this recording, was awarded a prestigious MacArthur Fellowship in 2001 and was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2014.
Compositional Technique
Both piano concertos on this album treat the piano and orchestra as equals, a result of the composers' shared conviction that concertos should be major musical statements, not just vehicles for soloists.
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Rheinberger: Piano Concerto, Op. 94 - Moszkowski: Piano Concerto, Op. 59
Schumann: Piano Concerto Op.54 / Schoenberg: Piano Concerto Op.42
Grieg: Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 16 / Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43
