Goetz & J. Wieniawski: Piano Concertos (Hyperion Romantic Piano Concerto 52)

Featuring

Hamish Milne
Michał Dworzynski
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Hermann Goetz
Józef Wieniawski

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Composer Biography

Hermann Goetz, the composer of the Piano Concerto in B flat major, Op 18, contracted tuberculosis in childhood and succumbed to the illness four days before his thirty-sixth birthday.

Critical Reception

Hermann Goetz's Piano Concerto in B flat major, Op 18, was praised by the local press at its 1867 premiere as 'evidence of his outstanding talent, crafted, melodious, fiery and reflective, with a brilliant piano part'.

Performer Biography

Hamish Milne, the pianist on this recording, studied with Harold Craxton and Guido Agosti, and was deeply impressed by Sergiu Celibidache's classes at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena.

Composition History

Hermann Goetz's opera Der Widerspenstigen Zähmung, based on Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew, brought him fame both at home and abroad.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Hermann Goetz's music is described as open-hearted, possessing freshness and optimism, with a melodic gift, even though his harmonic language was not adventurous compared to contemporaries like Wagner.

Composer Biography

Józef Wieniawski, the composer of the Piano Concerto in G minor, Op 20, was the younger brother of the more famous violinist Henryk Wieniawski, and studied with Liszt.

Compositional Technique

Józef Wieniawski's Piano Concerto in G minor, Op 20, features intentionally written discords, where a 'wrong' note distorts a consonant chord, perhaps as a mischievous comment on contemporary pianists.