Lyapunov: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2 etc. (Hyperion Romantic Piano Concerto 30)

Featuring

Martyn Brabbins
Hamish Milne
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Sergei Lyapunov

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Composer Biography

Sergei Lyapunov, the composer, moved to St Petersburg in 1885 to be with the well-known composer Balakirev, becoming the most important member of Balakirev's later circle.

Compositional Technique

Lyapunov's Rhapsody on Ukrainian Themes features a 'kazachok,' a type of dance performed by Ukrainian Cossacks, as its most ebullient folk theme.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Lyapunov's First Piano Concerto was influenced by Borodin's First and Second Symphonies, particularly in how themes are contrasted and the use of 'heroic' material.

Composition History

The First Piano Concerto was completed in 1890 and premiered in 1891 under the baton of Balakirev, with I.A. Borovka as soloist.

Composition History

Lyapunov, the composer, was asked by Balakirev to complete the finale of Balakirev's own Piano Concerto in E flat major after Balakirev became too weak to finish it himself.

Performer Biography

Hamish Milne, the pianist on this recording, studied with Harold Craxton at the Royal Academy of Music and later with Guido Agosti in Italy.

Composer Biography

Lyapunov, the composer, emigrated to Paris in 1923 after living through the Revolution and directed a music school for Russian émigrés there before dying the following year.