Cameo scores a coup
over Romantic Piano Concerto juggernaut
Hyperion with this release. We have
here the world premiere concert recording
of the neglected piano concerto of Pavel
Pabst. I knew nothing of this composer.
Some who are wiser than me in such matters
knew of Pabst only from his ornate -
and difficult - piano transcriptions
of opera pieces. In searching the Internet,
it appears that a recording of the concerto
exists with Olga Bobrovnikova ostensibly
as soloist with an unnamed orchestra,
though musical credits are not given.
From what I can tell, that recording
is not currently commercially available.
So what we have here, music fans, is
a corner on the Pabst Concerto market.
But allow me to go
into some biographical detail before
I speak about the music. I’ve not been
able to find scholarly sources in English,
therefore I am indebted to the liner-notes,
as well as a recent website devoted
to Pavel Pabst (www.paul-pabst.com).
Born in Königsberg
in 1854, Pabst has quite a long list
of achievements for someone currently
so obscure. It is probable that he is
the one who assisted the composer in
completing Tchaikovsky’s own first piano
concerto. Tchaikovsky entrusted him
as the man who could "remove, add
to, improve and be given credit for"
the editing of all of his works, according
to a letter Tchaikovsky wrote to his
publisher. Pabst fingered, as well as
performed, the piano part for Arensky’s
Piano Concerto for its premiere in 1889,
with Arensky conducting. His students
included Nikolai Medtner and Percy Grainger,
as well as the majority of the professors
for the Moscow Conservatory that came
after him. Pabst’s only orchestral composition,
the concerto here presented, was premiered
with the composer as soloist and Siloti
as conductor. It was not well received,
and after the initial performances in
Moscow and St. Petersburg, Pabst had
it shelved and never referred to it
again. Its first performance since then
is what you have here, twelve decades
after its premiere.
The Pabst Piano Concerto
fits the general outline of a Romantic-era
concerto. It is in three movements in
the typical fast-slow-fast order, opening
with an Allegro Moderato. The
orchestra begins the piece with the
jovial main theme, then darkens with
a foreshadowing of the material the
piano covers on its rather startling
entry; a cadenza-like attention-grabber.
What surprises with these first notes
is their angularity, their forward-looking
modern sound. This then recedes into
the Romantic vein of the main thematic
material. The musical style then moves
from Saint-Saëns at times to Chopin.
The opening of the
second movement is hushed and beautiful,
residing in the strings before a brief
episode for the brass as the piano enters
with the first theme. After this the
orchestra takes over while the soloist
offers supporting arpeggiations. After
the development comes another theme
closely related to the first, on which
the orchestra builds a grand recapitulation
of the first theme. The brass here seem
set far back in the aural landscape,
but the piano is never lost in the tutti
sections.
The third movement
opens with a folk-dance reminiscent
of Grieg. The rustic trappings are eventually
dropped and the soloist enters, first
on tiptoe, then triumphantly, with the
orchestra and piano putting the first
theme through several permutations before
moving to the second which is more expansive
and serene. This soon gathers force
and becomes reminiscent of Saint-Saëns.
This movement has sweep and bravado.
It is thoroughly enjoyable and is ably
played by Trochopoulos. For a live recording,
the audience is hardly never discernable,
to the point that the applause at the
end comes as a bit of a surprise.
As lead-ins to the
Pabst, we have the Paganini Rhapsody
of Rachmaninov, which is here given
a serviceable performance. The piano
is pushed off-centre to the right channel
and seems somewhat muffled. The playing
is good, but isn’t likely to unseat
my favourite recordings, by Entremont
and Rubinstein. The following Overture-Fantasia
on Hamlet by Tchaikovsky has
that greater intensity so signally missing
from the Rhapsody. For both of these
pieces the recording aesthetic could
be brighter, giving the impression that
the recording was made in a heavily-curtained
room. Then again, you are likely to
have the Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky
several times over in your collections.
What you really wanting this disc for
is the Pabst, a thoroughly enjoyable
listen, and one over a century overdue.
David Blomenberg
Panagiotis Trochopoulos (piano)
