As one of the most recorded piano concertos of all time the catalogue
contains a considerable number of recommendable accounts of the Grieg
Concerto. Recordings of the Prokofiev
Piano Concerto No. 3
are by no means as frequent but of those available the classic 1967
Berlin account played by Martha Argerich is dominant.
On vacation in the summer of 1868 Grieg a young married man with a new
baby daughter wrote his
Piano Concerto. Of an instantly cheerful
and inspiring disposition the score seems to reflect Grieg’s happy
time domestically and marks a significant creative point in the composer’s
life. In my collection of Grieg’s
A minor Concerto my two
preferred accounts are the 1963 Berlin played by Géza Anda and
the Berliner Philharmoniker under Rafael Kubelik on Deutsche Grammophon
and from soloist Leif Ove Andsnes with the Berliner Philharmoniker under
Mariss Jansons recorded in 2002 in Berlin on EMI Classics.
Sadly Lugansky is mightily disappointing in the Grieg
with the
opening
Allegro molto moderato short of vitality. A curious sense
of constraint and a rather measured pace do not help. I admire the soloist’s
clean crisp playing of the
Adagio but unfortunately none of the
spine-tingling passion that can be achieved is present. Despite some
robust playing in the
Finale the required sense of fluency was
missing. However, I did enjoy the splendour of the closing section marked
Andante maestoso. Overall this account is underpowered and lacks
a sense of grandeur when compared to the marvellous recordings by Anda/Kubelik
and Andsnes/Jansons.
During his exile from Soviet Russia, Prokofiev in the summer of 1921
was holidaying on the French coast at Brittany whilst working his
Piano
Concerto No. 3. A brilliant work that boldly makes its presence
felt it is not too difficult to imagine the music as an expression of
the turbulence battering the composer’s homeland.
It is hard for any new recording to compete with the quite stunning
1967 Berlin account that Martha Argerich made with Abbado. Lugansky
seems much more at home in the Prokofiev than the Grieg and opens the
Andante - Allegro with a sense of mystery followed by considerable
liveliness. Some satisfyingly assured playing in the theme and variations
precedes a strongly energetic
Finale.
Despite a commendable
and generous effort by Lugansky he is unable to match the boldness and
power, and communicative quality of the Argerich.
Pleasing support from the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin under
Kent Nagano comes across as colourful and especially sensitive to the
soloist. Recorded at the Jesus Christ Church, Berlin/Dahlem, a renowned
studio location, the engineers have provided a pleasing, well balanced
sound quality.
Michael Cookson
Masterwork Index:
Grieg concerto
