Anton Rubinstein Piano Concerto No. 4

I just picked up Rubinstein's 4th Piano Concerto, and I must say it's a truly dazzling work, and its a mystery why something so powerful and bravura fell out of the common repetoire.

Rubinstein is the first important Russian Composer-Pianist, and his music bridges that of Glinka and Tchaikovsky very nicely. In fact, it was his brother who was the first person Tchaikovsky sought to dedicate his first Piano Concerto to (we all know how that went!).

Rubinstein's fourth features marvelous melodies, tremendous piano writing, and just shows how amazing the Piano as an instrument can be. Everything blends well together, and you cannot help but realize how great this work is.

Hyperion Records not too long ago released a new recording with Marc-Andre Hamelin as the pianist, so this one is easily available.

I have a recording of this piece with Shura Cherkassky as the pianist. Although Cherkassky is great, I was not impressed by this deservedly forgotten piece, which to me seemed rather unoriginal and weakly orchestrated.

Given the time that this work was composed, I would say that it was fairly 'original'. It is certainly a vbirtuoso work, but the Orchestral writing does not strike me as weak. Perhaps the recording you heard was less than exemplary.

In any event, here are the details on Hyperion's release which I heartily recommend:

The Romantic Piano Concerto, Vol 38 - Rubinstein & Scharwenka

Must agree with Fabio - I detest this piece.. :thumbsup:

I've never been a very big fan of Rubinstein.

But that's probably because of the crap he said about Tchaikovsky's first piano concerto. :blush: