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- Dvorak, Antonin
- Sourek, Otakar/ Solc, Karel/ Berkovec, Jiri/ Kurz, Vilem
Duration: 33 minutes
Description: Antonín Dvorak (1841-1904) composed his CONCERTO FOR PIANO in G minor, Op. 33/B. 63, in 1876, during a period of growing maturity that saw him blending his Czech musical roots with the broader traditions of European Romanticism. Written shortly after his SYMPHONY No. 5, the concerto departs from the virtuosic brilliance typical of Romantic piano concertos, emphasizing instead symphonic balance and organic integration between soloist and orchestra. Premiered in Prague in 1878 with pianist Karel Slavkovský and conductor Adolf Cech, the work initially met with mixed reception-some critics finding the piano writing awkward and less showy than those of Liszt or Tchaikovsky. Despite its early neglect, Dvorak’s colleague and later champion, pianist-composer Vilém Kurz, produced a revised version in the 1910s that made the piece more idiomatic for modern performance. Today, though performed less frequently than Dvorak’s VIOLIN or CELLO CONCERTOS, the PIANO CONCERTO in G minor is admired for its structural coherence, rhythmic vitality, and symphonic depth, offering a unique, introspective voice within the Romantic concerto repertoire. Instrumentation: 2.2.2.2: 2.2.0.0: Timp: Str (9.8.7.6.5 in set): Solo Pno in set. Reprint of the Critical Edition by Otakar Šourek, Karel Šolc, and Jiří Berkovec. Vilém Kurz’s edition of the piano solo is offered alongside Dvorak’s original with Šolc’s orchestra reduction in the solo piano part.