Piano Concerto in C Sharp minor, Op. 30 Composer: Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
This little concerto is a real gem, full of great themes. The soloist here is prodigy Alexander Malofeev at age 17. He is rarely seen in the West because of the Ukraine situation.
I love Rimsky- k. His orchestral colour is second to none. I have the piano on a chandos double cd. His procession of the nobles is one of my favourite pieces.
Mieczyslaw Karlowicz composed some wonderful orchestral pieces, tone poems, and songs. He was tragically killed in an avalanche while skiing at the age of 32. I have a 2 cd collection of the tone poems that has one of the most inappropriate cover illustrations of all time.
Nice addition, Justin! Forgot how much I love this kind of thread.
Here is one sadly too obscure - Fikret Amirov. He was an Azerbaijani writing music not a hundred miles away from Khachaturian's Armenian-infused music like the famous Sabre Dance.
The first album I picked up is this one - his score for a ballet of The Arabian Nights. Sadly not available for streaming as far as I can see except on YouTube, which is a godsend, again.
This should be broadly appealing to folks who love heart-on-sleeve, big-as-the-great-outdoors film music. The first few moments should be enough to sell it. And yes, there is a quite Goldsmithian vibe at the 3:35 mark.
Fikret Amirov - The Arabian Nights (First Recording) [1982, Azerbaijan] Full Ballet
I recently picked up a CD on Naxos of works by Graham Koehne. There's a piece called Elevator music: for orchestra. and it is inspired by the composer's admiration for Henry Mancini, Les Baxter, and John Barry. Very nice CD--reminded me of Gershwin's orchestral jazz works.
Yesterday, I acquired an excellent album from the Chandos.net sale, the sale that currently spotlights a different release for download sale every hour...
The "Modern Times Edition", a 10 CD set with Karl-Heinz Steffens conducting the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland Pfalz on Capriccio. (That particular recording is already gone... Chandos.net features a different recording for sale as a download every hour.)
Anyway, today I started to listen to it. It contains some "classics" where I already have a couple of recordings of, like Dutilleux's excellent "Métaboles" (which I started with), but also music by composers whose music I hardly know or have never even heard of.
Already from the start, with Bernd Alois Zimmermann, I find the music totally fascinating. Certainly starts very filmic and dramatic. "Stille und Umkehr", for example, could be just as easily a suspense cue in a (Morricone) film score than the stand alone concert piece it is. Quite a few "obscure" pieces of ("modern") classical music, so far excellently recorded, for little money.
I do indeed, Prince D! Though the Arabian Nights is still my favorite.
And Nicolai, that's a great compilation you've just introduced me to! I have enjoyed the Zimmerman music I've heard, but it hasn't been much, and not what's on here. And then Dutilleux, whose music I adore, Ginastera, Dallapiccola (whose music has grown on me in recent years), etc. - lots to explore, thanks! (I'm Spotifying of course, but just so grateful this stuff is available!)
I do indeed, Prince D! Though the Arabian Nights is still my favorite.
And Nicolai, that's a great compilation you've just introduced me to! I have enjoyed the Zimmerman music I've heard, but it hasn't been much, and not what's on here. And then Dutilleux, whose music I adore, Ginastera, Dallapiccola (whose music has grown on me in recent years), etc. - lots to explore, thanks! (I'm Spotifying of course, but just so grateful this stuff is available!)
Yeah, it's an amazing compilation; I am basically discovering it just as you are... as I just came across it in the Chandos.net sale.
I recently bought this and his other symphonies. Quite enjoyable. Also ( a bit controversially)track 3 has a smattering of Alien in it. Shocked I was, really I was.
