I'd like to gather some thoughts from around the globe-if you can, please list the top ten (in your estimation) piano concerti according to what you like or have seen performed in your cities. At this juncture of the 21st century, I am very curious to see what makes the list around the world according to members on this site.

Here is my commentary from the back of the orchestra!

1)Brahms B Major. This one has it all, beautiful orchestral wrinting, great piano part and the all important cello obligato!
2)Ravel (g) The one for both hands. There is nothing that sounds like Ravel. Pianist should be lucky that they got two great ones and many hours of other great piece such as the minuet ant....
3) Beethoven E flat...This is perfection, his last concerto, as great if not better than his last sonata!!
4) Prokofiev 1st...written by a kid, playable by only the masters....unbelievable
5) Mozart...He wrote a bunch and its hard to choose just one, start from the last one and go from there.
6) Rocky 2nd..The most copied concerto ever, from a guy who wanted to be a composer first, then a conductor and then a pianist! Talk about priorities!
7) Stravinsky. He couldn't forget about the piano could he...don't worry he didn't. Can you call Pulicnella a concerto?
8) Strauss Burleske..underrated in my opinion. We knew he was a master of the orchestra, but piano too?
9)Schumann..the many faces of Schumann come together all in one concerto..also a lot easier on the chops than that that other piece he wrote!
10) Gershwin..GASP..from the audience..no Lizst, no Chopin, no Tchaikovsky...no thanks. This is America, and since Copland didn't write a concerto (at least I think he didn't), then this will have to do.

Thanks DHP
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from a flutist married to a pianist....with his imput...but the order is debateable

1) Prokofiev 2nd
2) Brahms Bb
3) Beethoven 5th
4) Barber
5) Prokofiev 3rd
6) Schumann
7) Any Liebermann
8) Rach 2
9) Beethoven 3rd
10)Bolcom

PS...not fans of Liszt....oh blasphemy

1. Emperor
2. Rach 3
3. Prok 1
4. Brahms
5. Prok 3
6. Tchaikovsky
7. Rach 2
8. Liszt 1
9. Saint Seans (2 or 3? dont remember)
10. Ravel

Wow. Here I was trying to come up with my list, and DHP went and wrote it for me. Just substitute Saint-Saens for the Strauss, and I concur entirely...

1. Beethoven 4
2. Rakh 3
3. Prok 3
4. Mozart K466
5. Schoenberg
6. Ligeti
7. Brahms 1
8. Tchaik 1
9 (a) Schumann
9 (b) Chopin 1
10. Liszt 1

Order and choice... debatable.

1. Mozart, later concertos. I swear, I'm in heaven. Would it be cheating to stop here?
2. Ravel G
3. Beethoven
4. Tchaik 1
5. Schumann
6. 4Bartok 3
7. Prokofiev 3
8. Rach 2
9. Beethoven 5
10. Grieg

Now, the real question on everyone's mind: what are the top ten viola concertos?

How could I forget about Grieg? What great tunes. Is there anything that he couldn't do?

The Lou Harrison piano concerto, composed for Keith Jarrett, is absolutely wonderful! I wish more orchestras would program it; I think it's a piece that's very exciting for the audience as well as being a lot of fun to play.

quote:

Originally posted by Joel Gibbs:
Now, the real question on everyone's mind: what are the top ten viola concertos?

There are ten viola concertos?! Cool! Does this mean I can stop listening to 183 Bartoks every time I'm on an audition committee?

Fascinating mixture of thoughts--keep them coming, please. I wonder if anyone knows about the concerti by Glazunov, Rimsky-Korsakov and Scriabin?

JB: let's start a list of piano concerti which SHOULD be played more often.

quote:

Originally posted by Jeffrey Biegel:
I wonder if anyone knows about the concerti by Glazunov, Rimsky-Korsakov and Scriabin?

I suppose one can add Dvorak, Mendelssohn, or Clara Schumann to the category. One concerto I think deserves to be played more often is Rakh 4.
But Glazunov and Rimsky-Korsakov--frankly I don't miss their concerti.

Aside from Beethoven's 'Emperor' in E-flat, there's also the Moszkowski and John Ireland concerti in the same key--has anyone seen the likes of either recently?

For a long time, Rach 3 was my favourite, until I heard Radu Lupu playing the Emperor...

I've never quite heard anything so sublime.

I totally left out Grieg... how silly of me. I still love parts of that concerto, although he gets kind of redundant with the 2nd theme (E F G F E)

JB: Do you know the Hummel concertos? One of them - can't remember which right now - has the second movement scored for solo piano and 4 horns ONLY. It is gorgeous!

Scriabin is one of my favorite composers for piano. I could forget everything else. He composed a black mass sonata..it was cursed, if I remember right he played it and then a week later got a growth on his nose and died from blood poisoning not too much later...wow!

We recently played Dvorak...not my favorite but not a bad effort, the fiddle and of course cello are much better.

Rach 4 I just didn't get, that first movement chatter in the winds was really wild. The last few years of his life are really fascinating, what if he hadn't choosen to persue a solo career in the states? I think only Dukas had more writers block at the end of this career!

As far as the piano and the key of E flat you can scratch that up to Mr Beethoven. That has to be the greatest 40 minutes in music. The G major isn't too bad either! I seem to remember a symphony in that key too that isn't too bad. Can you believe the review for the 2nd symphony when it was premiered were all negative, saying that this music was way too progressive! LOL

As far as some obsucre concerti. I love the Nights in the Gardens of Spain. De Falla was just as gifted as Stravinsky in my opinion, at least before the writers block set in. The harpsicord concerto is nice too.

Maybe our resident piano pro can say a bit about these:

Rubenstein: In their day most loved.
Haydn: No mention of the master?
Vaughan Williams: The most famous pupil of Ravel
Elgar: ??
Respighi: I was surprised when I found out he wrote one
Shostakovich: 2 gems but no love here. The high point of the 2nd concerto is perhaps his greatest music ever!
Weber: I know he could write for horn and clarinet..how about piano?

..and whats with all the Russins, or at least the Moscow school writing all their concerti in either f sharp minor or c sharp minor? Shades of moonlight perhaps?

..oh and whats harder on the fingers...Islamay or Lizst's Mazzepa?

1) Ravel in G
2) Rach 2
3) Rach Paganini's
4) Saint-saens 2
5) Tchai 1
6) Chopin 2
7) Chopin 1
8) Gershwin Rhapsody
9) Mozart 21 in C

end up here.

DHP: Islamey and Mazeppa are both workouts--though there's no reason to play them fast to show that you have technique. When I play the piano/orchestra version of the Islamey, it sounds like a dance, and with the colors of the orchestra, it's easier to play at their tempo.

Tricky: the Hummel works are really fine--Stephen Hough recorded both--it's a shame that these days (and years), box office receipts are the bottom line, and presenters are afraid to book works that might not sell the most tickets.

How about the Franck 'Symphonic Variations'--a great piece to pair with other works. Btw--there is a Copland Concerto, DHP.

Artemis: since I've played all of your favorites, those are perhaps the most performed. Aside from the Mozart, your choices are the most colorful works--what would your #10 be? Beethoven, Brahms or Prokofiev?

I'd be interested also in a list of say the top 5 American piano concerti since 1950--that would narrow the field and might also be a stepping stone to which concerti ought to be on the tip of everyone's tongue as we go through the 21st century. I can only say the ones I've played (and Howard Hanson's is quite fine from 1948):
Leroy Anderson (1953--a short work, well crafted, tuneful, easy to pair with another)
Lalo Schifrin (#2--quite a captivating concerto)
Lowell Liebermann (all three)
Keith Emerson (#1--an American/British style, also well crafted and tuneful, pianistic--should be out there)
Ellen Taaffe Zwilich (Millennium Fantasy)
Bolcom (has some very fine moments indeed)

There must be atleast 25 more that artists like Emanuel Ax have championed, though they haven't been heard much after their premieres.

Hi Jeffrey,

My choices are the most colorful ones ? I always tell my colleagues my understanding to different composers and works is very limited. The most favorite works to others sometimes fall on my " blindspot ".

It is very difficult to choose the #10. I don't like the Beethovans and Brahms much. And other Rachs and Prokofievs are " out of " my understanding too. If there must be one as the #10, then I have 3 choices : Grieg, Mozart K488 and Xing-hai Xian's The Yellow River. I think you have never played this one.