The Art-Music, Literature and Linguistics Forum

Thought I would start a thread on Favorite Rare Russian/Soviet Piano Concertos; however, I realize after reading everyone posts over the year, that we would all pass a music appreciation class with A+’s

Here is my short list:

Alexandrov
Auster
Barisons
Darzins
Feinberg
Garuta
Gasanov (Hasanov)
Lemba No 1
Lyatoshinsky
Medins (Janis)
Rakov No 1 and 2
Taktakishvili No 1
Tcherepnin, N.
Tobias
Vasilenko
Zilinskis


any thoughts??

Great thread! I would agree with you on all the ones you listed that I've heard (the Medins is especially wonderful). These are also great:

Medtner 1-3 (obscure enough?)
Liapunov 1 and 2
Dobrowen
Bortkiewicz 1-3
Kosenko
Machavariani
Levina 1 and 2
Amirov/Nazirova (Concerto on Arabian Themes)
Catoire
Golubev 1-3
Ivanovs
Galynin 1
Adigezalov 3 and 4
Gazizov
Lepin 3
Kos-Anatolsky
Nikolayeva 1

At least here I can make lists, unlike at a certain other place......

Ah.... yes the Nikolayeva... probably the most obscure piece of music of all time.... recorded in the pre Melodiya era  on a 78 from what I read.... or maybe one of those thick super heavy 33's where the needle falls of the platter if you don't hold it just right...(sound familiar?)   If it wasn't for the internet, we would have never heard it.

 great list !!


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ahh..  there is a book called Russian Piano Concerto by Norris that has a great analysis of these PfConcertos.
Starting with  Rubinstein.. thru the 1960s I recall. 
that reminds me of a list I have of Russian/Soviet composer and their works.....


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Reasons for names chosen,please?! Otherwise this becomes just another extremely interesting,thought provoking list! ;D ;)
Although writing out my shopping list today I can see their point.

1pt of milk,because it's full of calcium and I need it in my tea
1 loaf of bread,because I need something to go around my cheese!
1 pkt of tea,because I'm addicted to it!

It helps to know! ;D

You scared me there for a second, cilgwyn ;D I was beginning to think one of the UC moderators had dropped by for a visit ;D

If it was the most obscure piece of all time, then why is there a recording available of it? ;)

I didn't think there was a recording available on the market at this time??  (Nikolayeva).. if there is a Naxos/Chandos/Hyperion/whatever.. version let me know.

Sorry for the confusion, I meant the recording posted on YouTube comes from a Melodiya LP (according to Mike Herman's discography).

Just listened on YT to the Piano Concerto by Soviet composer Eugene Stikhin (b. 1932?), on whom there is virtually no information to be found on the Web. The PC is overall a rather individual work, despite being influenced by Prokofiev in parts, and contains some rather powerful passages.

yes me too... that used to annoy me with the UC moderator getting into arguments with the posters.. of why their comments were worthless... after a little of this going on, I quite going there.

I would add
David Toradze (father of the well known pianist Alexander) Piano Concerto.
I have heard it in an actual concerto, played by .....Alexander Toradze.
It was just the opposite of an "apparatus" work.
It reminded me a little (but sounded better) Andrè Previn Piano Concerto.

I own the Nikolayeva Melodiya and it is about an inch thick  :), it is clean and well preserved but still sounds pretty crappy--same sound as the one on youtube. I had a request in to a Moscow record seller for several years before I got it. I would like to hear it in a modern clean version because in spite of my obsession to get it, I have never really enjoyed it all that much. I don't think it is necessarily a barn-burner, but I am glad to have it just as homage to Madame Nikolayeva. There are some youtubes of her playing, and the Tchaikovsky No. 1 by her was glorious for me--watching her make such big beautiful sounds with her little fingers and her beautiful smile charmed me! In some thread someone brought to our attention that you could look up composers by country on classical-online.ru, and I went through the Russian and some former soviet union countries and actually found a few concertos by composers I had never heard of before such as Igor Yakushenko, Alexsei Nikolaev, Victor Miniotas--'twas fun.

is that one a 78?  made from Shellac?

It's a 33 1/3, but I might have exaggerated?

I have a few of those old CCCP LPs .. as you probably found out.. you have to carefully drop the needle into the grove as the outer lip of the LP dips downward causing the needle to immediately hit the turntable thus producing a sound that makes you jump up and retrieve the needle.   Ha !

And the important thing is you give your reasons! 10/10 and top of the class for you dhibbard! ;D

 :D

Sorry for a late reply to this thread. I'd certainly agree with a number of the ones chosen and add a handful of concertos that I've only seen in score (but appear to be very interesting, nonetheless):

Eduard Abramyan - no. 1 (1950)
Dmitri Tolstoy - no. 1, op. 44 (1968)
Anatoly Mynov (1960)
Grigory Zinger (1967)
Elizabeta Tumanyan

Hi, i found this 1958 brochure that mentions the Stikhin concerto. I've never seen further information regarding the composer.

(https://www.nikolai-kapustin.info/index_html_files/58224@2x.jpg)

Must be Evgeny Stikhin (* 1932). He does have an article in the Russian Wikipedia:
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Стихин,_Евгений_Михайлович (https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Стихин,_Евгений_Михайлович)
according to which his piano concerto was his graduation piece at conservatory. A lot of his works, including his piano concerto, can be found here:
https://classical-music-online.net/en/composer/Stikhin/2181 (https://classical-music-online.net/en/composer/Stikhin/2181)