20th-Century French Piano Concertos (with string orchestra) from Guild

[kyjo]

An exciting new release from Guild:



Jean Rivier (1896-1987): Concerto Brève for Piano and String Orchestra; Robert Casadesus (1899-1972): Capriccio for Piano and String Orchestra, op. 49; Jean Weiner (1896-1982): Concerto no. 1 Franco Americain for Piano and String Orchestra; Jacques Castérède (1926-): Concerto for Piano and String Orchestra

All except the Weiner concerto are world premiere recordings. I know Rivier by his surprisingly violent and dissonant Symphony no. 6 (on YT), and Casadesus (who is better known as a pianist) through an enjoyable (though rather forgettable) disc of three of his symphonies on Chandos, but I must confess to total unfamiliarity with the music of Weiner and Castérède. This release should be one to look forward to!

http://www.guildmusic.com/shop/wbc.php?sid=2858143a5003&tpl=produktdetail.html&pid=15200&rid=261&recno=2

 :)

[Gauk]

The only work of Jean Rivier I know is the Concerto for alto saxophone, trumpet and string orchestra, which I had on an old LP. It is a witty, light-hearted piece, and I would guess this piano concerto is likely to be in the same mood.

[kyjo]

The only work of Jean Rivier I know is the Concerto for alto saxophone, trumpet and string orchestra, which I had on an old LP. It is a witty, light-hearted piece, and I would guess this piano concerto is likely to be in the same mood.

I haven't heard the Concerto for alto sax, trumpet and strings, but considering it was composed a year after the Concerto Brève for piano and strings (in 1954), I would too guess these two works would occupy roughly the same sound-world/mood. Rivier's Symphony no. 6 dates from 1958-perhaps he changed his style to something more serious and gritty around that time (as many 20th century composers did later in life)?  Anyways, Rivier's music seems very worthy of exploring and I shall give a listen to his Symphony no. 5 (from 1950) on YT next. There is a Pavane disc of his Symphonies 3, 4 and 8 (all for strings), but it is unfortunately quite difficult to obtain :( I also need to explore the works of French symphonists Pierre Wissmer (1915-1992) and Aubert Lemeland (1932-2010), who both have quite a few of their symphonies on disc. Anyone familiar with their music?

[chill319]

Ever since hearing the Columbia recording of the Octour and Nonet, I've had a soft spot for Casadesus, despite his Mozart-filtered-through-Hanon passagework.

[Elroel]

Pierre Wissmer is was a Swiss born composer.
As a symphonist he wrote 9 symphonies who were all recorded and were brought to us by the Integral label, in 2012. It was 4-cd set (INT 221 242/2).

The quality of the performances were not all of the same quality, but may be symphonies themselves were not too.
In 1999 cd disc with his 5th and 6th symphonies, together with his 'Sinfonietta Concertante' on the 'Plein Vent'-laBEL (nº dpv9097)  The symphony recordings come from 1997, 1999 and were used later in the 'Integral' set

Already in 1991 his 3td Piano Cto, together with the orchestral suite from the Ballet  'Alerte,puits 21!' came on the 'Quatum'-label (QM 6908).
The Suite was recorded in 1965, with the composer conducting the Orch. Symph. de Luxembourg.
On the piano concerto Yuri Boukoff is the pianist, with the same orch, but with Louis de Fromentg as conductor

Also in 1991 Quantum offered his Violin Cto and 2nd Piano Cto (from 1942 and 1947 resp.) from pretty old recordings(1969 and 1959)
In 2008 his Oratorio Le quatriëme Mage was recorded and came in 2010 on the Marcal label (090401)

There site with much information on this composer:

http://www.pierrewissmer.com/pierre-wissmer-biographie-voir-en.html


Pierre Wissmer was an interesting composer, I'm not sure what I like best, the symphonies of his piano concertos (esp no 3)

[kyjo]

Thanks for the info, Roelof! What's Wissimer's style like?