Your favorite piano concerto

Prokofiev's 3rd:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XHjsxcmEjM

Not a concerto but Chopin Ballade No. 1 in G-minor op.23.

Bartok no. 2. Complete package. Best music and an incredibly difficult concerto to pull off for the soloist.

Shostakovitch no. 2 is the runner up.

Rachmaninoff is over rated. 2 has some nice musical moments. 3 is just a piano exhibition. Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini is more interesting musically than any of the concerti. But Rachmaninoff is hard primarily because he had huge hands. Same with Liszt. They could both reach a 13th. That is ridiculous.

Just for listening fun, Rhapsody in Blue can be amazing if the soloist is willing to let it rip on the cadenzas.

Most underrated is Messiaen's Oiseaux Exotique (Exotic Birds). Olivier Messiaen transcribed dozens of bird calls and wove them together. In the score and all the parts for the orcehstra, each bird's melody is identified.

Mozart Piano Concerto #23 in A major, K488.

For me, it's Martha Argerich great rendition of Tchaykovsky No. 1

Simply unmatched.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ItSJ_woWnmk

Brahms 1

Rachmaninoff all

Grieg

Greg wrote:

Rachmaninoff # 3.

Beethoven # 5.

Rachmaninoff # 2.

Those three were the first to come to mind.

Agreeing with Greg? What a gloomy start to the day...

asdf7890 wrote:

Brahms 1

Rachmaninoff all

Grieg

^^This one.

Beethoven No. 5 is the concerto to end all others -- my favorite, and the best. Particularly like the Szell recording w/ Cleveland, and the version where Barenboim plays and conducts but I can't presently find it on Youtube.

Then, the Argerich version of Tchaikovsky No. 1 is fantastic. I also like somewhat the Yuja Wang performance where she breaks the opening cords:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjQyoD3kGwA

I'm also pretty fond of Saints-Saens No. 5 'Egyptian' -- one of the first for which I have played in the orchestra. The music is wonderfully evocative.

Mozart #26. (K.536)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGX9KmZEIuE

The Katchaturian is pretty cool.

Mozart's 21st. Not that I've heard them all - but by far the best I've heard. Start to finish it's fantastic.

https://youtu.be/fNU-XAZjhzA

The keyboards on ‘Free Bird’.

Precious Roy wrote:

Bartok no. 2. Complete package. Best music and an incredibly difficult concerto to pull off for the soloist.

Shostakovitch no. 2 is the runner up.

Rachmaninoff is over rated. 2 has some nice musical moments. 3 is just a piano exhibition. Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini is more interesting musically than any of the concerti. But Rachmaninoff is hard primarily because he had huge hands. Same with Liszt. They could both reach a 13th. That is ridiculous.

Just for listening fun, Rhapsody in Blue can be amazing if the soloist is willing to let it rip on the cadenzas.

Most underrated is Messiaen's Oiseaux Exotique (Exotic Birds). Olivier Messiaen transcribed dozens of bird calls and wove them together. In the score and all the parts for the orcehstra, each bird's melody is identified.

Agree that Rach concertos are overrated. I go:

Beethoven 1, 4 & 5.

Prokofiev 1

Any later mozart concerto

Guilty pleasure: Liszt 1.

Brendel ftw with Beethoven and Liszt.

As an aside, do we know of any pianists who are good runners?

I don’t know the difference between opus and concerto and e minor and g major .

But I love Chopin’s Opus Preludes 28 e minor no. 4

musically confused wrote:

I don’t know the difference between opus and concerto and e minor and g major .

But I love Chopin’s Opus Preludes 28 e minor no. 4

This one is in Dm. The saddest of all keys. I don't know why but it makes people weep instantly if you play it.

Brahms #2.

Flail away.

musically confused wrote:

I don’t know the difference between opus and concerto and e minor and g major .

But I love Chopin’s Opus Preludes 28 e minor no. 4

Opus refers to a composers work, it kind of describes a collection of their compositions.

To be honest as a musician I don't even really understand it well. It is not that important.

A concerto is a piece of music centered around a soloist. Where the specific instrument is featured.

It's all about the piano, the clarinet, the violin, etc. An orchestra is backing them up.

The keys just describe the tone of the piece. Not really that important either unless you are trying to study the music. A major, e major, doesn't really matter.