{"id":3345,"date":"2011-09-07T09:55:34","date_gmt":"2011-09-07T08:55:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/?p=3345"},"modified":"2016-07-12T17:25:52","modified_gmt":"2016-07-12T16:25:52","slug":"the-real-20-greawp_posts-piano-concerti-of-the-20th-c-part-ii-no-s-10-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/2011\/09\/07\/the-real-20-greawp_posts-piano-concerti-of-the-20th-c-part-ii-no-s-10-1\/","title":{"rendered":"The Real 20 Greatest Piano Concerti of the 20th C., part II, no.’s 10-1"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is a list I\u2019ve been thinking about ever since I first conducted the Prokofiev 2nd<\/sup> Piano Concerto with Daniel de Borah. I was amused at the thought of just how far down the list of the greatest piano concerti of the 20th<\/sup> c. I would go before I got to a piece not by Prokofiev. If the list seems toploaded with two composers, it\u2019s only because I\u2019m being ruthlessly honest. In the same way, if one looked to do a similar list of greatest piano concerti of all time<\/em><\/strong>, one might be well down the list before encountering a concerto not by Mozart.<\/p>\n

Here were the rules- I decided to include for consideration all substantial concertante works for piano and orchestra written in the 20th<\/sup> c., so works without \u201cConcerto\u201d in the title were in the running.<\/p>\n

Beyond that, the works were evaluated purely on the basis of how much I dig them. Historical importance was not considered, nor was stylistic relevance: i.e. how 20th<\/sup> c the aesthetic of the music is. In other words, someone like Rachmaninoff was not penalized for his stylistic links to the 19th<\/sup> c., anymore than any modernist composer was given bonus points for shunning such links.<\/p>\n

One work in particular gave me trouble- Messiaen\u2019s Turangalila, which he described as a concerto and a symphony and a love poem. If it is a piano concerto, then it\u2019s in my top 3 for the century. For now, I\u2019ve omitted it from this list and will put it in it\u2019s own category. Messiaen\u2019s Oisauex Exotiques could also qualify for top 10 status if we call it a concerto. Again, since almost all of his orchestral music has moments that sound like a piano concerto, I\u2019ve left it off this list, but you should listen to it.<\/p>\n

10. Ravel Concerto for the Left Hand<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I love both Ravel Concerti, but I think this one for the Left Hand is more moving and more Ravel-ian. It asks more of the audience than the G Major, and should be heard a lot more.<\/p>\n