Search - Alberto Ginastera, Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra (Bratislava), Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra Bratislava :: Ginastera: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 2

Masterful performances of these rare works

lydol4 | Tulsa, OK | 08/02/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The two works presented here, Ginastera's two piano concertos, are unfortunately rarely heard pieces. However, Dora de Marinis brings them both off with a style that sounds like Ginaster himself was playing it. The First Concerto was composed around the same time as the First Sonata for piano, and has many of the same characteristics. The Second Concerto is a wonderful, varied composition. The first movement is a huge set of 32 variations on a theme of Beethoven (but you wont recognize it). The second movement is a Scherzo for the left hand alone. Then there is a slow, Quasi una fantasia movement, and finally the cadenza and the highly virtuosic prestissimo finale. The First Concerto was a favorite of Jorge Bolet, and one can easily see why!. I would only recommend this CD if you are familiar with Ginastera's writing -- the big chords, (There are some huge clusters in this piece), the barbaric, pounding rhythms, and the later, quasi-pointillistic style (especially in the orchestration), and if you have no problem with the modern repertoire."