Volume 53 in Hyperion's acclaimed series, The Romantic Piano Concerto, presents two works of such tonal complexity, textural density, and late vintage that they should properly be regarded as post-Romantic, though they are not outside the broad purview of this extensive survey. Certainly, Max Reger's Piano Concerto in F minor qualifies as post-Romantic by virtue of its composition date of 1910, and Richard Strauss' Burlesque in D minor, though completed in 1886, is forward-looking in its textural lushness and harmonic ...
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Volume 53 in Hyperion's acclaimed series, The Romantic Piano Concerto, presents two works of such tonal complexity, textural density, and late vintage that they should properly be regarded as post-Romantic, though they are not outside the broad purview of this extensive survey. Certainly, Max Reger's Piano Concerto in F minor qualifies as post-Romantic by virtue of its composition date of 1910, and Richard Strauss' Burlesque in D minor, though completed in 1886, is forward-looking in its textural lushness and harmonic ripeness. Because these are also enormously challenging pieces that require phenomenal performing skills, the presence of the superb Marc-André Hamelin as soloist guarantees that they are played as accurately and brilliantly as possible. The accompaniment provided by Ilan Volkov and the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra is dramatic and brooding in the Reger and vigorous and muscular in the Strauss, so Hamelin is given suitable support. Hyperion's nuanced recording captures everything with...
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