Danish composer Herman D. Koppel put special emphasis on the form of concerto; he composed four piano concertos for his own hands, and then created numerous others in order to work with high-caliber instrumentalists that he admired. Dacapo's collection, Herman D. Koppel: Concertos, contains three concertos of ambitious scale that are quite different from one another. The Piano Concerto No. 2, featuring pianist Ulrich Staerk, dates from 1931 and is reminiscent of Stravinsky's Capriccio for piano and orchestra, composed at ...
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Danish composer Herman D. Koppel put special emphasis on the form of concerto; he composed four piano concertos for his own hands, and then created numerous others in order to work with high-caliber instrumentalists that he admired. Dacapo's collection, Herman D. Koppel: Concertos, contains three concertos of ambitious scale that are quite different from one another. The Piano Concerto No. 2, featuring pianist Ulrich Staerk, dates from 1931 and is reminiscent of Stravinsky's Capriccio for piano and orchestra, composed at that time, except that it is darker in tone and longer. The orchestral accompaniment has a lot more to say here than in Stravinsky's compact little concert study, and it doesn't give the soloist quite enough room to show off. The Cello Concerto, Op. 56 (1952), played winningly by cellist Michaela Fukacova, is far more assured, and of the three, seems the most effective. Herman D. Koppel is on his game here, deftly balancing lyricism, a more Spartan and sparkling orchestration than in...
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