Ben Gernon Archive

The Romantic Piano Concerto 76 = Concertos of RHEINBERGER; SCHOLZ – Simon Callaghan – Hyperion 

by Audiophile Audition | Jul 1, 2018 | Classical CD Reviews

The combination of Rheinberger and Scholz offers some rare but effective keyboard repertory from an era rife with talent. The Romantic Piano Concerto 76 = RHEINBERGER: Piano Concerto in A-flat Major, Op. 94; SCHOLZ: Piano Concerto in B Major, Op. 57; Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 35 – Simon Callaghan/ BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra/ Ben Gernon – Hyperion CDA68225, 71:16 (6/29/18) [Distr. Harmonia mundi/PIAS] ****: The continuing series devoted to rare, Romantic piano concertos finds strange bedfellows: Josef Gabriel Rheinberger (1839-1901) and Bernhard Scholz (1835-1916). Rheinberger enjoyed a distinguished career as both composer and pedagogue. Besides having written many organ compositions—in fact, a significant body of work that continues Mendelssohn’s legacy to the instrument—Rheinberger taught musical composition to a distinguished list of American and European students, among whom Horatio Parker, George Whitefield Chadwick, Engelbert Humperdinck, and Wilhelm Furtwaengler count but a few. In terms of musical influences, Rheinberger’s style combines strong contrapuntal procedures derived from his intense study of Bach, with a lyrical effusiveness we find in his contemporaries Schumann and Brahms. In the manner of the Beethoven “Emperor” Concerto, an abrupt call to attention ushers in the piano solo, Moderato, whose double notes and parallel octaves leave no […]