Royal Scottish Nat. Orch. Archive

Dimitar NENOV: Piano Concerto; Ballade No 2 – Ivo Varbanov (piano) / Royal Scottish National Orchestra / Emil Tabakov –  Hyperion

Dimitar NENOV: Piano Concerto; Ballade No 2 – Ivo Varbanov (piano) / Royal Scottish National Orchestra / Emil Tabakov –  Hyperion

Dimitar NENOV: Piano Concerto; Ballade No 2 – Ivo Varbanov (piano) / Royal Scottish National Orchestra / Emil Tabakov –  Hyperion CDA68205, reviewed as hires 24-96 flac download;  TT 63:42 [Distr. by Harmonia mundi/PIAS] *****: The Bulgarian composer, Dimitar Nenov (1901-1953), wrote the substantial piano concerto included in this new Hyperion release between 1932 and 1936.  This period of political turmoil is perhaps reflected in the utterly gripping, heart-wrenching opening to the work.  It certainly grabbed my attention; it must surely have created quite an impression at its first performance in 1937, with the composer at the keyboard. The concerto is in a single movement in three parts (rather than three discrete movements) and the first part is an energetic vivace.  Alternately outpouring with emotion and quietly thoughtful the music integrates piano with orchestra with many an original approach to scoring, timbre and architecture, some components such as the clusters still sounding avant-garde even now. The second section follows with the briefest of lacunae, and is based on a Bulgarian folk-song about unrequited love.  Again, the construction of the piece goes in surprising directions.  The third section is quick in tempo which Martin Georgiev in his excellent essay for the […]