Henselt & Bronsart: Piano Concertos

After three solo recordings, virtuoso pianist Paul Wee brings us two forgotten concertos from the Romantic period with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra conducted by Michael Collins. Premièred by Clara Schumann under the baton of Felix Mendelssohn, Adolph von Henselt's Concerto in F minor was eventually performed by the greatest virtuosos of the 19th and 20th centuries. It has, however, inexplicably disappeared from the repertoire despite its obvious qualities: soaring melodies and tender lyricism, colourful orchestration, dramatic intensity across its three movements and piano writing of astounding inventiveness and brilliance. The familiarity between Henselt's concerto and some of Sergei Rachmaninov's works can be explained by the profound influence that the German composer exerted on the Russian. Hans von Bronsart's Concerto in F sharp minor did not enjoy the same public acclaim, although it is rousing, intimate and electrifying in turns. The richness of its orchestration is matched by an uncommonly brilliant piano part that is a model of practical virtuosity. Breathing late-Romanticism, it requires a soloist to embrace its superheated Romantic language unashamedly if its passions are to take flight.