Cinderella Concerto

This month's cover disk with BBC Music magazine features music by Tchaikovsky, so no apparent anniversary tie in this time ! The featured work is his Piano Concerto No 2 which is much less frequently performed than his first. It does lack the big tunes of number one, although there are melodies aplenty, and the epic length of the first movement could be looked on as a problem. As could the need for two additional soloists of the first rank to play the violin and cello parts in the slow movement, where it is remarked that at times Tchaikovsky seems to have forgotten he is writing a piano concerto, so prominent are these two solo string parts. The piano soloist here is a celebrated one, John Lill. He is accompanied by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales conducted by Walter Weller and the violin and cello soloists from the orchestra get name checks, Lesley Hatfield and John Senter respectively. The balance in the live concert recording is a bit wayward at times but Lill gives a fine performance. The first movement has many passages of cascading clusters of notes in a typical romantic style and there are notable cadenzas too. After that, it is a lengthy and sinuous unwinding in he slow movement with its' notable solo string passages. This eventually gives way to a fiery finale with more bravura piano. The disk is filled out by the BBC NOW, under Roberto Minczuk this time. performing Tchaikovsky's Capriccio Italien. The folk melodies and martial brass sections get perfectly serviceable workouts in a slightly clearer acoustic.