18 April 2010

The "Concerto Popolare" of Franz Reizenstein


I first encountered this piece of music in the early 1960s, on an album entitled "Music from the Hoffnung Music Festival Concert."  Here's an excerpt from the album cover:
"The main concerto of the program carries one step further that latent animosity, the clash of wills, sometimes to be observed between a soloist and conductor.  At the start Norman Del Mar [conductor] is clearly under the misapprehension that the concerto to be played is the Tchaikovsky.  The soloist [Yvonne Arnaud] is equally sure she is about to play Grieg.  The musically literate will also recognize themes from Gershwin creeping into the mix.
Enjoy.

2 comments:

  1. It's always enjoyable to see symphonic music poke a hole in that stuffy reputation...

    If I recognized the Gershwin, does that make me an elitist?

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  2. Only if you can tell the difference between "Rhapsody in Blue" and "An American in Paris."

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